A goaltender not named Jonathan Bernier takes over the net tonight versus the San Jose Sharks (7:30 p.m., TSN4), and based on the Leafs’ 29 games so far this season their odds of winning just skyrocketed.
Not to pile onto the Jonathan Bernier hatefest, but the records are obviously damning — 0-8-2 with Bernier in net, and 10-5-4 with Reimer or Sparks.
It was particularly frustrating on a night when the Leafs — scoring only 2.24 goals a game on average this season — offered goal support as they did versus Tampa Bay on Tuesday. The team could’ve helped Bernier out a little more in terms of the defensive breakdowns, sure, but NHL goalies are expected to come up with a save or two for their team somewhere along the way.
Garret Sparks is sticking with the team for the time being — and starting with Reimer still hurt — while talk of waivers and salary-dump trades continue to swirl in the rumour mill. If the Leafs are levelheaded about this, neither option makes as much sense as playing wait and see in hopes Bernier works his way out of it. It’s possible he’s no longer an NHL goalie, but everything about his history suggests the odds are he will come through it.
Just to keep things in perspective, Reimer — killing it with a .935 save percentage this season — has had two ten-game stretches in the .880s (Bernier is currently at .881 through ten) in each of the last two seasons.
Each slump came with just one win in ten games:
James Reimer: Worst Ten Consecutive Game Sample – 2013-14
| Date | Opp | Result | SA | SV | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23-Mar | @NJ | L 2-3 | 10 | 7 | 0.7 |
| 22-Mar | MON | L 3-4 | 36 | 32 | 0.889 |
| 19-Mar | TB | L 3-5 | 30 | 25 | 0.833 |
| 18-Mar | @DET | L 2-3 | 31 | 28 | 0.903 |
| 16-Mar | @WAS | L 2-4 | 32 | 29 | 0.906 |
| 13-Mar | @LA | W 3-2 | 31 | 31 | 1 |
| 11-Mar | @SJ | L 2-6 | 48 | 42 | 0.875 |
| 03-Mar | CLS | L 1-2 | 33 | 31 | 0.939 |
| 25-Jan | @WPG | L 4-5 | 19 | 15 | 0.79 |
| 23-Jan | @DAL | L 1-7 | 15 | 11 | 0.733 |
| Totals: | 285 | 251 | 0.881 |
James Reimer: Worst Ten Consecutive Game Sample – 2014-15
| Date | Opp | Result | SA | Saves | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21-Mar | @OTT | L 3-5 | 18 | 15 | 0.833 |
| 16-Mar | @EDM | L 1-4 | 28 | 27 | 0.964 |
| 13-Mar | @CGY | L 3-6 | 28 | 22 | 0.786 |
| 07-Mar | STL | L 1-6 | 27 | 24 | 0.889 |
| 01-Mar | @WAS | L 0-4 | 31 | 28 | 0.903 |
| 20-Feb | @CAR | L 1-2 | 26 | 24 | 0.923 |
| 10-Feb | NYR | L 4-5 | 39 | 34 | 0.872 |
| 07-Feb | EDM | W 5-1 | 32 | 31 | 0.969 |
| 06-Feb | @NJ | L 1-4 | 17 | 13 | 0.765 |
| Totals: | 246 | 218 | 0.886 |
It might be difficult for Bernier to fight his way out of it while serving spot duty now that he’s lost the coach’s trust, as it was for Reimer the past couple of seasons, but things can change in a hurry. Regardless, the Leafs don’t have a tonne of other options and they’re not really in a rush to make a decision here.
In any event, Sparks starts tonight looking to continue a personal two-game winning streak (52 saves on 55 shots) against a Sharks team that’s been mediocre this season (15-14-1, somehow good enough for second in the Pacific), but much less so on the road (11-5-1).
Other than that, expect the same lineup from Tuesday according to Paul Hendrick.
No expected lineup changes for Leafs tonight except in nets. Boyes and Marincin look like scratches again. #TMLtalk
— Paul Hendrick (@HennyTweets) December 17, 2015
Crazy fact of the night: The Sharks are second in the Pacific with 31 points. If they were placed in the Central Division, they’d be sixth, and just one point out of last.
Matchup Stats
| GP | RECORD | HOME | ROAD | L10 | G/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | S/GP | SA/GP | FO% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Jose | 30 | 15-14-1 | 4-9-0 | 11-5-1 | 3-6-1 | 2.57 | 2.63 | 17.7 | 81.9 | 29.3 | 28 | 52.2 |
| Toronto | 29 | 10-13-6 | 5-5-4 | 5-8-2 | 4-4-2 | 2.24 | 2.66 | 18.7 | 80 | 30.4 | 30.4 | 51.7 |
San Jose Sharks Projected Lineup
Tomas Hertl – Joe Thornton – Joe Pavelski
Melker Karlsson – Patrick Marleau – Joel Ward
Joonas Donskoi – Chris Tierney – Tommy Wingels
Matt Nieto – Dainius Zubrus – Mike Brown
Paul Martin – Brent Burns
Marc-Edouard Vlasic – Justin Braun
Brenden Dillon – Dylan DeMelo
Martin Jones
Alex Stalock
Injured: Logan Couture (right thigh), Ben Smith (concussion symptoms)
Scratched: Barclay Goodrow, Matt Tennyson
Toronto Maple Leafs Projected Lineup
James van Riemsdyk – Tyler Bozak – PA Parenteau
Shawn Matthias – Nazem Kadri – Leo Komarov
Daniel Winnik- Nick Spaling – Michael Grabner
Peter Holland – Byron Froese – Joffrey Lupul
Jake Gardiner – Dion Phaneuf
Matt Hunwick – Morgan Rielly
Frank Corrado – Roman Polak
Garret Sparks
Jonathan Bernier
Injured: Stephane Robidas (groin), James Reimer (lower body)
Scratched: Martin Marincin, Brad Boyes
