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

Leafs Head Out On The Road With 7-1 Win

Before the start of last night's game against the Washington Capitals, many felt that the injury depleted Toronto Maple Leafs would be in big trouble. Well that was not the case as the Leafs dominated in every facet of the game and came out with a 7-1 win. The Kessel-Bozak-Lupul line was on fire all night and Lupul ended up with 4 points. But what is more important was the fact that the Leafs received scoring from Tim Connolly, Matt Frattin, Cody Franson and David Steckel. If the Leafs are to survive this 4 game road trip with seven regulars out they will need production from more than the Kessel line.

Two things that really stick out for me are Jonas Gustavsson's play and the successful killing of five power play opportunities for the Capitals. Gustavsson made 40 saves after giving up a goal on the first Capital shot of the game. Many felt that it was another soft goal let in by a Leaf goalie. But replay showed that the puck deflected off of two Leaf defensemen. After that Gustavsson was rock solid making some spectacular saves in the second and third period, several on Alex Ovechkin.

The Leaf penalty killing unit did a great job in frustrating the Capitals. For the first time this season they seem to be able to react quickly to the puck movement of the power play unit, getting sticks in the way to break up passes and they were able to clear the puck. I thought Nikolai Kulemin was particularly strong on the penalty kill as was Tim Connolly. Gustavsson strong play also helped the PK unit.

It was nice to see Matt Frattin get his first goal of the season on a beautiful feed from Joe Colborne. Colborne looks like he belongs with the big club and it will be interesting to see how he fares on this four game road trip. Cody Franson played well and notched his first goal which came on the power play. We finally got to see that booming shot of Franson's on the power play. By the way, the power play looked awesome last night. John Michael-Liles has made a dramatic difference on the power play and there is no question that the Kessel line is really in a groove right now and that has helped.

There was good news earlier in the day as James Reimer was back out on the ice for the second day in a row. If Reimer can continue to progress, the Leafs may not have to go out and get a goalie. As they begin the road trip this afternoon in Carolina, many young Leafs will have an opportuinty to show that they belong and would give Brian Burke plenty of assets from which to deal if he needs to make a trade. 3 of the 4 opponents on this road trip are struggling (Carolina, Dallas and Anaheim). The Leafs need to get at least 4 points out of a possible 8 while on the road. This stretch will probably determine if Burke needs to make a move sooner rather than later. It may also determine what their chances will be to break their playoff drought. It all begins tonight.