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

Leafs Win 3-2 Over Sabres

The Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Buffalo Sabres 3-2 last night before a noisy Air Canada Centre crowd. For the second game in a row James Reimer made 40 saves and it appears the Leaf netminder is beginning to round into the form he exhibited before his injury on October 22. Reimer was particularly sharp when the Leafs were shorthanded which certainly helps their penalty killing.

Offensively, the Leafs received scoring from 3 different lines. The first Leaf goal came from the fourth line as David Steckel put one behind Ryan Miller in a goal mouth scrum that tied the game 1-1. Phil Kessel notched his 20th of the season on a beautiful tip-in giving the Leafs a 2-1 lead. Kessel was flying last night as he had 10 shots on goal.

The game winner came off the stick of Nazem Kadri on a high wrister over the glove of Miller. Kadri showed his offensive skill and certainly benefitted by playing with Clarke MacArthur and Tim Connolly. MacArthur set up Kadri neatly on the game winner. If this line can continue to produce, the Leafs could potentially have three dangerous scoring lines.

This was a huge win for the Leafs who were 3-5-2 in their last 10 games prior to last night. The Eastern Conference is really bunched up and getting two points off of the Sabres was huge. Because I live in WNY, when the Sabres play I only get the Sabres feed on the Centre Ice package which gives me a bad case of heartburn. Listening to Rick "Pork Chop" Jenneret makes me ill. Hearing him whine when Dion Phaneuf knocked down a Sabre after they ran into James Reimer was classic Pork Chop. It also illustrates the problem with the Buffalo media. They spout off either on TV, the radio or the newspaper and all of the Chester Cheektowagas go out and carry the message even though its nothing more than a bunch of crap.

What was also as ridiculous as Pork Chop was listening to Kevin Sylvester and Rob Ray after the game. Both of these jokers said that the Sabres deserved to win the game. Really???? Were they that much better than the Leafs last night??? What the hell game were these two nitwits watching. I'm not going to say that the Leafs dominated the game. There was an ebb and flow to the game as the Leafs dominated the first period while the Sabres had the better chances in the second. The third period was even. The ineffectiveness on the Sabre power play was attributed to Thomas Vanek being out. Did that hurt?? Yes, but to say that was the sole reason is typical Buffalo media nonsense. Where was Derek Roy, Jason Pominville and Christian Erhoff?? By the way, did you happen to catch Rob Ray's pre-game interview with Paul Hamilton??? Looks like Hamilton has not missed too many meals. Wow, what a load!!!!!

The Leafs are in Long Island tonight to take on the Islanders. This is a game that the Leafs need to win and on paper should win. There are some rumblings that James Reimer may be back in the nets tonight as the Leaf netminder may be on a roll. The puck drop is 7pm at the venerable Nassau County Veterans Coliseum.
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NFL Picks tomorrow along with Leaf recap.