A Must Win Game In October?

The Leafs badly need to rebound tonight at home against the New York Islanders (7:30, LeafsTV). Their schedule is packed with home games to begin the year and they can ill afford to lose too many more - their play must improve before they burn all of their home games (ie. best opportunities to win). The Leafs must get that winning feeling back, in much the same way as a guy who finds himself sleeping with questionable talent needs something to snap him out of his rut.

This will be Jason Blake's first game against his former team. The Islanders were written off as sub-par by many (me included) before the season began. Since then, they've shown that they aren't ready to let their roster - which is thin on paper - stand in the way of winning. The Islanders are 3-1-0 so far, included back-to-back wins against the Sabres.

The Leafs have recalled Simon Gamache (who will probably play) and Anton Stralman (who probably won't) from the Marlies. Wade Belak has also been told he'll play, so it stands to reason that two other Leaf forwards will sit. The smart money is on two of Bates Battaglia (averaging 4:20 of icetime thusfar), Kris Newbury (3:47), and John Pohl (8:30). Ostensibly, Pohl is the least likely to sit out as he plays the most and is the centreman, but on the other hand he has looked especially bad of late, and his icetime has dropped from over 10 minutes in the first two games to under 6.5 in the second two. Most reports indicate Pohl will be the one to play.

I like this move. None of the three players mentioned above have played more than 7 minutes in either of the last two games. They haven't produced much when they've been on the ice - neither offense nor energy - so why not bring in two players that might? If Gamache and Belak don't do much better, the only harm done is that your 4th line, 6 minutes-per-game player is slightly different. The upside to the move is greater than the downside.

I imagine that Andrew Raycroft will get the start tonight. Vesa Toskala may need a little time off after the Carolina Hurricanes raised his goals-against average higher than Don Cherry's blood pressure. Even as the Toronto media verbally raped the Leafs for the loss on Tuesday, not one article that I've seen (and I make an effort to see 'em all) has put any hint of blame on Toskala. However, I think it'd be hard not to start Raycroft after all of the talk of a 'great goaltending tandem' coming from Leafs' brass to begin the season. If half of that great tandem doesn't start after the other half gives up 7 goals, when will he?

Another question surrounding the game tonight: will Alexei Ponikarovsky play? He hurt himself in practice while battling with Chad Kilger, and reports have the injury ranging from minor to serious. He is a game-time decision. Assuming he plays, these are the line combinations being reported for tonight:
Blake Sundin Steen
Gamache Stajan Tucker
Ponikarovsky Devereaux Antropov
Kilger Pohl Belak

Credit given when credit is due: Steve Simmons - who is usually a windbag of the highest order - had a good article today. If you're too lazy to check it out via that hyperlink, the gist is that JFJ's lack of long-term planning has saddled the Leafs with three exceptionally high priced defensemen - two of which are simply not producing as expected - that will prevent the team from succeeding for the duration of the contracts. Sure, it has been said before, but the article is worth a read nonetheless.