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

Leaf Nation Chill Out

After the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-2 loss last night against the Winnipeg Jets, members of Leaf Nation and the Toronto media were pressing the panic button big time. The Leafs have lost three games in a row for the first time this season and people are convinced that we are going to have a repeat of last year. Let's examine the three losses.

The first loss was at the hands of the Boston Bruins in Boston. The Leafs lost 4-2 with Boston's last goal being in the empty net. In watching the game, the Leafs never quit and in fact could have rolled over when Boston went up 3-1. I venture to guess that last year's team would of rolled up in a ball and died. When that game ended, I was proud of the effort that the Leafs put out that night.

Loss number 2 was against the Pittsburgh Penguins at the ACC. The Leafs came back from a 4-2 deficit to tie the game and send it into overtime. The Leafs traded chances with the Penguins in overtime and lost in the skills competition known as the shootout. The NHL is the only major sports league that determines wins and losses by a skills competition but that is for a post on another day. The Leafs got a point in a game that they twice battled back from a 2 goal deficit. Once again, I was happy with the effort.

Last night, loss number 3 was the worse loss the Leafs have suffered since they lost to the Canadiens at the ACC. The turning point was their inability to score on a 1:53 2 man-advantage. Bad line changes and terrible defensive zone coverage led to an embarassing loss against a team that is not better than Toronto.

So what does this all mean? Well, the way I see it we will find out a lot about this edition of the Leafs over the course of the next two games. In listening to Toronto radio today, the Leafs shouldn't show up tomorrow against the Penguins. But, the Leafs beat the Penguins in Pittsburgh and we saw what happened Saturday night. The Leafs can win tomorrow and they can win against the Jets on Saturday night.

The Leafs need to make some changes in my opinion. Jake Gardiner needs to be brought up immediately. As I have stated many times, Gardiner is a special talent. He has the ability to carry the puck out of the defensive zone, the ability to make the quick pass and will be a huge difference on a power play that needs help. The other change I would make is move Mikhail Grabovski on the first line with Phil Kessel and James van Reimsdyk. Tyler Bozak would go on the new third line with Nikolai Kulemin and either Jay McClement or Leo Komorov. The new second line would be Nazem Kadri with Clarke MacArthur and Matt Frattin. Randy Carlyle must also limit the amount of ice time that the fourth line receives.

The Leafs also need to spend less time trying to create fighting opportunities and more focus on taking the body creating an aggressive forecheck. The power play needs some changes. Along with Gardiner coming up, Carlyle needs to mix things up. Have Grabowski center JVR and Kessel with the 2nd unit being Kadri with MacArthur and Frattin. If MacArthur or Frattin don't go to the net then put McClement, Komorov or Kulemin out there to screen the goalie. You might want to consider moving Dion Phaneuf upfront with Franson and Gardiner at the point.

As far as the goalies go, it drives me nuts when Leaf fans start calling for Roberto Luongo. Last night, I would only fault Reimer on one of the 4 goals. Other than that, he was hung out to dry and the first Jets goal was a lucky deflection off the body of Nik Antropov. The Leafs can make the playoffs with Reimer and Ben Scrivens. If they don't make the playoffs, they will get a good draft pick in a deep draft. So Leaf Nation, take a deep breath!! If someone told you before the season that the Leafs would be in 6th place at the halfway point of the season would you have been surprised?? I think so.