Game #46 Jan. 20: Leafs 5 vs. Ducks 2

Leafs scorers: MacArthur (15), Gunnarsson (3), Bozak (8), Grabovski 2 (20)
Ducks scorers: Sexton (3), McMillan (5)
Links: Box Score | Discussion boards

Forward lines:MacArthur-Grabovski-Kulemin, Crabb-Bozak-Kessel, Versteeg-Boyce-Armstrong, Mueller-Brent-Orr
Defence pairings: Beauchmein-Phaneuf, Kaberle-Schenn, Komisarek-Gunnarsson
Goaltenders: Giguere (Win 60:00 minutes played, 26 saves, 2 GA), Gustavsson (0:00)
Noteworthy:
-JS Giguere was named the game’s first star, playing his first game against Anaheim, the team with which he won a Stanley Cup in 2007 and which dealt him to Toronto on January 31, 2010. “It’s always fun to play against your old team,” said Giguere. “I was a little nervous before the game, I wanted to get this one, there’s no doubt. We needed to wash away what happened yesterday (7-0 loss to Rangers). There’s no better way to do that than coming out and having a big win.”
-Mikhail Grabovski’s two goals give him 20 on the year, matching a career high that he established in 2008-09.
-Toronto took consecutive penalties in the second period when leading 2-1 and killed them both, proving to be a pivotal point in the Leafs victory. “We did a pretty good job of forcing them, and getting them to make the passes they didn’t want to make,” said Colby Armstrong, who was utilized along with Tyler Bozak for much of Toronto’s penalty kill.
-Carl Gunnarsson scored his third goal of the year, which makes him the highest goal-scoring Leafs defenceman on the season.
-Captain Dion Phaneuf, who has absorbed recent criticism, had one assist and led all players in ice time with 28:55. “This was Dion’s best game in a month,” said Leafs coach Ron Wilson. He came out hitting and skating, he made a difference and drew a penalty. When team’s play against Dion when he’s ornery like that, he’s an awfully hard guy to play against.”

Game #45 Jan. 19: Leafs 0 at Rangers 7

Leafs scorers: (none)
Rangers scorers: Gaborik 4 (15), Boyle (16), Fedotenko (9), Zuccarello (3)
Links: Box Score | Discussion boards

Forward lines:MacArthur-Grabovski-Kulemin, Crabb-Bozak-Kessel, Versteeg-Boyce-Armstrong, Mueller-Brent-Orr
Defence pairings: Beauchmein-Phaneuf, Kaberle-Schenn, Komisarek-Gunnarsson
Goaltenders: Gustavsson (Loss 53:11 minutes played, 19 saves, 6 GA), Giguere (6:39 minutes played, 2 saves, 1 GA)
Noteworthy:
-Marian Gaborik’s four-goal performance was the highest single-game output by an NHL player this season.

Game #44 Jan. 15: Leafs 1 vs. Flames 2 (SO)

Leafs scorers: Grabovski (18)
Flames scorers: Stajan (3), shootout winner – Jokinen
Links: Box Score | Discussion boards

Forward lines:MacArthur-Grabovski-Kulemin, Crabb-Bozak-Kessel, Mueller-Boyce-Armstrong, Lebda-Brent-Orr
Defence pairings: Beauchmein-Phaneuf, Kaberle-Schenn, Komisarek-Gunnarsson
Goaltenders: Giguere (OT/Loss 63:45 minutes played, 32 saves, 1 GA), Gustavsson (0:00)
Noteworthy:
-With Toronto down 1-0, Grabovski scored a power-play goal with 12.4 seconds remaining in regulation and J.S. Giguere on the bench.
-Giguere started his first game since December 16 after missing nearly a month with a groin injury. “I felt pretty good,” said Giguere. “I’ve had over 20 hours of practice since Christmas, so there shouldn’t be any rust. I made sure I was ready to go.”
-Tyler Bozak missed on a breakaway in overtime, but was one of two Leafs to beat Flames goalie Mikka Kiprusoff in the shootout. “By the time I picked up the puck (in overtime) I didn’t have a lot of room,” said Bozak. “I figured a shot was the best thing, but maybe I could have deked.”
-Matt Stajan scored the Flames lone regulation goal while Niklas Hagman had one of the assists. Both players were part of the trade that sent Dion Phaneuf to Toronto on January 31.
-Phaneuf played 28:20, the most ice time of any player on either team, and had frequent battles with his former Calgary teammate, Jarome Iginla. “We have lots of respect for each other, we played a lot of hockey together, but he’s on the other team,” said Phaneuf.

