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

Leafs Win 3-2 Over Sabres

The Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Buffalo Sabres 3-2 last night before a noisy Air Canada Centre crowd. For the second game in a row James Reimer made 40 saves and it appears the Leaf netminder is beginning to round into the form he exhibited before his injury on October 22. Reimer was particularly sharp when the Leafs were shorthanded which certainly helps their penalty killing.

Offensively, the Leafs received scoring from 3 different lines. The first Leaf goal came from the fourth line as David Steckel put one behind Ryan Miller in a goal mouth scrum that tied the game 1-1. Phil Kessel notched his 20th of the season on a beautiful tip-in giving the Leafs a 2-1 lead. Kessel was flying last night as he had 10 shots on goal.

The game winner came off the stick of Nazem Kadri on a high wrister over the glove of Miller. Kadri showed his offensive skill and certainly benefitted by playing with Clarke MacArthur and Tim Connolly. MacArthur set up Kadri neatly on the game winner. If this line can continue to produce, the Leafs could potentially have three dangerous scoring lines.

This was a huge win for the Leafs who were 3-5-2 in their last 10 games prior to last night. The Eastern Conference is really bunched up and getting two points off of the Sabres was huge. Because I live in WNY, when the Sabres play I only get the Sabres feed on the Centre Ice package which gives me a bad case of heartburn. Listening to Rick "Pork Chop" Jenneret makes me ill. Hearing him whine when Dion Phaneuf knocked down a Sabre after they ran into James Reimer was classic Pork Chop. It also illustrates the problem with the Buffalo media. They spout off either on TV, the radio or the newspaper and all of the Chester Cheektowagas go out and carry the message even though its nothing more than a bunch of crap.

What was also as ridiculous as Pork Chop was listening to Kevin Sylvester and Rob Ray after the game. Both of these jokers said that the Sabres deserved to win the game. Really???? Were they that much better than the Leafs last night??? What the hell game were these two nitwits watching. I'm not going to say that the Leafs dominated the game. There was an ebb and flow to the game as the Leafs dominated the first period while the Sabres had the better chances in the second. The third period was even. The ineffectiveness on the Sabre power play was attributed to Thomas Vanek being out. Did that hurt?? Yes, but to say that was the sole reason is typical Buffalo media nonsense. Where was Derek Roy, Jason Pominville and Christian Erhoff?? By the way, did you happen to catch Rob Ray's pre-game interview with Paul Hamilton??? Looks like Hamilton has not missed too many meals. Wow, what a load!!!!!

The Leafs are in Long Island tonight to take on the Islanders. This is a game that the Leafs need to win and on paper should win. There are some rumblings that James Reimer may be back in the nets tonight as the Leaf netminder may be on a roll. The puck drop is 7pm at the venerable Nassau County Veterans Coliseum.
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NFL Picks tomorrow along with Leaf recap.

Leafs/Sabres Tonight

The Toronto Maple Leafs have an opportunity to go into Christmas feeling good about themselves as they face-off tonight against the Buffalo Sabres at the Air Canada Centre. Last Friday, the Leafs couldn't stay out of the penalty box as the Sabres held on to win a wild 5-4 decision. In the team's recent slide, the Leafs have taken way too many penalties and their inability to kill them off has meant trouble for Ron Wilson's squad. The Leafs are hoping that the call-up of Darryl Boyce will bolster the PK unit.

The Leafs have also called up Nazem Kadri for tonight's game. Kadri was the 7th pick overall in the 2009 NHL Draft and Brian Burke's first draft pick as Leaf General Manager. He is an extremely talented player offensively but the Leafs have been concerned about his play in the Leafs' own end of the rink. All reports indicate that Kadri has improved immensely. He was named AHL Player of the Month for November (2nd Marlie to receive that honor this year as Joe Colborne was October's Player of the Month). Tonight, he will be on a line with Tim Connolly and Clarke Mac Arthur. This should be an opportunity for this young offensively gifted forward to shine. If he is able to contribute, the Leafs suddenly would have three legitimate scoring lines.

