BOSTON – You can’t fault James Reimer for trying.
The Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender extended his glove in a bid to cover as much of a wide open net as he could, but there would be no miracle save with teammate Paul Ranger pinning him to the ice during a third period scramble. That left Patrice Bergeron to score another game-winner for the Boston Bruins – although this one required plenty of help with the Toronto starter turning in yet another sterling performance on Saturday night.
“That’s just what happens sometimes,” Reimer said after a 3-1 loss at TD Garden, which included an empty netter. “That’s just a scrambley goal and I don’t know if there’s much you can do about it.”
Toronto has come to expect near perfection from its goaltenders this season and so far both men have been totally up to the challenge. Even in games where the team has lost, like this one or last Saturday’s visit to Vancouver, Reimer and counterpart Jonathan Bernier have almost always been among the top performers in those defeats.
It’s a good thing, too, given the current state of the realigned Atlantic Division. Six of the top nine teams in save percentage across the NHL were from that loop entering Saturday’s play – with Toronto sitting second at .937 just ahead of Boston (.935), Montreal (.930) and Ottawa (.924). The Red Wings (.916) and Lightning (.915) sat eighth and ninth.
In fact, only the scuffling Buffalo Sabres and Florida Panthers have failed to get enough saves among the Atlantic Division teams to crack the top-10.
It came as little surprise then to see Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask and Reimer getting in front of so many pucks with Boston and Toronto facing one another for the first time since Game 7 in last year’s playoffs. Those men are fifth and sixth overall, respectively, in individual save percentage this season and there was virtually nothing separating them on Saturday.
Bergeron’s winning goal came with the Leafs killing a penalty and Ranger sitting on top of his goalie after accidentally knocking him to the ground. Essentially, it amounted to a hand-wrapped gift on a night where it looked like Reimer might not be beaten again after getting a little too aggressive on Zdeno Chara’s power-play goal in the first period.
“He was rock solid back there I thought,” Rask told sportsnet.ca when asked about Reimer’s performance. “He saw the puck really good and didn’t give too many rebounds. I don’t think he can blame himself for this loss. I thought he played a solid game.”
It was a 13-save performance by Reimer in the opening 20 minutes that allowed his teammates to claw their way back into the game. The Leafs controlled play throughout the second period – arguably their most complete of the entire season so far – and saw Joffrey Lupul tie the score 1-1 with a gorgeous shot in stride that floated over Rask’s shoulder.
However, James van Riemsdyk soon took an undisciplined double minor for high-sticking and Bergeron scored the eventual winner on that power play. The game grew extremely physical after that point and the Leafs were unable to fight through and solve Rask.
“He’s a very aggressive goaltender,” said centre Nazem Kadri. “He likes to come out and play the puck well beyond the blue paint. He made some excellent saves out there that really could have been the difference.”
Even still, there were plenty of positives to be found in Toronto’s game. For starters, it halted the ugly 13-game streak of getting outshot – it was 34-34 on the shots counter against Boston – and the team showed more signs of playing the type of cycle game that coach Randy Carlyle wants to see.
The Bruins have certainly noticed the improvement in a division rival that they’ve kicked around pretty good over the last decade or so.
“They’re a team that’s been getting better every year,” said Boston coach Claude Julien. “I said that before and I’m still saying the same thing. They’re a growing team and growing in the right direction. They’re legit, there’s no doubt about it.”
You needn’t look much farther than the goaltending as the primary reason why. Reimer has come back from last year’s playoff disappointment with more motivation than ever and seems to have responded well to the off-season acquisition of Bernier. They truly are 1A and 1B for the Leafs – the precise order is still up for debate – and will likely remain that way for the foreseeable future.
Meanwhile, the gap between Toronto and Boston appears to have narrowed slightly and you can’t help but get the feeling that those teams will be clashing in more big games down the line. Should that come to pass, the men protecting the nets are bound to play a critical role in the outcome.
“It makes for a good battle,” said Reimer.