Noteworthy from last night's game was that it was Vesa Toskala's first career shootout win. As I mentioned in a previous post, he is the worst goalie in the history of the shootout. I imagine this win had to feel good for Vesa.
The guys that I love to hate the most - Matt Stajan and Alex Steen - provided all the offense for the Leafs last night, despite playing on separate lines. Good for them! I want nothing more than for these guys to succeed, I just don't think they will in the long run.
Random Game Notes:
- Don't look now but Anton Stralman played more than every Leafs defenseman not names Kaberle or Kubina. Normally, Stralman challenges Woz for least playing time. Moreover, Matt Stajan and Ian White were both well over their averages. I think Paul Maurice is finally doing some coaching and rewarding good play. Would have been nice in October, Paul, but this is a step forward.
- When I saw Darcy Tucker laying on the ground after being high-sticked by Andrew Ference, I thought to myself, 'Even if Ference didn't cut him, Tucker is coming up bleeding". See, Tucker knows as well as anyone that his contribution to the team has been about as meaningful as Rihanna lyrics - ella ella ella, ay ay ay - and if drawing an extra 2 minute penalty with only 2 minutes to go in the game is what he can do to help the team win, well, I believe that Tucker is the type of man that would do that. It's interesting, but the replay showed where Tucker was hit with the stick and it didn't seem to be where he was bleeding from. Just sayin'.
- I've read a few comments online about Pavel Kubina's 'boneheaded' penalty near the end of regulation. The bad play on that shift belonged to Mats Sundin, who gave Kubina a shitty pass. Kubina was then trapped and had to take a penalty to prevent an exceptional scoring chance for Boston. At that point in the game, especially when your team is up a man (thus taking a penalty isn't really hurting the team), a smart player takes that penalty every time. So, typical Leafs fans, blame Mats, not Pavel.
- The Leafs OT powerplay was vegetarian. After Pavel Kubina left the box, the puck came right to him. Naturally, he played it. But the end effect was a 4 on 3 powerplay wherein the Leafs had 3 fucking defensemen on the ice. Not only that, Kaberle and Kubina were on the wrong sides of the ice. When OT ended with no goals, I assumed the Leafs would lose - because they are especially bad in shootouts - so I put together a profanity-filled paragraph to describe the overtime powerplay that should have ended the game. But instead, I'll just say it was typical of the Leafs' powerplay.
The guys that I love to hate the most - Matt Stajan and Alex Steen - provided all the offense for the Leafs last night, despite playing on separate lines. Good for them! I want nothing more than for these guys to succeed, I just don't think they will in the long run.
Random Game Notes:
- Don't look now but Anton Stralman played more than every Leafs defenseman not names Kaberle or Kubina. Normally, Stralman challenges Woz for least playing time. Moreover, Matt Stajan and Ian White were both well over their averages. I think Paul Maurice is finally doing some coaching and rewarding good play. Would have been nice in October, Paul, but this is a step forward.
- When I saw Darcy Tucker laying on the ground after being high-sticked by Andrew Ference, I thought to myself, 'Even if Ference didn't cut him, Tucker is coming up bleeding". See, Tucker knows as well as anyone that his contribution to the team has been about as meaningful as Rihanna lyrics - ella ella ella, ay ay ay - and if drawing an extra 2 minute penalty with only 2 minutes to go in the game is what he can do to help the team win, well, I believe that Tucker is the type of man that would do that. It's interesting, but the replay showed where Tucker was hit with the stick and it didn't seem to be where he was bleeding from. Just sayin'.
- I've read a few comments online about Pavel Kubina's 'boneheaded' penalty near the end of regulation. The bad play on that shift belonged to Mats Sundin, who gave Kubina a shitty pass. Kubina was then trapped and had to take a penalty to prevent an exceptional scoring chance for Boston. At that point in the game, especially when your team is up a man (thus taking a penalty isn't really hurting the team), a smart player takes that penalty every time. So, typical Leafs fans, blame Mats, not Pavel.
- The Leafs OT powerplay was vegetarian. After Pavel Kubina left the box, the puck came right to him. Naturally, he played it. But the end effect was a 4 on 3 powerplay wherein the Leafs had 3 fucking defensemen on the ice. Not only that, Kaberle and Kubina were on the wrong sides of the ice. When OT ended with no goals, I assumed the Leafs would lose - because they are especially bad in shootouts - so I put together a profanity-filled paragraph to describe the overtime powerplay that should have ended the game. But instead, I'll just say it was typical of the Leafs' powerplay.
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