Feb. 1: Leafs 1 vs. Penguins 0

(James Reimer gets his second shutout this season)
Leafs scorers: MacArthur (16)
Penguins scorers: (none)
Links: Box Score | Discussion boards

Forward lines:Lupul-Bozak-Kessel, Lombardi-Connolly-Crabb, Kulemin-Grabovski-MacArthur, Armstrong-Steckel-Brown
Defence pairings: Phaneuf-Gunnarsson, Liles-Franson, Gardiner-Schenn
Goaltenders: Reimer (Win 60:00 minutes played, 25 saves, 0 GA), Gustavsson (0:00)

Recap
For entertainment value, if last night’s Leafs vs. Penguins game was a feature film, then tonight’s rematch was the ugly sequel.

That hardly matters to Toronto fans who saw the team squeak out a 1-0 victory at Air Canada Centre just 24 hours after dropping a heartbreaker in Pittsburgh.

The teams had plodded to a scoreless draw beyond the midway point of the third period. With just under seven minutes remaining, Clarke MacArthur converted a pass from Mikhail Grabovski for the only goal of the game.
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Jan. 31: Leafs 4 at Penguins 5 (SO)

(Grabovski has two-goal night, but Leafs blow lead)
Leafs scorers: Grabovski 2 (18), Bozak (8), MacArthur (15)
Penguins scorers: Cooke (8), Sullivan (10, Vitale (3), Malkin (27), shootout winner – Malkin
Links: Box Score | Discussion boards

Forward lines:Lupul-Bozak-Kessel, Lombardi-Connolly-Kadri, Kulemin-Grabovski-MacArthur, Crabb-Steckel-Brown
Defence pairings: Phaneuf-Schenn, Gardiner-Franson, Gunnarsson-Komisarek
Goaltenders: Gustavsson (Shootout Loss 65:00 minutes played, 31 saves, 4 GA), Reimer (0:00)

Recap
Coming out of the All-Star break, the Eastern Conference playoff race showed no margin of error in the standings.

With the Leafs, Devils, Panthers and Capitals all at 55 points, no team can afford give away games that they are capable of winning in regulation.

This is what makes Toronto’s 5-4 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday so bitter for Leafs fans. The visitors to Consol Energy Center dominated for over 46 minutes, with a 4-1 lead seeming all but insurmountable when Clarke MacArthur gave his team a three-goal cushion just 19 seconds after birthday boy Mikhail Grabovski scored his second of the game.
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Jan. 24: Leafs 4 at Islanders 3 (OT)

(Leafs centre had both good and bad luck)
Leafs scorers: MacArthur 2 (14) Gardiner (1), Grabovski (16)
Islanders scorers: Tavares (20), Bailey (5), Parenteau (10)
Links: Box Score | Discussion boards

Forward lines:Lupul-Bozak-Kessel, Lombardi-Connolly-Kadri, Kulemin-Grabovski-MacArthur, Crabb-Steckel-Brown
Defence pairings: Phaneuf-Schenn, Gardiner-Franson, Gunnarsson-Komisarek
Goaltenders: Gustavsson (Win 62:06 minutes played, 29 saves, 3 GA), Reimer (0:00)

Recap
It was anything but a conventional win for the Maple Leafs.

But with the team expected to be in the thick of a heated playoff race between now and the end of the season, Toronto will be happy with any result – no matter how inelegant – that ends in two points, such as the 4-3 overtime win over the New York Islanders on Tuesday night.

In a game in which the officials appeared to give their whistles an early All-Star break, peculiar bounces seemed to go both ways. No player epitomized the extreme ends of the misfortune scale than Mikahil Grabovski, who was both a beneficiary and a victim of fate.
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Jan. 23: Leafs 3 vs. Islanders 0

(Matthew Lombardi has first multi-goal game as a Leaf)
Leafs scorers: Lombardi 2 (6), Kessel (26)
Islanders scorers: (none)
Links: Box Score | Discussion boards

Forward lines:Lupul-Bozak-Kessel, Lombardi-Connolly-Kadri, Kulemin-Grabovski-Crabb, MacArthur-Steckel-Brown
Defence pairings: Phaneuf-Schenn, Gardiner-Franson, Gunnarsson-Komisarek
Goaltenders: Gustavsson (Win 60:00 minutes played, 25 saves, 0 GA), Reimer (0:00)

Recap
For the second straight game, the Leafs faced an inferior opponent based on the NHL standings. In the wake of Saturday’s loss to Montreal, a win over the New York Islanders was expected, but certainly not guaranteed.

With a far more energetic effort than they exerted two days ago, the Leafs shutout the Islanders 3-0 at Air Canada Centre. The key challenge for the home team was to neutralize Long Island’s most potent scorer John Tavares, who entered Monday’s matchup with a 12-game point streak.

Coach Ron Wilson gave kudos to the trio of Mikhail Grabovski, Joey Crabb and Nikolai Kulemin for keeping Tavares in check. “They all can skate, and they’re all willing to get in the way of a shot,” said Wilson. “The most important thing is that they collapse down low.”
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Jan. 21: Leafs 1 vs. Habs 3

(Jonas Gustavsson takes the loss in goal)
Leafs scorers: Lombardi (4)
Habs scorers: Bourque (14), Diaz (3), Eller (10)
Links: Box Score | Discussion boards

Forward lines:Lupul-Kadri-Connolly, Lombardi-Bozak-Kessel, Kulemin-Grabovski-MacArthur, Crabb-Steckel-Brown
Defence pairings: Phaneuf-Schenn, Gardiner-Franson, Gunnarsson-Komisarek
Goaltenders: Gustavsson (Loss 58:48 minutes played, 20 saves, 3 GA), Reimer (0:00)

Recap
At the Saturday morning skate, the Leafs players vowed not to take their opponents too lightly.

To a man Joffrey Lupul, Cody Franson, and anyone who played in Tuesday’s loss to Ottawa swore that he wouldn’t make “the same mistake” in underestimating a team that played the previous night.

So what happened? How did the rested Leafs falter 3-1 against a Montreal Canadiens team that played in Pittsburgh just 24 hours earlier? “We let those guys hang around,” said Matthew Lombardi, who scored Toronto’s only goal. “I think we came out the way we wanted to, and then got away from it a little bit.”

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Jan. 19: Leafs 4 vs. Wild 1

Joffrey Lupul collects 3 points
Leafs scorers: Kadri (4), Crabb (8), Kessel (25), Grabovski (15)
Wild scorers: Johnson (6)
Links: Box Score | Discussion boards

Forward lines:Lupul-Kadri-Connolly, Lombardi-Bozak-Kessel, Kulemin-Grabovski-MacArthur, Crabb-Steckel-Brown
Defence pairings: Phaneuf-Schenn, Gardiner-Franson, Gunnarsson-Komisarek
Goaltenders: Gustavsson (Win 59:55 minutes played, 20 saves, 1 GA), Reimer (0:00)

Recap
With their forward lines reshuffled, the Maple Leafs ended their three-game losing streak with a convincing 4-1 win over the Minnesota Wild on Thursday.

Joffrey Lupul, playing with new linemates Nazem Kadri and Tim Connolly, had three assists.

All four Toronto lines had a goal, with Kadri, Joey Crabb, Phil Kessel, and Mikhail Grabovski each finding the net.

Toronto goalie Jonas Gustavsson didn’t have a particularly busy night in making 20 saves, losing the shutout bid on a bad-angle goal with 2:27 remaining in the third period.