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Columnist: Randy Carlyle should rip Phil Kessel for bad defense

Tyler Bozak; Phil Kesse

Toronto Maple Leafs forward Phil Kessel, left, and Tyler Bozak, right, leave the ice after being defeated by the Boston Bruins during third period NHL hockey action in Toronto on Tuesday, March. 6, 2012. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Nathan Denette)

AP

While the Leafs lost a hard, physical game to the Bruins last night, there are some who feel that the scapegoat for their failings last night in the eyes of new Toronto coach Randy Carlyle will be easy to pick out.

Toronto Sun columnist Steve Buffery says that Phil Kessel is the guy who should be read the riot act from Carlyle about playing solid two-way hockey thanks to picking up a goal, an assist, and a minus-two rating on the night. After seeing Zdeno Chara stickhandle around Kessel, Carlyle wasn’t all that impressed and Buffery took his words as damning praise.

“His work ethic was strong,” said Carlyle. “But on the other side they can’t continually give up quality scoring chances. It was like a momentum swing for the one shift that they got scored on twice. And those are the things that we again have to correct as a group. But I thought (Kessel) was a dynamic individual in the other areas of the game. Every time he had the puck on the power play ... he controlled the puck down the side and made things happen.”

That doesn’t sound like a coach who was driven nuts by weak defensive play, but Kessel isn’t a guy that’s going to be out there to lock down opponents anyway.

Yes, they’ll want Kessel to show a bit more effort there but doing so at the expense of the offense he’s supposed to bring would be counterproductive. Besides, if you can find me the person that will be able to body up on Zdeno Chara in the NHL, I’d like to meet them.