“Comfortable” Reimer to make fifth straight start for Leafs

The player deposed Leafs GM Brian Burke never stopped believing could be a top goalie in the NHL is playing a lot like a top goalie in the NHL.

As such, James Reimer is expected to make his fifth straight start tonight when Toronto hosts Carolina.

Reimer, 24, is 3-2-0 with a .922 save percentage and 2.46 GAA. On Saturday, he stopped 33 of 34 Boston shots in a 1-0 loss.

Of note, Leafs head coach Randy Carlyle is quick to credit new goalie coach Rick St. Croix — who replaced Francois Allaire (who didn’t leave on the best terms) in September — for Reimer’s improved play.

“I think [Reimer's] comfortable,” Carlyle said recently. “Rick St. Croix has had a measured amount of change with him and that’s not throwing anybody under the bus that was previously here. It’s just a different approach in some things.

“He looks confident. It looks like a lot of pucks are hitting him, because he’s in the right position. We’ve tried to make him a little more aggressive in certain situations. All those things are a culmination of a player coming into camp in the best shape he’s been in and in the right frame of mind.”