Maple Leafs fall to Panthers, 5-3

SUNRISE, FLA.—This being a new day, James Reimer has most likely moved on.

Having allowed an embarrassing three goals on eight shots against the Florida Panthers — digging a hole that would result in a 5-3 Maple Leafs loss on Tuesday night — Reimer took his share of the blame.

But he wasn’t about to sulk or get himself into an emotional funk.

“It does no good to dwell on it,” said the Leafs goalie. “You let it sting, obviously, but you don’t dwell on it. You look at video, see what you did and move on. These games happen.”

Unfortunately for the Leafs, these games happen a lot against the Florida Panthers.

The Panthers have won both games against Toronto this year, chasing the starting goalie in both instances and outscoring the Leafs 10-4.

The Panthers are now 10-3-1 against Toronto in their last 14 meetings. Florida has won four straight and six of its last seven against the Leafs on home ice.

“I don’t remember when we won a game here,” said Toronto centre Mikhail Grabovski, who scored twice. “We made a lot of mistakes, a lot of turnovers. I think they capitalized on our mistakes. They were much faster and used their skill.”

Yes, the league’s worst penalty kill struck again, allowing two goals, including a league-leading seventh with the team two men down. The Leafs have surrendered power-play goals in four straight games, and in nine of their past 10 contests.

The Leaf power play — the good news story among their special teams — also connected. Grabovski, with his second of the night, brought the Leafs to within one midway through the third period.

In years past, a losing record to the Panthers might have been a badge of shame. And while the Leafs can’t be happy losing Tuesday night to a team that had only 11 healthy forwards, they can at least say the’ve lost to a better team.

The Panthers are ahead of them in the standings and have a comfortable lead in the Southeast Division, putting the playoffs in their scope for the first time in a decade. The last time the Panthers were first place in their division this late in a season was through 68 games on March 10, 2000.

The Panthers also have points in nine of their last 12 games (6-3-3) and 14 of their last 19 (10-5-4).

The Leafs, better this year, remain in a dogfight for a playoff spot, and Tuesday’s loss doesn’t help. They continue their road trip through the Southeast Division with games in Carolina on Thursday and Winnipeg on Saturday.

Dion Phaneuf had the other goal for Toronto. Cody Franson had two assists, while Clarke MacArthur, Phil Kessel, Joffrey Lupul and Nikolai Kulemin each picked up one. Phaneuf, Kessel and Lupul all have three-game points streaks.

“We looked a little rusty,” said coach Ron Wilson. “We generated a lot of opportunities, but we didn’t have much finish.”

Bill Thomas, Kris Versteeg, Jason Garrison, Tomas Fleischmann and Eric Gudbranson scored for Florida. Brian Campbell had three assists.

The Leafs, who had won two in a row, fell to 4-5-2 in December.

Despite the score, the Leafs were the better team, outshooting Florida 32-26 and dominating in zone play and scoring chances. Twice they hit the post. The rest of the time, Jose Theodore rose to the occasion in the Panthers net.

Meanwhile, the Leafs were shooting themselves in the the foot. After Grabovski scored early in the second to tie the game 1-1, Jake Gardiner got caught on an awful pinch, and Thomas went in on a breakaway.

“I don’t know what he was thinking,” Wilson said of Gardiner. “Your defenceman shouldn’t be in the deep slot covering their centre. That’s not how we forecheck. He made a mistake, and we paid.”

In the third, Grabovski brought the Leafs within one at 4-3 and the momentum was going the Leafs’ way. Perhaps caught up in that momentum, Luke Schenn went on an ill-advised adventure up ice that turned into the Panthers’ fifth goal.

“We shouldn’t have a defenceman who doesn’t normally lead attacks trying to stickhandle through their entire team,” Wilson said of Schenn’s mistake. “They counterattacked and finished us off.

“We shot ourselves in the foot twice in the same game at critical points when a smarter play would have put us in a better position.”

Injuries certainly played a factor as the puck was dropped. The Leafs announced prior to the game that John-Michael Liles had been put on injured reserve with concussion-like symptoms. He was injured in Thursday’s game against Buffalo. Korbinian Holzer was called up from the Marlies to replace Liles on the roster.

But it was Florida that really had the injury bug, with seven forwards lost including Stephen Weiss, as well as Scottie Upshall and Sean Bergenheim. Their makeshift lineup, filled with minor-league call-ups, had seven defencemen, with some taking a turn at forward.

Leaf Nation showed up in force at the BankAtlantic Centre — the Panthers announced a sellout of 20,406, although a smattering of empty seats could be seen. And the “Go Leafs Go” chant was louder than the “Let’s Go Panthers” and “U-S-A” chants. It was the Panthers’ biggest crowd of the season.

NOTES: The youngest teams in the NHL: Colorado Avalanche (26.2 years); Leafs (26.5); Buffalo Sabres and Nashville Predators (26.8). . . . Tim Connolly leads all Toronto players in career games played (32), assists (11) and points (15) against Florida. . . . Phil Kessel leads all Toronto players in career goals (8) in 20 games against Florida. . . . Clarke MacArthur has registered more career penalty minutes (28) against Florida than against any other NHL club. . . . Florida forward Kris Versteeg played 53 games with Toronto last season, registering 35 points (14 goals, 21 assists) with 29 penalty minutes. . . . Florida goaltender Scott Clemmensen played three games with Toronto during the 2007-08 season, posting a 1-1-0 record with a 3.90 GAA and .839 save percentage. . . . Florida came into the game having suffered the worst shutout loss in franchise history, an 8-0 shellacking at the hands of the Boston Bruins on Friday.