Leafs wilt under Flames

CALGARY-The boys in blue and white tried to put on a show for the couple of thousand Maple Leaf fans who got a rare chance to cheer for their heroes at the Pengrowth Saddledome last night.

They tried for one of those come-from-behind efforts, but started their rally too late and ultimately fell short, losing 4-3 to Calgary in their first game here since Jan. 6, 2006.

The close score was flattering to the Leafs, who put in 10 strong minutes in the first period and five good ones in the final part of the third period.

It was the sputtering in between that did them in.

"It's popped up every three or four games that we don't get quickly to pucks, we don't move the puck and when our defence struggle a bit advancing the puck, it shuts down our offence," said coach Ron Wilson. "We need our defencemen to be offence starters. It didn't happen."

Matt Stajan had a goal and an assist, Nik Antropov and Alexei Ponikarovsky also scored for Toronto, 1-3-1 in its last five games. Ian White, Mikhail Grabovski and Tomas Kaberle picked up assists.

Captain Jarome Iginla had a goal for the Flames. Dion Phaneuf scored one on a fabulous slapshot. Dustin Boyd was pretty impressive, too, scoring twice for Calgary. Boyd's second goal of the game, a third period marker, made it 4-1 Calgary.

Cue the attempted rally. Antropov deflected White's point shot at 14:53 to get the Leafs within two.

Stajan then got credit for an unassisted goal off a faceoff at 19:06. Craig Conroy cleanly won the draw, but sent the puck straight toward Miikka Kiprussoff, who couldn't handle it. But it was too little, too late for the Leafs.

"We're not going to give up," said Wilson. "I like the spunk of our team. (The Flames) kind of sat back and thought the game was over."

The Remembrance Day game might be something for Luke Schenn and Vesa Toskala to forget. The Leafs' prized rookie defenceman was a minus-2 on the night, while Toskala had trouble controlling his rebounds.

The coach backed his goalie.

"It's awful hard when your defencemen are backing into you or screening you, not blocking the shots or controlling the shots," said Wilson.

"We were just slow in our zone responding to loose pucks. We were always arriving second to it, and you're not going to win many games when you get beat to every loose puck."

The Flames were happy to dump and chase and play a defensive game while waiting for their chances.

The Leafs were happy to give them many, with neutral-zone breakdowns and the odd brain cramp with the puck, especially on the blue line.

"We turned a lot of pucks over, we didn't move the puck too well and it was hard for us to get our offence going," said Ponikarovsky. "We made way too many turnovers on the blue line, and that's how they got their offence."

The Leafs' last trip through Western Canada proved disastrous. The Leafs lost 1-0 to Calgary on Jan. 6, 2006. They they lost Bryan McCabe to a groin injury in a win the following night in Edmonton to move to nine games over .500. But then they lost to Vancouver on Jan. 10, 2006, the first of eight consecutive defeats that dashed their playoff aspirations that season.

NOTES: Coming into the game, the Leafs had outshot their opponents in 11 consecutive games. Shots last night were tied at 32 apiece. Toronto's franchise record for outshooting its opponent consecutively remains at 14 games, set in the 1973-74 season.