Both teams are struggling heading into this game. The Sabres have not played well and the fans are getting restless. Their veterans are not performing and the big free agent acquisitions of Ville Leino and Christian Ehroff are not having the impact that was thought. In fact, Leino has been a total non-factor. Both clubs have sustained injuries and have had to rely on youngsters to fill in. And both of them suddenly find themselves in the middle of a bunched up Eastern Conference where only 4 points separate sixth place New Jersey and 12th place Montreal.

This game is a big one. After tonight the Leafs head to Long Island for a game against the Islanders before the Christmas break. A two game winning streak would certainly be a nice Christmas present for Leafs Nation. It would also help to keep the Leafs inside that 8th and final playoff spot. A loss tonight and tomorrow would certainly be cause for concern and probably precipitate a move to be made by Burke. However, with Burke's history it seems that the Leafs will make a move regardless.

The puck drops tonight at 7pm and those of us with DirecTv in WNY will have to deal with the Pork Chop.

Dumb Penalties Lead To 4-2 Leafs Loss

The Washington Capitals had 6 power play opportunities and connected on four of the them to defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 in the nation's capital. The Leaf penalty killing unit was terrible last night however what was worse was the undisciplined penalties that the Leafs took particularly Joey Crabb. With the Leafs 39 seconds away from killing a Colby Armstrong penalty, Crabb took an unnecessary boarding penalty resulting in a 5 on 3 power play for the Capitals. James Reimer made a great save with the paddle of his stick but the puck bounced up and hit the knob of his stick and went into the net giving the Capitals a 3-1 lead.

The Leafs fought back and Cody Franson brought the Leafs within a goal with a shot from the point on a good play from Nikolai Kulemin with a little over 6 minutes left in the game. The Leafs took the play to the Capitals and you had a feeling that they might be able to tie the game. Then Joey Crabb doesn't control his stick and clips John Carlson with about 2:15 left in the game killing whatever chance the Leafs may have had to tie the game. The Capitals once again scored as Dennis Wideman notched his third goal of the game.

The talking heads and media scribes are pointing out that the Leafs have now lost 4 out of their last 5 games but its not time to panic. If you look at the 2 losses to Boston, the overtime loss to New Jersey and last night, the Leafs were competitive and in some instances the better team when 5 on 5. But penalties are a killer and last night was inexcusable.

Some may start to clamor for Jonas Gustavsson to go back into the nets but Reimer was not the reason for the Leaf loss. He made some big saves to keep his team in the game. Goaltending is not the problem. Penalty killing and lack of secondary scoring are the problems. Hopefully, the current lineup can stay intact for awhile because there needs to be some chemistry developed. The Grabovski-Kulemin-MacArthur line looked good last night and had some chances. However, Coach Ron Wilson is right: they need to start shooting more. There was a point in the third period where the line had the puck in the Washington zone for over a minute but didn't get a shot on goal.

The Leafs are off until Tuesday when they take on the Carolina Hurricanes at the ACC. The puck drop is at 7pm.
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Later today my weekly NFL Picks and tomorrow my comments on the Colt McCoy hit.

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.

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.

Burke Needs To Act To Save Season

As injuries continue to mount, President and General Manager Brian Burke needs to act if he is to save this season. Last night, besides dropping a 4-1 decision to the Nashville Predators, the Leafs may have lost Matthew Lombardi and Mike Kommisarek. Kommisarek has played his best hockey since becoming a Leaf and with Cody Franson and Marlie possibilities the Leafs may be able to weather the storm. But it's upfront where the Leafs have some major issues to deal with.

We know that Mikhail Grabovski will be out for 2 weeks. We don't know what the deal is with Clarke MacArthur and it appears that Matthew Lombardi suffered a shoulder injury last night. And how about Colby Armstrong who has been out since early October with an ankle injury. Before the latest injuries the Leafs were depending pretty much on Phil Kessel and Joffrey Lupul. Now, they are all that's left and it is apparent that it will not be good enough. Especially if this team wants to make the playoffs. And while injuries are mounting, the Leafs need to make a move to solidify their goaltending. Ben Scrivens played again last night and seems to have a habit of allowing a soft goal a game and it is apparent that they have no confidence in Jonas Gustavsson.

