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

Leafs Win Opener 2-1 Over Habs

The Toronto Maple Leafs survived the spectacular pre-game ceremonies by Montreal and defeated the Canadiens 2-1 at the Bell Centre. Two power play goals, one by Nazem Kadri and the other by Tyler Bozak, were all that the Leafs needed as their special teams played reasonably well. The Leafs were 2 for 5 on the power play and more importantly killed off 4 out of 5 penalties.

Ben Scrivens notched his first win of the season in a Leaf uniform. It was the right decision by Randy Carlyle to start Scrivens in that the Cornell grad had been playing with the Marlies since October. Scrivens did enough to win the game but at times looked shaky and had some hair-raising moments in and around his net. It will be interesting to see if Carlyle comes back with Scrivens on Monday night against the Sabres or if he gives James Reimer the start.

Other observations: I thought the Komorov-Kadri-van Riemsdyk line was the best one in 5 on 5 situations. They had a lot of jam and seemed to give the Canadiens a rough time in their own zone. Mike Kostka was very good last night. If he continues playing this way, the Leafs are going to have a tough decision to make once Jake Gardiner comes back. Jay McClement looked very good on the PK. I could see why the Leafs picked him up in the off season. I thought that the PK as a whole was much more aggressive than in the past. Thought I'd see more from the Grabovski line in that all of them played in Europe during the lockout, though that line was on the ice in closing moments of the game.

In a 48 game schedule, every game is important so the victory on the road against a team who you may be battling for a playoff spot with was huge. I really am tired of all of the Negative Nellies out there who can find a dark lining in a white cloud. Had to hear on the radio, television or read on twitter that it was just the Canadiens that the Leafs beat. That Dion Phaneuf was awful, that van Riemsdyk is slow, that Kulemin is no good and the Leafs better get Luongo. I guess I would say to all of the haters, get over it the Leafs won the game. Phaneuf logged the most minutes of any player and I thought he was steady throughout. van Riemsdyk was doing what he was brought here to do, he was going to the net and he was a threat. He also seemed to have good chemistry with Kadri. Kulemin was solid defensively but didn't see much from the entire line. As far as Luongo goes, unless Vancouver GM Mike Gillis gets real and stops demanding a huge ransom, the Leafs are better off going with the 2 young goalies.

There is nothing better than a win on Saturday night, especially against the Canadiens. Monday will be a good test against a team who has historically given the Leafs trouble but for today I'm going to celebrate the opening day win regardless of what the haters have to say. Go Leafs Go!!