tonytalkssports My Take on Sports, particularly the Yankees, Maple Leafs and Browns

Leafs Pass Latest Test With 3-2 Win Over Flyers

As stated here yesterday, we were going to continue to learn more about the Toronto Maple Leafs as they entered the Wells Fargo Center to face the Eastern Conference leading Philadelphia Flyers.  Philly has never been a fun place to play and I wondered how this young team would handle that.  Well, they handled it quite well in registering a 3-2 win over the Flyers and pulling within 3 points of the last playoff spot.

After Kris Versteeg's second goal of the night, the Flyers looked to be headed into the second intermission with a 2-1 lead.  But, in the closing minute of the period, Dion Phaneuf pinched in toward the net and rapped the puck passed Sergei Bobrovsky to tie the game going into the third period.

The Leafs pressured the older and slower Flyer defense throughout the game and that's what led to the winning goal by Darryl Boyce to give the Leafs a third period lead that they never relinquished.  Boyce pressured Sean O'Donnell deep inside the Flyer zone preventing the Flyer defenseman from moving the puck along the boards.  Colby Armstrong followed up on O'Donnell and chipped the puck over to Boyce who charged to the net and swept the puck past Bobrovsky to give the Leafs the lead.

James Reimer came to the Leafs rescue again with about 40 seconds to play as Keith Aulie tried to clear the puck but it ended up right on a Flyer stick.  A shot was fired and Reimer got a glove on it.  The puck ended up high on the net, came down and Reimer reached back and caught the puck before it could fall behind him and into the net.  It was an unbelievable save and all but ensured the Leafs would walk out of the Wells Fargo Center with an important win.

There is a lot to take from this game.  First, it was clear as day that this Leaf team's speed gave the Flyers fits all night as they really pressured the Flyer defense.  James Reimer continued to show why he may indeed be this team's goalie of the future.  The kid looks unflappable and made some nice saves.  It's obvious this team has tremendous confidence with him in the net.

The Leafs young defense continues to grow.  As with any young players, there will be mistakes.  It was obvious that Aulie was trying to clear the puck without icing it and as a result gave the puck away.  However, he played well for the most part and it says a lot that Coach Wilson had him out there in the final minute.  We also saw his fighting abilities as he leveled the tough Scott Hartnell in a first period fight.

It appears that Dion Phaneuf has picked up his offensive side over the last two games.  I think it goes without saying that he has really looked like the player that Brian Burke traded for in these last two games.  Mike Kommisarek, who has taken plenty of criticism and was flat footed on Versteeg's second goal, may have saved the game with an outstanding play on a two-on-one break in the third period.

The power play did not score and that is a problem.  However, it looked like that the last few chances with the man advantage they were able to generate chances.  I really think that the Tim Brent experiment needs to end.  I would go with a three man rotation of Phaneuf-Gunnarsson and Lebda.  Gunnarsson continues to impress as he gets more ice time.

With Carolina winning in overtime over Buffalo and the Rangers losing to Minnesota, The Hurricanes move to 7th with the Rangers falling to 8th.  The Leafs find themselves one point behind Buffalo, 3 behind the Rangers and 4 behind Carolina.  They have a game in hand on the Rangers but the Sabres have 2 games in hand on the Leafs.  The heat is still on and there still is plenty of work to do with no guarantees of a playoff spot.  But it's clear that there is a different feeling about this team.  It's really fun to watch the confidence build in a group of 20 somethings who everyone was down on two months ago.

Whatever happens in this improbable run its clear to me that this team is moving in the right direction.  What's also encouraging that unlike in the past, we have people in charge who know what they are doing and will use the off season to continue the team's improvement.

The Leafs next test is Saturday night against the Stanley Cup champion Black Hawks who are in a playoff fight themselves.  They've won 5 in a row and will match the Leafs team speed.  Another test coming up.  Let's see how they respond.  And while we're at it lets enjoy it!!!!

Leafs Win 3-2 in OT, Can’t We Just Enjoy The Ride?

The Toronto Maple Leafs overcame a 2-1 deficit heading into the third period and defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2 in overtime on a goal by Mikhail Grabovski.  Grabovski's goal was set up by an end to end rush by Dion Phaneuf.  Instead of just dumping the puck deep or sending it behind the net, Phaneuf waited as he saw a line change occurring and passed the puck to an incoming Carl Gunnarsson who moved it quickly to Phil Kessel.  Kessel in one motion passed it over to Grabovski, who just came onto the ice, and put it by Marc-Andre Fleury.  It was the type of tic-tac-toe passing play that we have not seen in a long time by a group of Leaf players.

James Reimer was solid in goal for the Leafs as the Penguins had a substantial edge in shots on goal.  Phil Kessel and Nikolai Kulemin had the other Leaf goals and Carl Gunnarsson had two assists.  The win moved the Leafs four points behind 8th place Carolina, who play Buffalo tonight.

Being a realist, I know that the Leafs must continue to play at this level in order to have a chance to make the playoffs.  Of course, if you listen to Mike Milbury they have no chance.  Milbury may be right.  But what I don't understand is the constant harping on the part of some that this is just typical Maple Leafs:  Doing great after the All-Star break when the games are meaningless.

As I stated in an earlier post, a good portion of this team has not been in this situation before:  playing important games down a stretch run.  James Reimer is not J.S. Aubin or Andrew Raycroft or Vesa Toskala.  This is a young 20 year old who has the potential to be the Leafs goalie of the future.  This experience can only help his growth process.  Keith Aulie, Luke Schenn, Carl Gunnarsson are learning what it takes to perform in pressure situations as Ron Wilson continues to put them out there in penalty kill situations and at critical points in a game.  Last night, Aulie was out their with Phaneuf in the last minute of regulation.  These are all young 20-somethings, not Kaberle, Beauchimen, Finger or Hal Gill.  And when you look at the forwards, Kulemin, Grabovski, Bozak, Kessel, MacArthur are learning what it takes and what their leading roles need to be in order to keep a team in the playoff hunt.  This isn't Allison, Ponikarovsky, Antropov, Blake, Hagman, O'Neill, Johnny Pohl, Yanic Perreault, and Boyd Devereaux.

While the playoffs would be nice, and there is no one who would want to see that more than me, what's more important is seeing these young players grow and learning what it takes to win.  Yesterday's game was not a great one.  The first two periods the Leafs only managed 9 shots and were fortunate to be down only 2-1.  But they fought back in the third and won it in overtime.  That's part of the learning process: winning when you are not playing well.  Yes, I know that Crosby and Malkin weren't there.  But the Penguins have 80 points and have a winning record since the two superstars have been out.

This team is one of the youngest, if not the youngest teams in the league.  If someone told you in November that they would be four points out of 8th with 18 games left without Kaberle, Beuchemin and Versteeg and a 20 year old in the net by the name of Reimer  everyone would have been surprised and somewhat happy.  This season is about building for next year and the one after that.  The criticism in the past has been that this team is old and the farm system is barren.  Well, their not old now and the farm system has young talent with Colborne, Kadri, Blacker, McKegg, Scrivens, Rynnas, etc. 

Next assignment is tonight against the Flyers in Philadelphia.  Will learn more about this group tonight.  Enjoy it!!!!