Trade winds picking up in Toronto
SHARKS 2 MAPLE LEAFS 1
TORONTO — In September, three months into his first big contract and a month shy of his season-altering concussion, James Reimer was asked about the burden of expectation.
He praised the old goaltender the Toronto Maple Leafs had let go to make room for him, and he suspected that, “with him gone, I’ll be on my own, and you grow a lot when you know someone’s away and you have to learn for yourself.”
It has no doubt been an instructive NHL season.
“Stop the puck,” Leafs coach Ron Wilson said on Thursday morning. “It’s simple as that. There’s nothing more you can say. See the puck. Stop the puck. Be the puck.”
Reimer adhered to the coach’s instruction. He allowed only two goals on Thursday, but received almost no support in return in a 2-1 loss to the San Jose Sharks.
It was Toronto’s third straight loss, and seventh in its last eight. The Leafs held the eighth and final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference heading into play, but dropped to ninth place when Winnipeg beat Tampa Bay 4-3 later Thursday night.
Adversity has become a common word around the Leafs.
Reimer had been pulled in two of his previous three starts. Jonas Gustavsson struggled during a start Tuesday, playing so badly some have questioned his future with the team, while bringing a simmering issue to full boil: The Leafs might need help in goal.
General manager Brian Burke conceded as much Wednesday, suggesting the team would begin looking for a goaltender before Monday’s NHL trade deadline.