Potentially haunting loss

Could one period -- 20 minutes of simply awful hockey -- undo what has otherwise been a pretty good season?

Probably not. This isn't yet a panic button moment. But if the Toronto Maple Leafs fail to make the playoffs, many will look back on a Feb. 11 loss to the Montreal Canadiens during which the visitors outscored the hosts 4-0 in the second period as a big reason why.

On a special night when former Leafs captain Mats Sundin was honoured before the game -- his No. 13 hoisted to the rafters -- the Leafs were humiliated 5-0. The loss is Toronto's third in a row and while the Leafs cling to the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, they are not exactly trending in the right direction.

Not only that, the schedule isn't exactly doing them any favors moving forward. The Leafs head out on a three-game western excursion with games in Calgary Tuesday, Edmonton Wednesday and Vancouver Saturday before returning home to face the New Jersey Devils, San Jose Sharks, Washington Capitals and Florida Panthers.

During his pre-game speech Sundin mentioned how young this Leafs team is and how much pressure there is playing in Toronto. He gently asked the fans to be patient and to cheer the team on.

In fact, it was quite a touching moment -- almost as though he was still the caring captain of the club. By the end of the second period, however, the message was lost on the fans as they booed the team off the ice. Midway through the third period many fans had headed for the exit. The way the team performed, you really can't blame them.

After a strong showing in the first period, during which the Leafs out-shot the Habs 14-

8, the wheels came off in the second. Montreal scored two goals in 1:44 to take a 2-0 lead and then added a couple more as the Leafs seemed bewildered. Toronto's starting goalie James Reimer had a rough outing allowing the four goals on seven shots.

Montreal's first goal, a 20-foot snap shot by Erik Cole through the five-hole was a backbreaker -- a shot most goalies would stop in their sleep. The second goal came as a result of a Luke Schenn giveaway and after Max Pacioretty's shot hit Reimer and trickled over the goal line for a power play goal, Lars Eller blew past Leafs captain Dion

Phaneuf and deked Reimer. The meltdown was complete.

"I didn't play well enough," Reimer said. "That's what it comes down to. In a game like this you have to look in the mirror and I wasn't good enough. One sneaked through and there were a couple I wasn't able to get in front of. It was a tough night. At the end of the day I just wasn't good enough."

It was suggested to Reimer he wasn't the only culprit in a painful loss, but he wasn't about to share the blame.

"In our position as a goaltender, it doesn't really matter how your team is playing," Reimer said. "Whether they play terrible or they play good, my job doesn't change. My job is to stop the puck. I know my job and what I have to do. I have to be good every night."

With the win, the Canadiens have won four straight and may have gotten themselves back into the playoff picture. They are 6-3-1 in their last 10 games and the way their goalie, Carey Price, is playing, anything is possible.

"They beat us in every aspect of the game and we're not happy about it," Phaneuf said. "It's not from a lack of urgency; we just didn't play well. We didn't play well enough to win and it's disappointing with where we're at in the standings to not come out and play our best. We have to shake it off and go out west with the right attitude."

Leafs coach Ron Wilson seems to be doing everything he can to secure Reimer as the team's starter, but as he left the bench following the second period he told Jonas Gustavsson he'd play in the third period. After the game Wilson did not point the finger at Reimer as the reason why his team lost, but did admit, "The first goal was probably a stoppable shot. It wasn't a good goal to give up and bad things happened after that. Carey Price made all the stops and we didn't get many so it made for a difficult night."

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