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

Young Leafs Lead The Way In 7-1 Win

The youngest team in the National Hockey League put on quite a show last night in Tampa as the Toronto Maple Leafs stunned the Tampa Bay Lightning with a 7-1 trouncing at the St. Pete Times Forum. In probably his best game as a Maple Leaf, Matt Frattin set up two goals with impressive rushes into the Lightning zone which resulted in a goal for Joey Crabb and the first NHL goal for Joe Colborne. Frattin has shown a willingness to do all the little things but last night I thought he really showed his speed and offensive abilities. Another member of the Leaf Kiddie Corp, Jake Gardiner chipped in with two assists and was a +4. Gardiner gave the Lightning fits all night and their frustration was illustrated by Steven Stamkos going at the young defenseman late in the third period.

The much-maligned Tyler Bozak had two goals last night and it appears that this kid is really gaining confidence. His last three games have been exceptional and he is going to make Ron Wilson have some tough decisions once Mikhail Grabovski comes back. Bozak has great chemistry with Joffrey Lupul and Phil Kessel and it will be hard to break that up. Tim Connolly once again showed his offensive talent last night, scoring a goal and chipping in with 2 assists. Connolly has been outstanding since he's come back and if he can remain healthy gives the Leafs strength up the middle. Wilson will have to decide how he will use Connolly, Bozak and Grabovski once the latter comes back from injury.

Jonas Gustavsson had a strong game and seems to be rising to the occasion as his status as backup goalie has been questioned repeatedly. Yesterday the news was the most positive pertaining to James Reimer. Reimer was on the ice with Francois Allaire and will be participating in the team practices for the remainder of the road trip. It was reported in one of the Toronto newspapers that Reimer could be back in one of the two games against Boston next week. My guess would be that Gustavsson would remain the backup and Ben Scrivens would be sent back to the Marlies where he can get plenty of playing time.

There were some good signs last night. First, the special teams are continuing to click as the penalty killers were successful on 5 out of 6 Tampa power plays and the Leaf power play unit scored two goals on four tries. Secondly, the Leafs got scoring from players other than Phil Kessel and Joffrey Lupul which is going to be important.

The Leafs are now 7-7-1 since James Reimer has been out. How many other teams can survive being without their number one goalie for 15 games and play .500? On top of that losing so many regulars would also not be the best thing to happen. But so far this young team has held its own. With two games remaing on this road trip and then a home and home coming up with the Boston Bruins, this young Leaf team will have to play with the same kind of intensity that they displayed last night relying on their superior speed. Next game is Friday at Dallas with the puck drop scheduled for 8:30.

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Tomorrow look for possible NFL Picks as there are 3 games scheduled for Thanksgiving. Last week was another 2-1 week upping my record to 17-6 over the last 7 weeks.