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

Playoffs!!! You’re Talking About Playoffs???

The Jim Mora quote when he was questioned about his Indianapolis Colts making the NFL Playoffs is a sports classic. Unfortunately for Maple Leaf fans, last night's 4-3 overtime loss to the lowly Carolina Panthers has them asking the same questions. A playoff team doesn't blow a 3-1 lead in the third period, especially against a team that is near the bottom of the National Hockey League.

Immediately there have been calls for Ron Wilson to start Jonas Gustavsson in goal but while James Reimer has had some problems since the end of the Christmas break, goaltending is only part of the problem. The underlying problem is the style of play that Leaf management wants which is basically firewagon hockey. Wilson wants his defensemen to carry the play and pinch in the other team's zone. That's fine when you are down a goal with under two minutes left. It's also fine when you are trying to make something happen. But when you have a two goal lead on the road it's a huge mistake.

The best game that the Leafs played this year on the road protecting a lead was their first game in Madison Square Garden. They had an aggressive forecheck hemming the Rangers in their own end and not allowing them to get any offensive momentum. There were not rushes by defensemen. The Leafs seemed to have forgotten that game.

It is very apparent that the Leafs miss John-Michael Liles. His steadiness, veteran leadership and quarterbacking the first power play unit is something that the team could use right now. Having Liles back would also allow Wilson to sit one of his struggling young defensemen who are having a brutal last week of December.

Do I think this team can make the playoffs??? Yes I do but it has to be more defensively responsible. It also needs to realize that they haven't won anything yet so they need to play hard every shift. Their best players need to be their best players. And James Reimer needs to play like a number one goaltender. By the way, I haven't even mentioned penalty killing but improvement there is a given. At the end of the day making the playoffs will not be easy but it is attainable. What concerns me is whether or not Ron Wilson has the ability to adapt the style of play to the game situation. Not many teams can be successful playing firewagon hockey. Hopefully, Wilson & Company can realize that before it is too late.

Shaky Goaltending & Poor PK Lead To 5-3 Loss

About the only thing to like about Toronto's 5-3 loss to the Florida Panthers last night was the fact that this team does not quit. However, shaky goaltending, poor penalty-killing(what else is new!) and defensive mistakes by Jake Gardiner and Luke Schenn were too much to overcome. Gardiner seemed to have bounced back after being relegated to the pressbox last week against the Sabres but last night was shaky in his own end and pinched too deep in the Florida zone which led to a breakway that James Reimer overplayed and the Panthers were back on top 2-1. With John-Michael Liles out, Coach Ron Wilson may have to limit Gardiner's ice time until the rookie gets back into form.

After the Leafs had scored to make it 4-3 midway through the third period, Luke Schenn's ill-advised rush into the Florida zone resulted in Tomas Fleischmann putting one past Jonas Gustavsson that essentially put the game away for the Panthers. Schenn is still young but in his third NHL season, he should know better than to think that he is going to stickhandle through 4 Panthers. There was no need for him to try and make something happen as there was plenty of time remaiining and the Leafs seemed to have the Panthers on their heels.

James Reimer probably had his worst game as a Toronto Maple Leaf allowing 3 goals on 8 shots. He should never have allowed the breakaway goal as the Panther player whiffed on the shot and it trickled past Reimer who was obviously fooled. I also thought that he should have stopped the first Panther goal. Jonas Gustavsson relieved Reimer and made some nice saves to keep the Leafs in the game. However, I thought he should have stopped Fleischmann's goal. All in all, the Leafs did not get the goaltending it needed last night and at the other end Jose Theodore was solid for the Panthers.

The Leaf penalty-killing continues to be a major problem. I don't understand how you can get a "too many men on the ice penalty" when you are shorthanded which resulted in a 5 on 3 situation which means that the Leafs will more than likely give up a goal which they proceeded to do. If the Leaf penalty-killing continues to be ineffective, this team will have a difficult time making the playoffs.

With Liles out, Wilson had Tim Connolly on the point with the team's first power play unit. Based on last night, I think that Wilson should pair Phaneuf with Gunnarsson and the second unit could be Gardiner with Cody Franson. Connolly was not able to really generate anything and a couple of times the Panthers were able to have their own scoring opportunities while short-handed. By the way, Franson has really impressed me with his ability to get hard shots on net from the point.

The Leafs head out to Carolina to face the Hurricanes Thursday night, who usually give the Leafs a tough game. As I mentioned yesterday, the Leafs need to get 4 out of possible 6 points on this road trip which means they need to win Thursday and Saturday in Winnipeg. I would think that Wilson will come back with Reimer in goal and the young netminder will be looking to bounce back quickly. Hopefully, the Leafs will have recovered from all of their Christmas cheer and give Leaf fans something to cheer about Thursday night.

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.