Turning Over a New Leaf?
After a start that was the worst in the long, storied and sometimes sordid history of the Toronto Maple Leafs, perhaps there is a glimmer of hope that things aren't as bad as they looked throughout the first month of the 2009-10 campaign.
The Leafs earned at least one point for the sixth straight contest last night with a 3-2 victory on the road over the equally hapless and struggling Carolina Hurricanes. After starting the season 0-7-1, the Leafs are 2-0-4 since, and while that isn't setting the world ablaze, one point is better than none on any night. On the flip side, Carolina, who won the Stanley Cup just a scant few years ago, have fallen on extremely hard times. Playing last night without big scoring threats Eric Staal and Ray Whitney, the Canes have gone 0-8-3 in their last eleven games to fall to a league worst 2-10-3 on the season under retread coach and former Leafs bench boss Paul Maurice.
Toronto fell behind early, as they've been prone to do this season, giving up the opening goal for the thirteenth time in fourteen contests so far this year. In fact, after twenty minutes, Carolina held a 2-0 lead and the Leafs looked flat and uninspired. However, they tied it up with a pair of goals in the second by John Mitchell and Nikolai Kulemin to go to the locker room knotted at a pair after forty minutes. Then with Carolina pressing in the third period, when they outshot the Leafs by an 18-8 margin, Jason Blake ripped the game winner midway through the stanza on a power play to give the Leafs the decisive marker in the contest.
The Leafs have had to rely on a lot of youth due to injuries and lack of veterans in the forward slots. Phil Kessel, who was acquired from Boston in September for two first round picks and a second round selection, made his season debut on Tuesday night against Tampa and looked like he hadn't missed a step. He assisted on Blake's winning goal last night and gives the Leafs an extremely dangerous scorer on the front line, something they lacked last season. After logging 23 minutes against Tampa, Kessel played 19:42 last night and was a +1 to go with the assist on the winner. If he can ignite what has been a sputtering offense, the Leafs will at least have a chance at respectability. I am harboring no illusion of the postseason, but making that pick going to Boston a non lottery selection would be nice.
Defensively, coach Ron Wilson is still trying to find the right pairings. Tomas Kaberle has been a rock on the blueline, leading the team with 18 points on two goals and a team leading 16 helpers. After him though, there has been a lack of consistency. Mike Komisarek and Francois Beauchemin have yet to really make an impact, especially considering the free agent dollars that Brian Burke lobbed at them. Garnet Exelby and Jeff Finger have been healthy scratches on several occasions as well, and coach Ron Wilson has been trying to figure out who to keep in the lineup and who to sit down.
Vesa Toskala has been hurt in net again, and when he has played, has been downright atrocious. In five outings, he's gone 0-2-2 with a goals against of 5.13 and a weak save percentage of just .836 in those outings. He was chased after one period against Washington in a start on October 3rd and then missed two and a half weeks with an injury. His last start before the Halloween shootout loss to Montreal was a 7-2 thrashing by the New York Rangers on October 12th. That's given a chance for rookie Jonas Gustavsson to steal the spotlight and the job. The rook has been solid if unspectacular in minding the Leafs net, going 2-2-3 in seven outings with a 2.84 goals against and a save percentage of 90.8, or seven plus percentage points better than what Toskala has posted. At this point, Toskala would have a brighter future selling air conditioner filters than being the starting netminder in Toronto.
One thing the Leafs have managed to do is get a lot of rubber on opposing netminders. They've outshot their opponents in eight of the fourteen games, and matched the shot total of the opponent in a ninth contest. What might be most important is the sudden uptick in successful penalty kills. After being lit up for multiple power play tallies six times in the first eleven games, and at least one power play goal against in 10 of those 11, the Leafs have successfully killed off 11 straight penalties over the last three games. In that span, they've still been able to light the lamp with the man advantage, connecting on four of seventeen chances.
Toronto looks to extend its point streak to seven when the defending Western Conference Champions, the Detroit Red Wings, come to town at the Air Canada Centre tonight on CBC's Hockey Night in Canada at 7 ET/6 CT. Perhaps the Leafs should use the visitors dressing room for tonight's game. They're 0-4-2 at the Air Canada Center as opposed to 2-3-3 on the road. Man, do I miss Coach's Corner with Don Cherry, and watching Ron McLean try to play the straight man to Grapes' zaniness. If you can, tune in and watch.
