To McCabe (verb): see "To Munson"

I apologize for the lack of posts recently; I've been extremely ill. I feel like a Thai hooker the day after the Navy leaves town.

The Leafs lost last night - at home, of course - to the Montreal Canadiens. This shouldn't surprise you, as this has been happening all season. Poor defensive play, average goaltending, and major gaffes cost the Leafs the win.

My rundown of the game:

-The Leafs outplayed the Montreal Canadiens most of the night but didn't have the cojones to put the Canadiens away (they held 2-1 and 3-2 leads).

- The goaltending line: Carey Price - 3 goals on 40 shots; Andrew Raycroft - 4 goals on 25 shots. Carey Price kept Montreal in the game with several big saves at opportune times. I won't say that Andrew Raycroft played badly tonight - because he really didn't - but an average team like the Leafs truly need exceptional goaltending to succeed. Instead, they have been getting goaltending that's been decent. It's been just good enough to win, or just good enough to lose. Last night, obviously, was the latter.

- The Leafs did get a powerplay goal last night, but they were on the powerplay for over 12 minutes - nearly three times what the Canadiens were. Despite what some in the media are saying this morning, the powerplay looked bad again last night. The Wellwood powerplay goal was at the very tail end of a prolonged powerplay that included some time up 5 on 3. This powerplay has not been good enough - not even close - to be competitive. The Leafs' powerplay often looks like a pleasure skate. They are quite intent on keeping full control of the puck without actually attacking the net. There are no surprises on the powerplay, and the opposing teams have adjusted accordingly. It's Kaberle to McCabe, back to Kaberle, then to Sundin, then back to Kaberle. Repeat several times until the powerplay is over. So frustrating!

- 3 of Montreal's 4 goals were questionable at best; the first (Markov's goal on a 5 on 3 powerplay) being the exception. Andrei Kostitsyn was left alone to score by Ian White and Nik Antropov on the Habs' 2nd goal; Ian White and Hal Gill switched coverages at the absolute worst time to allow Tomas Plekanec to feed Alexei Kovalev to tie the game at 3; and the most glaring of all - Bryan McCabe's no-look tape-to-tape pass to Mike Komisarek (who is on the other team, by the way) that perfectly set up the dramatic game winning goal. At the rate he is going, McCabe is going to set some record for highlight reel fuckups.

During the post-game interview, McCabe pointed out that getting at least one point in three consecutive games was a positive. Correct me if I am wrong, but doesn't earning one point mean you've lost the game? In their last three games, the Leafs are 1-2 - surely not good enough by any standards - and yes, they've earned points in all three, but only because the league hands out points for losing. Only in Toronto would players pat themselves on the back for losing.

Next up are the Boston Bruins on Thursday night. Look out Leafs, the Bruins are more than decent on home ice...