Leafs defence goes missing against Flyers
Gardiner healthy scratch, Bernier left ‘out to dry’ by turnover-prone lineup
Jake Gardiner’s chances of working back into the lineup Sunday night in Chicago appear pretty good after the Leafs’ confounding defensive effort against the Philadelphia Flyers on home ice Saturday.
Toronto took an early two-goal lead before imploding and handing the Flyers a 7-4 win at the Air Canada Centre.
All that structure in their game during a 10-1-1 streak — back pressuring, forechecking, responsibility in all three zones of the ice — disappeared against the Flyers, who got two goals from captain Claude Giroux to hand the Leafs their second consecutive loss.
One turnover after another put tremendous pressure on the six-man defence corps, with Gardiner a healthy scratch for the third time this season as coach Randy Carlyle looked for a bit more physical presence.
That meant seeing how Korbinian Holzer would fare alongside Morgan Rielly. The result was not what Carlyle was looking for. Holzer and Rielly were shaky at best. More important, top defenceman Dion Phaneuf was also off his game as the Flyers cashed in several odd-man rushes.
“Right now, after a defeat, there’s a lot of emotions and I can’t pinpoint why swings go for us and against us,” Phaneuf said about the team’s inconsistency. “The bottom line tonight is, for 50 minutes, they played harder than we did and there’s no other way to describe it.”
The Flyers scored the only two goals of the second period to open a 5-3 lead. The visitors saw the Leafs were in love with carrying the puck into the offensive zone, so they packed the neutral zone and forced turnovers in droves.
Phaneuf and several other Leafs said the club is very effective when it enters the offensive zone with speed. It can carry the puck deep and control the play. But against a trap team like the Flyers, the Leafs cross centre and get held up, often losing possession.
“We gave up 15 shots in the second half of the first period and that makes us rely way too much on our goalies,” Phaenuf said “We have to cut down on our shots. It’s unacceptable and we are hanging our goalies out to dry that way.”
Carlyle sat Gardiner because of his defensive shortcomings. Now the coach has to decide whether to put Gardiner back in and hope the slickskating defenceman can help the Leafs in Chicago.
Carlyle also switched up his left wingers, shuffling his top three forward lines. He got a solid game from van Riemsdyk, dropped from the top line to work with Nazem Kadri and Mike Santorelli. But Phil Kessel and Tyler Bozak had a tough night all around.
On defence, veterans Roman Polak and Stephane Robidas saw a lot of ice time in a bid to tighten up. Phaneuf, Cody Franson, Rielly and Holzer all struggled in their own zone — in part because of the Flyers’ smart use of the neutral-zone trap.
Now they have to face the powerhouse Blackhawks in Chicago.