The Leafs earned at least one point for the sixth straight contest last night with a 3-2 victory on the road over the equally hapless and struggling Carolina Hurricanes. After starting the season 0-7-1, the Leafs are 2-0-4 since, and while that isn't setting the world ablaze, one point is better than none on any night. On the flip side, Carolina, who won the Stanley Cup just a scant few years ago, have fallen on extremely hard times. Playing last night without big scoring threats Eric Staal and Ray Whitney, the Canes have gone 0-8-3 in their last eleven games to fall to a league worst 2-10-3 on the season under retread coach and former Leafs bench boss Paul Maurice.
Toronto fell behind early, as they've been prone to do this season, giving up the opening goal for the thirteenth time in fourteen contests so far this year. In fact, after twenty minutes, Carolina held a 2-0 lead and the Leafs looked flat and uninspired. However, they tied it up with a pair of goals in the second by John Mitchell and Nikolai Kulemin to go to the locker room knotted at a pair after forty minutes. Then with Carolina pressing in the third period, when they outshot the Leafs by an 18-8 margin, Jason Blake ripped the game winner midway through the stanza on a power play to give the Leafs the decisive marker in the contest.
The Leafs have had to rely on a lot of youth due to injuries and lack of veterans in the forward slots. Phil Kessel, who was acquired from Boston in September for two first round picks and a second round selection, made his season debut on Tuesday night against Tampa and looked like he hadn't missed a step. He assisted on Blake's winning goal last night and gives the Leafs an extremely dangerous scorer on the front line, something they lacked last season. After logging 23 minutes against Tampa, Kessel played 19:42 last night and was a +1 to go with the assist on the winner. If he can ignite what has been a sputtering offense, the Leafs will at least have a chance at respectability. I am harboring no illusion of the postseason, but making that pick going to Boston a non lottery selection would be nice.
Defensively, coach Ron Wilson is still trying to find the right pairings. Tomas Kaberle has been a rock on the blueline, leading the team with 18 points on two goals and a team leading 16 helpers. After him though, there has been a lack of consistency. Mike Komisarek and Francois Beauchemin have yet to really make an impact, especially considering the free agent dollars that Brian Burke lobbed at them. Garnet Exelby and Jeff Finger have been healthy scratches on several occasions as well, and coach Ron Wilson has been trying to figure out who to keep in the lineup and who to sit down.
Vesa Toskala has been hurt in net again, and when he has played, has been downright atrocious. In five outings, he's gone 0-2-2 with a goals against of 5.13 and a weak save percentage of just .836 in those outings. He was chased after one period against Washington in a start on October 3rd and then missed two and a half weeks with an injury. His last start before the Halloween shootout loss to Montreal was a 7-2 thrashing by the New York Rangers on October 12th. That's given a chance for rookie Jonas Gustavsson to steal the spotlight and the job. The rook has been solid if unspectacular in minding the Leafs net, going 2-2-3 in seven outings with a 2.84 goals against and a save percentage of 90.8, or seven plus percentage points better than what Toskala has posted. At this point, Toskala would have a brighter future selling air conditioner filters than being the starting netminder in Toronto.
One thing the Leafs have managed to do is get a lot of rubber on opposing netminders. They've outshot their opponents in eight of the fourteen games, and matched the shot total of the opponent in a ninth contest. What might be most important is the sudden uptick in successful penalty kills. After being lit up for multiple power play tallies six times in the first eleven games, and at least one power play goal against in 10 of those 11, the Leafs have successfully killed off 11 straight penalties over the last three games. In that span, they've still been able to light the lamp with the man advantage, connecting on four of seventeen chances.
Toronto looks to extend its point streak to seven when the defending Western Conference Champions, the Detroit Red Wings, come to town at the Air Canada Centre tonight on CBC's Hockey Night in Canada at 7 ET/6 CT. Perhaps the Leafs should use the visitors dressing room for tonight's game. They're 0-4-2 at the Air Canada Center as opposed to 2-3-3 on the road. Man, do I miss Coach's Corner with Don Cherry, and watching Ron McLean try to play the straight man to Grapes' zaniness. If you can, tune in and watch.
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