Last night’s contest against the St. Louis Blues presented the Leafs with many opportunities to prove themselves, and while they didn’t exactly impress, they still walked away with the two points at the end of the night, thanks to some nifty shootout moves and some timely saves by Jonas Gustavsson.
The Leafs blew an opportunity to show off their truculence and belligerence. The refs were all about ‘letting them play’ last night, as only three penalties were called the entire game, one on the Leafs, two on the Blues. None were called after second period. The Leafs could have established a fore-check and played a more aggressive style, knowing that the refs were letting things go, but it was St. Louis that came out hitting, as they more than doubled the Leafs hit totals, throwing 54 to the Leafs 25.
The Leafs also blew another opportunity to show that they actually watch video replays of their own games, as two of St. Louis’ goals last night were eerily familiar. First, we had the Eric Brewer slap shot from the point after a lost defensive zone face-off, something that’s becoming all too common in Leaf land, and then they followed that up by allowing Matt D’Agostini to split the defense for a breakaway, almost identical to the Kristian Huselius goal a few games ago as the Leafs lost to Columbus.
The Leafs blew an opportunity to show that they can hold on to late leads, and finish opponents off when they are down. The Blues scored 3 goals in just over 7 minutes in the third to tie it as they pressed the attack and the Leafs had trouble clearing the zone. They couldn’t block shots or relieve the pressure when it counted. They couldn’t play the body or come up with a big save when it counted. They did manage to hang on in the final six minutes and overtime, but the momentum was all St. Louis at that point.
Jonas Gustavsson blew an opportunity to solidify his status as a number one goalie in the NHL, often times fighting the puck, unaware of where it was after the initial save was made, struggling to control rebounds and not cutting off the angle properly on the first goal by Alex Steen. A total collapse in the third period cost the Leafs a 3 goal lead, though Gustavsson is not solely to blame here. He did save some face by making some key stops in the overtime and the shootout.
Tomas Kaberle blew an opportunity to score a goal when, on the Leafs only power play sequence of the game, Phil Kessel sent a gift-wrapped pass across the crease that landed right on Kaberle’s stick. With Blues goalie Jaroslav Halak way out of position and sliding across to cover the net, Kaberle did use that opportunity to show he was a gentleman, as he kindly waited for Halak to be ready for the shot before attempting a deke around his pad. No wonder Kaberle has the worst shooting percentage in the NHL.
Darryl Boyce blew an opportunity to show that he can be an NHL center, going 4 for 15 in the face-off circle. He’s played well for the most part since being called up, but when other players are ready to return they will have a tough decision to make. Bottom six centers that kill penalties need to be better in the face-off dot in order to maintain their effectiveness.
What could have been a statement game for the Leafs turned into a heart-pounding thrill ride. You can never be too disappointed with the results, and as such, there were some positives to take away from this as well. The Leafs, in spite of being out-hit and out-shot, still managed 5 goals. The Leafs won their third shoot-out of the season, something that had previously been a team weakness.
Dion Phaneuf and Francois Beauchemin had their best game of the season as a unit, with Beauchemin drawing two assists and a +3, Phaneuf finishing +2 on the evening and was the catalyst for many of the offensive plays. Phil Kessel showed glimpses of his old self, ripping clean shots past both St. Louis goalies for his third two-goal game of the year. The Versteeg / Armstrong / Boyce line is starting to show some chemistry. Mike Komisarek played almost 14 minutes and earned it, as well as grabbing an assist on Kessel’s second goal. Mikhail Grabovski continues to show his shoot-out magic.
Overall, there seems to be a healthy competition on this club for both playing time and points, as 5 Leafs are within 4 points of each other for the team lead, while Kessel, Grabovski and Kulemin battle it out for the goal lead. Darryl Boyce, Joey Crabb, Tim Brent and others will fight for playing time in the absence of John Mitchell and Mike Brown, while James Reimer is playing well and pushing Gustavsson for starts while Giguere recovers from injury.
In the days leading up to the trade deadline, the Leafs will take any points they can get to climb up in the standings to avoid giving up another lottery pick to the Boston Bruins. Many of the players know that changes are coming, moves will be made, and opportunity will be given for both this team, and the players, to prove themselves on the ice. As the Leafs head out on a road trip including a swing through California, they can ill afford to squander any more chances like they did last night.
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Born and raised in Northern Ontario but currently living in Toronto, Tyler wouldn't have it any other way. Home to his two favourite sports teams, Tyler revels in the day to day sports experience that is Toronto. 