Game 11: If You Can't Win At Home, Go On The Road...

With Toronto desperately needing to get out of town they found themselves in Pittsburgh last night for the first of two consecutive road games. Toronto and Pittsburgh were meeting for the second time this season. The first coming in Toronto when the Penguins handed it to the Leafs 6-4 two Saturdays ago.

Toskala was making his second consecutive start and McCabe was out of the line up (because he blows). Despite playing a great first period Toronto fell 1-0 off a Crosby PPG late in the first. This was only Crosby's 3rd goal all year and lucky for us they've all been against the Leafs (you're welcome Sid). After 20 minutes Toronto surprisingly looked like the better team. Strong play in all 3 zones, fast fore checking and solid back checking were very evident. One nice thing about Crosby's goal from a Leafs fan point of view...When he scored he was completely surrounded by Gill and Antropov...and when you saw the replay of the goal there were two things of note..1) This kid has some serious strength shoveling that puck home and 2) Bryan McCabe wasn't standing 6 feet away watching the whole play...humm very interesting...The Leafs play a strong defensive game and McCabe isn't in the line up...how odd.

The second period saw Toronto come out looking just like they did in the first...not like Toronto. They were fast both ways, fighting hard for the puck and creating lots of turnovers.
Steen scored on Fleury when Antropov did all the work and took it to the net. Alex got a huge rebound and put it away quickly to make it 1-1 about half way through the game. Although Toronto looked like they had the edge it seemed as though it was going to be a one goal game. Fleury was making some pretty huge saves (most notably the toe save on Kilger) and although Toronto was playing well it was going to be difficult to come out of tonight's game with 2 points...That is until Toronto let out it's secret weapon...

Okay so he wasn't really a secret weapon...more of a minor league call-up but hey, the way the Leafs have been playing lately they'll take anything. Jiri Tlusti was called up on Wednesday from the Marlies and unlike other call ups (who do very little and create several turnovers) Tlusti made sure everyone leaving the Mellon last night was saying "Who the hell is Tlusti?...no really, who is this douche?"

Tlusti scored in the third to make it 2-1 TOR. Although it was really a case of being in the right place at the right time. Kubina fanned on the shot that saw the puck drift about 5 feet forward where Steen was waiting to fire the "pass" from Kubina. Steen wired the shot and Jiri was just coasting in front of the net looking for a rebound and before he knew it he had a bruise on his ass (from the puck not rookie initiation) and the puck was behind Fleury...35 seconds later Kubina wired a pass down ice from his own red line to Tlusti who was breaking down the near side (with speed the majority of the Leafs have not seen on their team in quite some time) wired a shot high on Fleury's glove side to make it 3-1...And would eventually be the game winner. Kaberle Scored on a huge slap shot from the top of the circles on a power play to make it 4-1 Toronto and less than a minute after that Deveraux scored on a brutal turnover created Antropov's neanderthal like reach to make it 5-1. Gonchar scored on a 5 on 3 to make it 5-2 but it was too little too late for Pittsburgh and Toronto was just playing too strong.

So Toronto gets their first road win of the season (now 1-1-1) and if they play like this on Saturday in New York then they should be able to come out of this mini road trip 2-0. A few things to note from last nights game...

1) On October 13th when the Penguins won 6-4 Pittsburgh had 52 shots on net. Tonight they only had 25...
2) Gill and Kubina were a combined +3 and on Oct. 13th McCabe alone was a -3...I'm not sayin'...I'm just sayin'
3) McCabe took 3 penalty's on the 13th (holding, interference and tripping) Last night only one penality was given to the Leafs defence and it wasn't because of laziness. Kubina got a delay of game for flipping the puck over the glass...just a brain fart...nothing to do with being slower than your opponent.
4) Pittsburgh started Fleury (the first time an opposing team has started their #1 goalie against the leafs in 7 games)
5) Paul Maurice still looks like a bag of shit and needs to get some sleep. He also needs to get his ties from somewhere other than the salvation army.

So Toronto take on the struggling Rangers on Saturday. If New York was going to have a coming out party (scoring not "scoring") it would be against the Leafs. Let's just hope Raycroft doesn't start...or MaCabe.

Game 6: Dear Bryan...You Blow

I have come to the realization that the Toronto Maple Leafs are officially the same caliber as the Florida Panthers, Boston Bruins and the Lightning. How do I know this?...because teams are starting their back-ups against them. Toronto fell behind quickly 1-0 on a shot by Christensen that Toskala is still looking for but they came back strong and turned a 1-0 into a 2-1 lead. All was looking good till Sabourin had to leave the game with a cut on his head...Fleury came in when it was 2-1 Toronto and ended up holding the fort while his team shat on Toskala for a 6-4 win.

Normally I won't single a player out (yes I will) because as the saying goes..."You win as a team and you lose as a team"...Well that saying doesn't apply when McCabe is part of that team. Bryan McCabe litterally handed that game over to Pittsburgh. All night he was just standing around with is dick in his hand...He was a minus 3 (-3) tonight with 3 penalties (6 PIM). Obviously I can't show replays on my blog but on the 3-3 goal by Talbot it seriously looked like McCabe was trying to help him score...Toronto fans are very quick to pass judgement when a Leaf fucks up...sometimes it's deserved and sometimes it's not...tonight it was deserved when the ACC started booing' McCabe. I just had to shake my head in disgust and drink my beer...

It was a sloppy game all round Toronto was playing like...well Toronto and Pittsburgh was playing to the caliber of their opponents...there was tonnes of missed defensive assignments on both sides of the ice and in the end it all came down to who took advantage of those errors more...I'm sure the Pens are happy with the win but I doubt they're happy with the way they played (defensively).

If there is any good news to come out of this it's that Blake scored his first goal...as did Tucker. Gamache, Sundin, Stajan, White and Antropov all had solid games. Vesa looked kind of doo doo on a few of the goals...and a little off topic...I'm not quite sure why Raycroft didn't get the start...I mean if he won on Thursday shouldn't he get the start again? I know he had a pretty high goals against average against the Pens last season but I seriously believe that they (upper management) want him out of Toronto...They are totally tea-baggin' this guy...

One last thing before I go...before the game started I believe is was Scott Oak (or maybe Bob Cole but I think Bob is too stupid to accurately deliver stats) who said "Crosby is still looking for his first goal of the season"...well guess what Scott...If anyone is in an offensive slump the best way to get them out is to play the Leafs...i mean come on...I dare you to find me one single Leaf fan that was thinking "ohh Crosby hasn't scored yet?...well he sure won't start tonight!"...what a fucking joke the leafs are...I'm done...I'll see everyone Tuesday morning...