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

Leafs Head To Boston With 4-3 Shootout Win

Things did not look good going into the third period for the guys in blue and white as they trailed the Winnipeg Jets 3-1. Not only were they trailing, but it was probably the worst two periods of the young season. But once again, the duo of Joffrey Lupul and Phil Kessel pulled the team up by its boot straps by scoring a power play goal each as the Leafs tied the game sending it to overtime. After a scoreless extra period, which saw the Leafs dominate in the first half of the extra frame and James Reimer saving the day in the latter half, the Leafs won the shootout 2-0 as Joffrey Lupul and Matt Frattin scored and Leafs closed out the home stand with a 4-3 win.

Positives:

* What can you say about Phil Kessel. The Leaf right winger has been on fire and he has developed a great chemistry with Joffrey Lupul. The two of them have been in effect the total offense of the team. Kessel is really playing with a lot of confidence and every time he has been on the ice he has been a threat. Lupul has been a great pick up for the Leafs as he has been a very good compliment for Kessel.

The other player the Leafs received in the Francois Beauchemin trade was Jake Gardiner. Last night, the young 21 year old defenseman was arguably the best blue liner for the Leafs. Gardiner was very cool inside his own zone last night and was an offensive threat all night setting up Phil Kessel a couple of times. There is no way this kid can be out of the line up.

David Steckel continued his dominance as the Leafs face off specialist winning 16 out of 18 and was a key factor in the Leafs comeback when he was placed on the power play. I have been suggesting this for the last two games. Steckel's ability to win face offs and his size make him a great asset on the power play and it was borne out last night. It will be interesting to see if Ron Wilson keeps Steckel on the power play especially tonight when they go up against the Boston Bruins and Zdeno Chara. Steckel may be the only player on the Leafs who can physically match up with Chara.

Carl Gunnarsson also continues his steady play on the Leafs blue line.

Negatives:

Despite winning, there are plenty of things to be concerned about as the Leafs head out on the road for the next 4 games. They desperately need the Grabovski line to start scoring. Due to injury, Matt Frattin was moved up to this line and I hope that Ron Wilson keeps him there with Nikolai Kulemin and Grabovski. This line had more chances in the first two games of the season when Frattin was playing on the line and Clarke MacArthur has looked extremely rusty. Frattin has scoring ability and could be a good source for some offense. In addition, he's solid physically along the boards and could really compliment Grabovski and Kulemin.

Luke Schenn had a terrible game last night and quite frankly has not played well at all in the first 5 games of the season. He obviously lacks confidence and seems terrified when the puck lands on his stick. With the glut of defenseman it would seem that based on his play, Schenn should be the one relegated to the press box.

If not Schenn, then another candidate should be Mike Kommisarek. Last night was one of the worst games that he has had as he looked extremely slow and took two penalties in a row in the second period. While Kommisarek is the Leafs most physical defenseman, if out of position he does not have the speed to recover and it usually results in a penalty or a good scoring chance for the opponent.

The Leafs begin a four game road trip tonight in Boston, which has been typically a tough place to play for them though they did win a couple of games there last year in their late season run. We all know that the Bruins will shadow Kessel with Chara which may make it more imperative that someone else start scoring besides Kessel and Lupul. It will be extremely interesting to see how Kessel reacts tonight.

The power play also needs to get its act together consistently. The insertion of David Steckel on the power play should continue. I also think that if Frattin plays with Grabovski and Kulemin this could help the second power play unit. If that doesn't work, maybe you need to give Mike Brown some power play time to stir things up. Another option could be to get Dion Phaneuf in front of the net and have either Gunnarsson, Liles, Franson or Gardiner at the point.

The road trip takes the Leafs to Boston, Montreal, Philadelphia and Madison Square Garden, traditional hockey markets where the fans will be into to it from the opening face off. We will learn a lot about this young team. If the Leafs were to grab 4 points out of the four games I would consider it a success. We will see what happens tonight. Jonas Gustavsson is reportedly going to be in the nets tonight for Toronto. It's a big game for The Monster and the Leafs brass will be watching closely. If The Monster looks bad tonight, Leaf management will be roundly criticized for not bringing in a veteran goaltender to back up Reimer.

The puck drops tonight at 7pm at the TD Center.