Burke has said that he has received inquiries about Cody Franson. He may need to package Franson along with a Nazem Kadri to get some forward help and a goalie. The Marlies should have a defenseman to bring up. If healthy enough possibly Keith Aulie or Matt Lashoff. Joe Colborne is just now coming back from injury and it's quite possible we will see him up with the big team shortly. In fact, getting a solid goalie may be the bigger priority than worrying about getting a scoring forward.

Burke may also need to begin re-thinking the philosophy of this club. The style of this team's play lends to defensemen pinching into the offensive zone. The problem is that with weak goaltending this style is a recipe for disaster. Last night Luke Schenn, not known for his offensive abilities, pinched in the offensive zone which created a 2 on 1 situation that led to a Nashville goal. In the recent losses, this situation has presented itself on numerous occasions and has led to opponent goals.

While it is probably unlikely that Burke would make an in season coaching change, the heat needs to be put on Ron Wilson. Without a capable goaltender, the Leafs are in no position to allow defenseman to pinch in particularly players like Schenn and Mike Kommisarek. It's necessary for the Leafs to be more disciplined. It is well documented that Leaf special teams have been terrible under Wilson. The power play has been clicking as of late but penalty killing is still a problem. A change in style needs to happen quickly. Along with that a veteran goaltender needs to be acquired before Burke's self-imposed trade deadline in early December. If no action is taken, the Leafs may once again be on the outside looking in for the playoffs and Leaf Nation will be demanding for heads to roll. It's your move Burkie!!

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Week 11 NFL Picks coming later.

Leafs Comeback, But Lose In A Shootout

In a game that for two periods looked like the Toronto Maple Leafs would go scoreless, the Blue & White came up with a goal from an unlikely source, Mike Kommisarek and a second goal from a familiar source, Phil Kessel to tie the game at two only to lose in a shootout to the Phoenix Coyotes 3-2. The first period was not a good one for young goaltender Ben Scrivens as both Coyote goals were weak. The ACC crowd derisively cheered when Scrivens made a save. But in the third period and in the overtime the young goalie from Cornell had the fans on their feet applauding as he made a number of brilliant saves to keep his team in the game and helping them earn a point in the standings.

Phil Kessel was an offensive threat all night and showed why Brian Burke made the move to acquire him. But the Leafs are not going to be able to survive with scoring only from the Kessel line and things could get worse as Mikhail Grabovski and Clarke MacArthur both left the game with injuries. Hopefully, we will find out today the severity and for how long these two may be out of action. The good news is that Tim Connolly should be back on Thursday which should help if Grabovski and/or MacArthur are out for Thursday's game against Nashville. But it certainly doesn't help for a team struggling for offense if two-thirds of their second line is out for an extended period of time.

Mike Kommisarek has been criticized plenty since coming to the Leafs but last night may have been his best game since coming to Toronto. It's not just the fact that he scored a goal but has more to do with his physical play which seemed to spark the team. Luke Schenn also had his best game of the season as he logged around 20 minutes of ice time and was out there in critical situations. A back to form for Schenn will certainly help the Leafs.

Last night's game really showed how important James Reimer is to this team. Reimer, as a good goalie can do, can cover up for mistakes that occur as evidenced by the two on one goal for Phoenix that gave them an early one goal lead. You can see why the Leafs feel strongly about Scrivens' ability but you also can see rookie mistakes or jitters particularly at home. That is why the Leafs need to start games stronger. To be honest, the Leafs have really not had a solid 60 minute performance for weeks. It is going to be needed night in and night out if they are to survive Reimer's absence particularly if Brian Burke does not acquire a veteran backup. It appears that the team has lost confidence in Jonas Gustavsson. It's already being reported that Scrivens will probably be in net against the Predators which would mean that Gustavsson won't play until the weekend when the Leafs have back-to-back games against the Capitals and Hurricanes.

I'm finding it hard to believe that Burke & Company won't make a move before his self-imposed holiday deadline. The Leafs are entering a critical part of their early schedule with 5 games in 8 nights with 4 of those games on the road. They really can't afford a rough patch if they want to build on their strong start. Thursday night will be a tough game against the defensive-minded Predators and their goalie Pekka Rinne. The next 8 days could be very telling in where this Leaf team will be come April and I'm sure Brian Burke knows that.