Glass remains half full

All day long I kept hearing how it was the biggest game of the year for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Of course, any time you play the defending Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins –- a team that was riding an 11-0-1 streak and has already spanked you twice already this year -- it is certainly a test.

But the biggest game of the year? A game that will single-handedly decide if your team is moving in the right direction? With five regulars, including your No. 1 goalie, out of the lineup?

I’d say that’s overstating things just a wee bit.

The Leafs actually played decently in losing their third game this season to the Bruins, this time 6-3. It snapped a three-game winning streak for Toronto and, ultimately, was one of those games that it is worth noting, Boston’s sixth goal was scored into an empty net. You know, one of those it-wasn’t-as-bad-as-it-looked games.

The Leafs were without goalie James Reimer, who will probably serve as backup when the two teams meet again Saturday in Boston after being out since Oct. 22, as well as defenceman Mike Komisarek and forwards Colby Armstrong, Mike Brown and Matthew Lombardi. If healthy, all five of those players would have played Wednesday.

"We haven’t used (injuries) as an excuse up until now and we’re not going to," said Toronto captain Dion Phaneuf. "We’ve been playing some really good hockey with the guys that we’ve had in the lineup. I think everyone we’ve had in the lineup has really stepped up for the guys we’ve lost and it shows what kind of group we have and the kind of depth we have. The bottom line is we made a couple of more mistakes than they did and that cost us."

Even with a handful of depth players in action, the Leafs had more than their share of opportunities to beat the visitors. They were out-shot 40-37, but had as many or more quality scoring opportunities.

When you are severely shorthanded, however, it might be a good idea to come as close as you can to playing mistake-free hockey. At the end of the night and as good as the Bruins are, the Leafs must feel they were the architects of their own demise. It seemed that for everything they did well, they also made miscues that burned them.

Centre Tyler Bozak, for example, made a few casual clearing attempts that were picked off and caused his team to remain on defence when it was clearly running on fumes. Goalie Jonas Gustavsson had several great saves, especially early in the game, but in his own words, let in a few goals that were stoppable.

With the score 4-3 for Boston late in the third period, defenceman Luke Schenn made a costly giveaway behind his team’s net that resulted in the Bruins scoring the insurance goal.

"My bad," Schenn said afterwards. "All in all, I think our guys actually played pretty strong tonight. It wasn’t a complete blowout or anything like that. We hung in there and had some good quality chances, but (Boston goalie) Tim Thomas was great tonight.

"We had lots of confidence going in and I think our depth players have played great. There have been a lot of call-ups and a lot of guys are getting opportunities that they otherwise might not have gotten. It’s tough when you have regulars out, but we have been playing well so we’re definitely not going to use that as an excuse."

Toronto has been outscored 19-5 by the Bruins this season, but when the dust settled after Tuesday’s game, there weren’t too many chins dragging on the ground.

"That’s the game that we expected from them and I’m sure they expected the same effort from us," Phaneuf said. "I thought we played hard right until the end. I thought we deserved a better outcome. Give them credit; they played extremely well, too, but I think the way the score ended up didn’t reflect how we played.

"No loss is good. We wanted to win the hockey game and we wanted to get two points, but we’ll take the good out of this game. We learn from the bad and we move forward. I think it sets up Saturday as an even bigger game. Both teams played extremely hard; both team played well and I expect it will be the same on Saturday."

Toronto coach Ron Wilson was encouraged by his team’s play versus the Bruins.

"I mean, that’s a good hockey team," he said. "They seem to have our number. I was actually pleased with the way we played. Unfortunately they got five power plays and we got one and a half. I thought we worked hard enough to draw a few more penalties, but we didn’t get them.

"We had our opportunities and clear scoring chances where we misfired or they happened to get a leg on the puck, but overall I was happy with the way we played…If we keep playing like that we’ll eventually beat these guys."

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