ST. LOUIS - Welcome to the Nightmare on Clark Avenue.
It may have been only an pre-season game at the Scottrade Center Wednesday night, but there were a number of ghoulish overtones for the Toronto Maple Leafs. A horrendous opening period, in which the visitors were outscored 5-1 by the 13:36 mark, allowed the St. Louis Blues an evening of leisure, as they waltzed to a 7-3 victory over the Leafs before an announced crowd of 12,636.
Curtis Joseph may never again wish to set foot in the NHL city he called home between 1989 and 1995. Nor may he be allowed to. The Leafs' veteran goalie was both accomplice to, and victim of, the Blues' early blitzkrieg - getting beaten high to the blocker side on the first two shots, and later fanning on an easy volley that escaped between his pads.
When Lee Stempniak fired a 25-footer over Joseph's blocker at 1:56 of the middle frame, coach Ron Wilson had seen enough. Though Wilson intended for Cujo to play the entire match, he ordered Justin Pogge onto the ice. And, the shaky performance brings into question Joseph's ability to handle a part-time role with the Leafs this season at age 41.
If Joseph is not able to handle long stretches of inactivity - a difficult chore for any goaltender - general manager Cliff Fletcher may have to find another stand-in for Toskala, as Pogge's interests would be best served by playing regularly for the Leafs' top farm team, the American Hockey League's Toronto Marlies.
In fairness to Joseph, he received little help from his teammates - particularly rookie defenceman Richard Petiot, who was undressed by the Blues on the second and fourth goals of the opening frame, and was repeatedly caught out of position.
None of Toskala, Jeff Finger, Carlo Colaiacovo, Tomas Kaberle, Dominic Moore, Alexei Ponikarovsky, Pavel Kubina, Nikolai Kulemin, Jason Blake or Nik Antropov dressed for Wednesday night's debacle, and it showed.
Injuries are hampering the Leafs in the final week of the pre-season. Kubina and Kulemin, according to Wilson, are both sidelined a maximum 10 days, jeopardizing their availability for the club's regular season opener, at Joe Louis Arena, a week from Friday. Finger, Moore and Blake are also nursing minor aches and pains.
Things were so bad for the Leafs Wednesday night that a shot by Alex Steen on a 5-on-3 power play in the second period almost led to disaster. No one is quite sure where Steen was aiming, as his wide open slapshot from 40 feet almost decapitated teammate Jiri Tlusty. Luckily for Tlusty, he covered up in time to escape with only a bloody nose.
Yan Stastny, Brad Boyes, Stempniak, T.J. Oshie and Andy McDonald did the first-period damage for the Blues. Only Mikhail Grabovski answered for the Leafs, whose pre-season record fell to 2-3-1. Stempniak and Anton Stralman traded second-period markers.
Toronto's Niklas Hagman converted John Mitchell's third-period feed with 8:18 left. David Perron closed out the scoring for St. Louis.
Given the injuries to Kubina and Finger, rookie defenceman Luke Schenn stands a better chance of starting the regular season in the NHL. Schenn played in his fifth of six pre-season games Wednesday night - he was scratched only for the Leafs' overtime loss at Buffalo last Saturday.
"Luke has had a very good camp," Fletcher said. "He's playing with maturity that is beyond normal for an 18 year old coming out of junior and attending his first NHL camp. But, once the regular season starts, things change. And, his staying with us will depend on the amount of ice time the coaches project for him. If they come up and say, 'Cliff, he's going to play over 20 minutes a game', then the decision will be easy to keep him.
"But, we're not interested in having a real top-notch future Leaf here as a part-time player when he's 18."
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