HockeyLeafs, Bruins search for consistency

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The Leafs have leaned on rookie goalie James Reimer, but the team has been maddeningly uneven down the stretch. (Dave Sandford/Getty Images)

Read up on the latest tidbits and trends as Hockey Night in Canada's play-by-play voice Jim Hughson takes you behind the scenes and into Saturday's featured game.

Boston Bruins at Toronto Maple Leafs (CBC, CBCSports.ca, 7 p.m. ET, 4 p.m. PT)

The script

This could have been a game where the Leafs had a chance to pull even with the Sabres for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. This could have been a game where the Bruins put away the Montreal Canadiens and pretty much sewed up the Northeast division title.

But it doesn't quite have that cachet because both the Leafs and Bruins have been maddeningly inconsistent, following their best games with their worst and looking lifeless when they need a little extra jump.

It's a little easier to understand in Toronto. The Leafs are a young team  and inconsistency isn't unexpected. Still, after an emotional win in Carolina on Wednesday, to be flatter than Saskatchewan against a bad team going nowhere in Florida the following night raises some questions: Are they worn out? Don't they like J.S. Giguere?  How do you take a team lightly when you're looking down on them from the lofty height of 10th spot?

Boston's malaise of late is even harder to figure out. After the trade deadline the Bruins rattled off seven straight wins, six of them on one road trip, and looked like the championship team they aspire to be. But now they've gone an ugly 1-2-3 in the last 6 games. The only win was a shoo-out in Columbus that they deserved to lose in regulation.  

So much good is forgotten as the Bruins stumble along, prone to long lapses, bad penalties and poor decisions. And their power play is sucking the life out of their game .

Makes you wonder if all those early-season wins were even more about Tim Thomas than was evident. Though they're comfortably in the playoffs and still have a shot at the conference lead, the Bruins haven't looked very good these last couple of weeks.

With Thomas and James Reimer back in goal, we should see the good Bruins against the good Leafs, but no guarantees with these two teams. The only certainty is the Leafs are in another must-win game, and we'd all like to see the Bruins play the Canadiens in the first round of the playoffs .

In the spotlight

If the Leafs miss the playoffs by two points, coach Ron Wilson will be vilified even more than he already is for starting Giguere in the 4-0 loss in Florida. After 13 consecutive starts, James Reimer was given a rest and even though the decision was made early and made sense,  you're only human to wonder if the outcome might have been different with Reimer in goal.

The team has great faith in the likeable 23-year-old, and seems to play a different and better game when he's in goal.

Reimer has 14 wins since Jan. 1, hasn't lost in regulation in the second of back-to-back games (4-0-1), is top ten in the league in save percentage (.921), and the team feeds off the positive energy he exudes.

Toronto scores almost a goal a game more when Reimer plays. Since the middle of January, the Leafs have scored just over three goals a game for Reimer and slightly over two per game with Giguere in net. Probably not a coincidence, and more like a confidence that Reimer will make a big save or two when they take some chances.

Reimer is a big shot blocker, not an acrobat like Thomas, but he does share some qualities you just love to have in a goaltender.  He battles hard to stop the puck, never blames anyone else when it gets by him ,and has a resilient and likeable disposition.   Players trust him, like him and want to play hard for him,

On the hot stove

As Tomas Kaberle returns for his first game in Toronto against the Leafs, the early returns on his trade to Boston are mixed. The team is 7-2-3 since he was acquired, and Kaberle is a solid plus-5 while playing over 20 minutes a game.  But he's only got three assists and the Bruins power play that he was supposed to fix might be even worse since he joined it.

The Bruins are 2-for-29 with the man advantage since acquiring Kaberle, and have been blanked in 10 of the 12 games.  Kaberle averages 4:17 of power-play time per game (20th in the NHL) with little to show for it, and the story is very similar to what it was in Toronto.

Kaberle's reluctance or inability to shoot (10 shots in 12 games with Boston) means teams simply overload on Zdeno Chara just like they did on Dion Phaneuf in Toronto.

The Leafs power play isn't spectacular, but since Kaberle was dealt it's scored eight goals and Phaneuf is on his hottest offensive streak since he moved to Toronto. The captain has five goals and six assists in 14 games without Kaberle and has three power-play goals playing the point with Tim Brent.

Out-takes

This is the fifth of six games between Boston and Toronto this season. Each team has
won twice. Toronto lost 2-0 and won 4-3 in Boston while winning 3-2 in a shootout and losing 2-1 at home.

The line of Mikhail Grabovski, Clarke Macarthur and Nikolai Kulemin has now scored 73 goals and has 156 points for the Leafs. Boston's top line right now would be David Krejci with Milan Lucic and Nathan Horton, who have scored 61 goals and put up 155 points.

Since the Kaberle deal, the biggest ice-time winner on the Leafs is Carl Gunnerson, who played over 20 minutes just once this season until the deal. Since Kaberle moved, Gunnerson hasn't been under 20 minutes in 14 games.

From the stat pack

Toronto has given up the first goal in nine straight games and has had trouble getting started on time all season long. The Leafs' record when trailing at the end of the first period is 8-23-0, which seems pretty lousy, but only Detroit, Washington and Buffalo have more wins when trailing after one. Toronto is  12-2-4 when  leading after the first, but they haven't had a lot of practise.

Here's how Boston and Toronto measure up against the league in first-period goals:

Most goals for, 1st period                  

1. Chicago 76                    
2. Calgary 69                    
3. Detroit 68                    
6. Boston 63                    
26. Toronto 49                    

Most goals against, 1st period

1. Colorado 80
2. Columbus 75
3. Edmonton 73
5. Toronto 72
29. Boston 42

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