There are times in an NHL season that your team really lets you down. The Toronto Maple Leafs continued their downward spiral on Tuesday night, losing a hard fought game to the New Jersey Devils by a final score of 4-3 in overtime. Maple Leafs sniper Phil Kessel tied the game with 44 seconds left in the third period, beating Devils’ goaltender Martin Brodeur with a slick wrist shot which eluded the future hall of fame netminder. Despite Kessel’s heroics,Torontowas unable to close the deal, as Devils’ defenseman Mark Fayne put a weak shot pastTorontogoaltender Jonas Gustavsson at the 01:18 mark of overtime. For Gustavsson, Fayne’s shot resulted in one of three questionable goals on the evening. Soft goals and poor positioning for their goaltenders and a lack of overall defense is killing the Maple Leafs chances of making the

With his team in a three game losing funk, Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Ron Wilson switched up his lines Thursday night in an effort to get his troops to play better defense and spread out his scoring. One of the riskier moves saw Wilson separate Phil Kessel and Joffrey Lupul—the NHL’s most potent duo this season. Lupul (who now leads Phil Kessel in team scoring with 51 points on the season to Kessel’s 50) had a three point night, while Kessel scored his 25th goal of the season, albeit on the power play with Lupul notching an assist on the goal. At the end of the day, Wilson’s changes helped catapult the Buds past the slumping Minnesota Wild (2-6-2 in their past ten games) to the tune of a 4-1 victory. Goaltender Jonas Gustavsson was near perfect on the

The Toronto Maple Leafs stunned the hockey world Saturday night as, with seven regulars out of the lineup, the Blue and White throttled the Washington Capitals by a score of 7-1. The win improved the Buds overall record to 11-7-2 on the season, giving them sole possession of fifth spot in the Eastern Conference standings. Oft-injured Tim Connolly scored his second of the season at 01:39 of the first period, giving the Maple Leafs the quick lead many suspected the team would need to compete with the offensively gifted Caps. Washington responded less than a minute later when Brooks Laich registered his third of the year at 02:30 of the first. The Maple Leafs would go ahead for good when rookie forward Matt Frattin notched his first goal of the season at 19:16 of the first. Frattin has been one

Fresh off an embarrassing 5-1 loss to the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night, the Toronto Maple Leafs goaltending picture is murkier than ever. Maple Leafs starting goaltender James Reimer has been out with concussion-like symptoms since October 22nd, while both Jonas Gustavsson (4-4-0, 3.78 goals against average, .878 save percentage) and Ben Scrivens (1-1-0, 4.07 goals against average, .867 save percentage) have been inadequate in relief. Reimer’s absence from the lineup, combined with the struggles of both Gustavsson and Scrivens has the Leafs Nation nervous about the Maple Leafs goaltending, both now and for the foreseeable future. First, nobody knows when Reimer will return. One thing we have learned from concussions (or concussion-like) symptoms is that they are relatively unpredictable, especially where setting a return date for players is concerned- just ask Sidney Crosby! Second, if both Gustavsson and Scrivens continue

Prior to the start of the 2011-12 season many “experts” had the Vancouver Canucks as Stanley Cup favorites with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Edmonton Oilers, Montreal Canadiens, Calgary Flames and Ottawa Senators being hard-pressed to make the playoffs. While it is still very early in the season, Canada’s teams look to be holding their own in the NHL standings with Toronto currently sitting in second spot in the Eastern Conference, while the Edmonton Oilers currently occupy third spot in the Western Conference. Both Toronto and Edmonton can be referred to as early season surprises, but the bigger surprise may be the absence of the Canucks from a playoff spot as they currently sit 10th in the Western Conference. Toronto is getting it done with their potent offense which is currently ranked third overall at 3.14 goals per game, while Edmonton

Anytime the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens meet you know there is going to be fireworks. Saturday nights tilt between did not disappoint as both teams played on the edge and brought their “A” games to the table. Early on in the first period Maple Leafs goaltender James Reimer was struck in the head when Brian Gionta nailed him, causing Reimer’s mask to fall off. Reimer was visibly shaken on the play, but the Ref neglected to call the play, which brings the question why as plays are supposed to be blown dead after the goaltender loses his mask, but I digress. Reimer continued his work throughout the first period, but failed to show up for the second with whip-lash like symptoms as a result of the hit from Gionta. According the Leaf doctors, Reimer was not feeling quite