Game #43 Jan. 13: Leafs 1 at Coyotes 5

Leafs scorers: Armstrong (6)
Coyotes scorers: Vrbata (9), Doan (11), Pyatt (11), Korpikoski (11), Yandle (7)Links: Box Score | Discussion boards

Forward lines:MacArthur-Grabovski-Kulemin, Crabb-Bozak-Kessel, Armstrong-Boyce-Brown,Lebda-Brent-Orr
Defence pairings: Beauchmein-Phaneuf, Kaberle-Schenn, Komisarek-Gunnarsson
Goaltenders: Reimer (Loss 58:10 minutes played, 16 saves, 4 GA), Gustavsson (0:00), empty net (1 GA)
Noteworthy:
-Despite the loss, the Leafs managed to win 3 of four games on their recent road trip, with victories in Atlanta, Los Angeles and San Jose.
-Mike Brown returned to the lineup after being out since Nov. 30 with a finger injury. Brown delivered a blindside hit to Coyotes defenceman Ed Jovanovski. Although no penalty was called on the play, the incident will likely be reviewed by the NHL.

Game #40 Jan. 7: Leafs 9 at Thrashers 3

Leafs scorers: Versteeg (12), Grabovski 2 (17), Armstrong (5), Kulemin 2 (15), MacArthur 2 (12), Kessel (17)
Thrashers scorers: Enstrom (8), Cormier (1), Ladd (14)
Links: Box Score | Discussion boards

Forward lines:MacArthur-Grabovski-Kulemin, Crabb-Bozak-Kessel, Armstrong-Boyce-Versteeg,Lebda-Brent-Orr
Defence pairings: Beauchmein-Phaneuf, Kaberle-Schenn, Komisarek-Gunnarsson
Goaltenders: Reimer (Win 59:32 minutes played, 41 saves, 3 GA), Gustavsson (0:00)
Noteworthy:
-The Leafs scored 9 unanswered goals, last accomplishing the feat on Jan. 4, 2007 (10-2 victory vs. Boston).
-Toronto’s nine-goal total was the team’s highest offensive output this season.
-The Leafs capitalized 4 times on a five-minute power-play after Atlanta’s Ben Eager was assessed a match penalty for sucker-punching Colby Armstrong, who missed the rest of the game after the second-period incident.
-Ron Wilson stated that Armstrong was punched in the eye, and was kept out of action in the third period for precautionary reasons.
-Each member of the MacArthur-Grabovski-Kulemin line scored twice.
-Toronto finished 5-for-7 on the power-play. The Leafs scored seven power-play goals in a 9-1 win at Atlanta on October 14, 2005.
-Tomas Kaberle collected four assists, including 3 assists in 1:49 during the five-minute power-play.

Game #39 Jan. 6: Leafs 6 vs. Blues 5 (SO)

Leafs scorers: Armstrong (4), Grabovski (15), Versteeg (11), Kessel 2 (16), shootout winner: Bozak
Blues scorers: Steen (14), Backes (11), Winchester (6), Brewer (6), D’Agostini (9)
Links: Box Score | Discussion boards

Forward lines:MacArthur-Grabovski-Kulemin, Crabb-Bozak-Kessel, Armstrong-Boyce-Versteeg,Sjostrom-Brent-Orr
Defence pairings: Beauchmein-Phaneuf, Kaberle-Schenn, Komisarek-Lebda
Goaltenders: Gustavsson (Win 65:00 minutes played, 39 saves, 5 GA), Reimer (0:00)
Noteworthy:
-The highlight of the night for the Leafs was Mikhail Grabovski’s spin-o-rama shootout goal, using a similar move he successfully performed in a win over the Capitals on December 6.
-Grabovski’s teammates were in awe. “I was too chicken to pull a Grabo move,” quipped Tyler Bozak, who had the shootout winner. “I saw it coming,” said winning goaltender Jonas Gustavsson. “He tried that on me in practice a couple of days ago.”
-Many players made reference to last night’s World Junior Hockey Championship final in which Team Canada blew a three-goal third period lead; a fate which the Leafs suffered after surrending 3 goals to St. Louis in just under six minutes in the final frame.
-The Leafs chased Blues’ starting goalie Jaroslav Halak after their fourth goal. Ty Conklin came on in relief.
-Phil Kessel’s two goals give him 4 in his past five games. Grabovski has 10 goals in his past 13 outings.
-Former Leafs Alex Steen and Brad Boyes scored the Blues’ goals in the shootout. Steen had a goal in regulation while Boyes collected two assists. Ex-Leaf Carlo Colaiacovo was held pointless in 16:40 of ice time.
-Had Toronto gone on to lose this game, the team would have been at the mercy of critics, especially in light of Team Canada’s collapse just 24 hours earlier. However, it would have not been the worst blown lead by the Leafs. On Nov. 29, 2000 Toronto held a 5-0 lead against the Blues, only to lose 6-5 in overtime.