Head games

NEW YORK—The Toronto Maple Leafs swear they’re not being coy, but there’s something fishy about the way goalie James Reimer’s sore neck has developed into, "concussion-like symptoms," yet apparently, he does not have a concussion.

"It’s not a concussion," said Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke. "He’s being treated for concussion-like symptoms. There’s a rating system they use and he rated very low in all areas as to if it is a concussion or not. We’re not sure if it’s whiplash related.

"It’s not (a concussion) and if it were, we’d say that. It’s not like we’re trying to be evasive here. We are evasive when we need to be; when we don’t want a player to get targeted. To this point the doctors have not told me one time it’s a concussion."

So for now Leafs Nation will take the Leafs at their word.

Reimer—who sustained the injury when Montreal Canadiens captain Brian Gionta crashed into him early in last Saturday’s game—has been put on injured reserve retroactive to last Saturday, which means he will not be eligible to play again until Sunday when Toronto visits Ottawa. Burke said he expects Reimer to play on the weekend, which means he would be the starter against the Senators.

In the meantime, life goes on. And it certainly did Thursday when Jonas Gustavsson once again subbed for Reimer and played easily his best game of the year. After a shaky first period, during which he allowed three goals – only one of which actually counted – The Monster settled down and had a huge hand in Toronto spoiling not only the Rangers’ home opener, but the first game played in the newly-renovated Madison Square Garden.

Gustavsson’s day got off to an unusual start.

While the Leafs continued to insist Reimer was nursing a sore neck, when asked the in the morning about his fellow goaltender’s injury, Gustavsson offered, "It’s hard to tell with a concussion."

Oops.

Leafs coach Ron Wilson wasn’t thrilled when he heard that.

"The last time I checked, I don’t have a medical degree and I don’t think The Monster does either," Wilson said. "(Reimer) felt good at practice (on Wednesday), but afterwards he didn’t feel good. We decided to shut him down for a while and bring Scrivens back up."

Gustavsson made up for his verbal faux pas by making saves when his team needed them. The two disallowed goals – both because Rangers captain Ryan Callahan bumped into him – affected him, but he said it’s something a goalie cannot allow to haunt them.

"Any time you let in a goal you are kind of rattled, but you try to forget about it," he said. "If you keep thinking about the goals you let in, then you’re not going to stop any pucks. You have to have a short memory as a goalie and that’s what I’m trying to do; just be focused on the next shot."

The Reimer saga took some of the attention off of centre Tim Connolly, who finally made his debut with the Leafs after missing the first eight games with what is suspected to be a sore shoulder.

Connolly played well logging 15:13 of ice time with a minor penalty and no shots on goal. He made a terrific play at 1:54 of the first period setting up Kessel for a one-timer in the slot, but it was stopped by Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist. A minute later, Connolly nearly scored his first goal of the season, directing a rebound toward the Rangers net, but it too failed to find the target.

Afterwards, Connolly was a little gassed, but quite pleased his Leafs debut was a winning effort.

"I’m just happy to get the win," Connolly said. "I thought the team showed a lot of maturity on the road. On the tail end of a road trip we played really well and to come back and just grind it out was great. I tried to keep my shifts short so I wouldn’t get caught in a situation where we were stuck in our own end.

"Our line had a few chances, but I’d like to eliminate a few turnovers that I had on passes to Phil. That’s something I can work on in practice."

Kessel, who entered the game leading the NHL with nine goals in eight games, should have added three more to his total, but by the end of the night was goal-less and had one assist.

Aside from the missed chance on the one-timer in the first period, he also failed to connect on two breakaways in the second period; one with a shot directed to the five-hole on the first and the other on a muffed move to the backhand. Kessel was still the most dangerous skater on the ice even though he didn’t score a goal.

Wilson thought Connolly made a good impression in his first game of the year.

"Timmy did a really good job," Wilson said. "He created a number of chances. He’s a really smart player and I’m glad we won so he doesn’t feel like he came in and jinxed us, or anything like that."

NOTES: The Maple Leafs sent centre Nasem Kadri down to the Marlies Thursday afternoon. "Instead of playing eight, nine or 10 minutes a game with us, we think it’s better if he plays 15-20 minutes a game with the Marlies for now," Wilson said.…After going his first five games without a goal, Clarke MacArthur netted the winner with a nicely placed low slap shot from an angle that beat Lundqvist to the far side.…Centre Joe Colborne continues to play well for the Marlies. He has seven goals and 15 points in seven games and is plus-9. Colborne and teammate Joey Crabb are tied for the league lead with identical stats…Rangers fans cheered wildly for their team at the start of the game, but when Toronto took the lead in the third period, they turned on their team, booing them and then chanting, "We want Avery!"

Veteran hockey columnist Mike Brophy will cover the Toronto Maple Leafs for sportsnet.ca for the 2011/12 season.