In a back-to-back set with the Canadiens and the Maple Leafs on the road to start the New Year, the Jets have dropped both games -- 7-3 to the Habs Wednesday night and now 4-0 in Toronto on Thursday. The shutout for the Leafs came at the hands of a solid team effort on both ends, led by Jonas Gustavsson in net, the second shutout of his career.
Jets Vs. Maple Leafs: Winnipeg Loses Big Again On The Road, This Time At Toronto, 4-0
The Maple Leafs helped earn Jonas Gustavsson (who, briefly, had no glove OR stick at one point) his second-career shutout with a 4-0 win over Winnipeg, handing the Jets two straight four-goal in as many days.
Toronto took this one from the start, heavily forechecking and causing plenty of havoc in the offensive zone to draw plenty of chances. Their gameplan benefited early on, with Phil Kessel banking one in from Joffrey Lupul just five minutes into the game.
A second goal came off of another tough effort to sustain pressure and offense just 1:22 into the second period as the Leafs were awaiting the whistle for two Jets penalties. They continued the cycle and Tim Connolly scored before either penalty was officially whistled, putting his team up 2-0 and still getting a power play to boot.
Toward the end of the second, the Jets finally earned some chances of their own and ended up outshooting the Leafs by the end of the period, but that didn't matter to Toronto in the third, as they capped off the victory with two more goals from Mikhail Grabovski and Clarke MacArthur, the latter extending his point-streak to seven games.
After their 10-3-1 run in December, Winnipeg’s first two loses of 2012 have already started concerns for their season now that they won’t have the cushion of home-ice advantage for 13 of 15 games for the rest of the year. Gustavsson for the Leafs, however, has continued to help his team win and earned the 4-0 shutout Thursday night.
"Right now, I think the Monster [Gustavsson] gives us as good a chance to win [as James Reimer does]," said coach Ron Wilson after Wednesday's practice (via NHL.com).
Gustavsson sure would have earned another start, not only because of the shutout, but being able to make a save without his glove or stick in the third period:
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