The Toronto Maple Leafs quickly dispensed with any possibility of being competitive in the finale of their three-game Western Canada road trip, as the Edmonton Oilers scored four first period goals and cruised to a 4-1 victory at Rexall Place on Monday night.
Benoit Pouliot tallied twice and Jordan Eberle added a power play marker in the opening eight minutes which chased goalie Jonathan Bernier and backup James Reimer allowed a fourth goal by Anton Lander before Toronto responded with James van Riemsdyk 24th goal of the season during a man advantage.
Ben Scrivens made 28 saves for the win against his former club, while Bernier allowed three goals on four shots in what has been a difficult season for the 26-year-old netminder.
“The shots that scored you wouldn’t have saved them no matter what. I think they were perfectly placed shots.” Interim coach Peter Horachek said in defense of his goalie after the game. “The problem is that we gave them 22 entries that were easy. They were coming through way too easy.The placement of their shots were pretty good. I don’t think you can blame Bernie on any of those.”
The performance of the Leafs in Calgary, Vancouver and Edmonton continued their unbelievable string of futility on the road. Toronto was over .500(7-6-3) after beating a shootout win over Boston on December 31, but since then the club has gone 1-18-2 and their only victory was against the Florida Panthers who were forced to play with injured goalies.
Nazem Kadri remained the focal point of attention on Monday, but this time it is for actions on the ice.
The Leafs center was suspended three games last week for disciplinary reasons by Team President Brendan Shanahan and could be suspended by Stephane Quintal, Shanahan’s successor at the NHL Department of Player Safety for an illegal check to the head of Oilers forward Matt Fraser in the third period.
Kadri received a two-minute minor penalty and will have a phone hearing on Wednesday for the head hit on Fraser, who had difficulty getting to his feet and had to be helped off the ice by teammates.
Kadri’s suspension last week was criticized by HNIC’s Don Cherry, who intimated that the Leafs have continually thrown the London, ON native under the bus since being drafted seventh overall in 2009 and that he will likely leave Toronto in two seasons once the center qualifies for unrestricted free agency.
Cherry has long been a staunch defender of the 24-year-old and the statement that his future may not with the Leafs could be right, but that may have more to do with Kadri’s lack of consistency on the ice and unspecified issues off the ice than the organization having some sort of vendetta.
Kadri is a restricted free agent this summer and remains someone that many NHL teams have interest in acquiring. Toronto will likely offer salary arbitration and try to get the center signed to a short term deal, but if there is balking from Kadri's representatives or a holdout, it is possible that #43 will be wearing some other jersey as soon as next October.
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McEichel Race – Points(Games Played)
8. PHILADELPHIA 73(71) 7. NEW JERSEY 69(69) 6. COLUMBUS 64(69) 5. CAROLINA 60(68) 4. TORONTO 60(71) 3. ARIZONA 50(70), 2. EDMONTON 50(70), 1. BUFFALO 45(69)
Current Leafs odds at winning Draft Lottery(9.5%) Same
Games To Watch: Ottawa at Carolina
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