Battle of Ontario Round Two: Toronto Maple Leafs @ Ottawa Senators

Toronto Maple Leafs (7-3-1) @ Ottawa Senators (7-5-0)

Tonight’s battle of Ontario was the second of six meetings as Ottawa evened the season series one game apiece. Both teams came into tonight on fire as the Senators turned a five game unbeaten streak into six and the Leafs were coming off a hard fought win on top of their great start to the season.

Gustavsson started his third in a row since coming in for Reimer in Montreal.  Other than one soft goal he made some big saves which ultimately kept the Leafs in the game considering being outshot 25 to 30. Young Sens goaltender Robin Lehner started his first game of the year after 2 relief appearances. The 20 year old Swede came up strong when needed battling for the win.

Clark MacArthur spoiled the score sheet going high glove side on the powerplay as the Leafs climbed ahead with the first goal of the game. Clark has found his scoring touch with at least a goal in each of his last 3 games. Cornell graduate Colin Greening, also on the powerplay, made it 1-1. Greening is in first full season and is off to a productive start with 7 pts on the year.

The second period can be summarized by penalty after penalty with only team capitalizing. Chris Neil redirected a Karlsson point shot going five hole to beat Gustavsson on the powerplay, 2-1 Sens. The Leafs lost all of their momentum with the multiple penalties and goal against as the Sens healthfully outshot the Leafs once again. Up to this point in the game all goals were scored by way of the powerplay.

The first non powerplay goal of the evening came from Kaspars Daugavins as he increased Ottawa’s lead to two with a weak wrister past Gustavsson, over shadowing an other wise decent performance. MacArthur gave the Leafs hope as he finished off a nice pass from Grabovski to shrink the deficit to one goal. Too little to late sounds like I am referring to the Leafs playoff runs as of late as they were unable to climb that last hurdle. Positive pressure was shown in the last few minutes but Ottawa was able to hold on increasing their impressive win streak to six games.

By: Liam Niven

Leafs Continue To Roll As They Beat League Leading Penguins

Pittsburgh Penguins (8-3-2) @ Toronto Maple Leafs (7-2-1)

The Penguins dominated from the beginning of the game as they outshot the Leafs 11-6 during the first period. Scoring was started on the power play as the Leafs were given energy when Mikhail Grabovski redirected a Phaneuf point shot.

Halfway into the second Matt Cooke finished off front in front beating Gustavsson to make it a 1-1 game. Connolly, in his second game back from injury, got his first as a Leaf with a right time right place clean up goal to regain the lead for the Leafs. This was the second powerplay goal with Malkin in the box as the Leafs seem to have an answer for the number one penalty killing unit in the league. Kunitz tied the game on the power play as he buried a rebound given as a gift by a Gustavsson pad save.

MacArthur added his second of the year pushing the Leafs ahead once again. Less than five minutes later Malkin tied the game on a five on three powerplay as he let a laser go from the point beating Gustavsson five hole as he had no chance due to a Komisarek screen. Right before the goal Gustavsson made multiple outstanding saves on the 2 man disadvantage.  The action was not over as we saw lead leaguing 10^th goal of the year by Phil Kessel set up from a nice pass by Connolly as there appears to be some chemistry forming between the two Leafs. The Leafs battled intense fore checking from the Pens in the final minutes but were able to hold on which is becoming a positive early season trend for the Buds. 

Clearly an improved team from last season but this pace will be hard to keep up.  Reimer is expected to be back next game but overall Gustavsson has done well filling in.  This will be Reimers team regardless that is until he starts playing like a Vesa Toskala.

By: Liam Niven

Reimerless Leafs Ruin Rangers Home Opener

The New York Rangers (3-3-2) were handed a 4-2 defeat, as they played their first home game of the year, to the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs (6-2-1).  Earlier in the day James Reimer was placed on injured reserve. He felt severe headaches during the Wednesday’s skate. The so-called whiplash injury is sounding more and more like a concussion. Gustavsson also fueled the rumours with his comment after morning state today, when asked about Reimer’s current set back “With concussions you never know, right? Career band-aid Tim Connolly made his season debut after a training camp shoulder injury.

 

Girardi started it off with a soft shot that squeaked five hole past Gustavsson giving the Rangers a 1-0. New York continued to dominate the Leafs leading to a disallowed goal due goaltender interference from Callahan. Minutes later there was another goal disallowed guess who? Callaghan again. Initially called two minutes for interference then seconds after he was set free.

 

Lombardi tied the game that seemed to spark the Leafs although nothing else materialized in the period. Two minutes into the third Lupul continued his good start to the season with his fifth goal of the year to give the Leafs a 2-1 lead. The Leafs continued to out shoot the Rangers as MacArthur laced a slapper right through Lundqvist. Mike Brown then added an insurance marker with a laser snap shot over the glove of Lundquist bringing it to a 4-1 Leafs lead.

 

Del Zotto tried to help NY climb back with a point shot that deflected off Leafs’ Connolly edging it to 4-2.  In a rarely called penalty Dubinski was given two for snowing Gustavsson. The Leafs looked a little timid in the last few minutes but were able to hold off for a big 4-2 especially against a goaltender like Lundqvist.

 

Questions will continue to be asked of Gustavsson even though he had a fairly decent game. The city and fans have grown to Reimer and as his health remains in question so does that of the entire team.

 

By: Liam Niven

Jagr Shines As Flyer’s Blaze Past Leafs 4 to 2

Off a huge OT win to continue their torrid start to the season the Toronto Maple Leafs fell 4-2 as they visited the Philadelphia Flyers.

 

Gustavsson started in place of injured James Reimer and Sergei Bobrovsky took the raines instead Ilya Bryzgalov.. Gustavsson looked good early as the Flyers began to pile on the pressure off and on. The Leaf powerplay was horrible, yet again, as they could barely enter the zone on the first two attempts.  Six minutes in, league leader, Phil Kessel spots the open puck and sniped it top corner for a 1-0 Leafs lead. A frightening moment happened shortly afterward as Chris Pronger left the game with a facial injury sustained from a shot follow through by Mikhail Grabovksy. The screams Pronger let out as he immediately skated for the dressing room left everyone concerned. It is reported that the eye area is to swollen for an immediate update on injury. On a positive note the game saw a bright spot from a past star. Jaromir Jagr ties the game late in the first by showing he still has it by splitting the D then going upstairs blocker side. Jagr demonstrated the speed and skill reminiscent of his earlier years to net his first goal of the year, 1296 days since his last NHL goal.

 

The second period was back and forth until, on the power play, Scotty Hartnel gave Philly a 2-1 lead as he poked the puck past Gustavsson who couldn’t hold on after making a nice pad save. The first line for the Flyers dominated the game and continued to produce as Jagr controlled down low, dished to Giroux who feed it to Hartnell for his second of the night. Then Frattin showed his speed as he broke into the zone and sauced one to Steckel who awkwardly redirected the puck off his shaft then off Babrovsky’s stick and in for a 3-2 game. The excitement wasn’t done as Jagr scored his second of the game on a centre ice breakaway bringing the Philadelphia fans to their feet.  Flyers outshot the Leafs 30 to 26 in a closely contested battle that ended 4-2 for the broad street bullies.

 

By: Liam Niven

Historic Rivalry Renewed As Leafs Take A 5-4 OT Win Away From Les Canadiens.

In one of the most storied rivalries in professional sports, the Toronto Maple Leafs (5-1-1) travelled to ‘La Belle Province’ to battle the Montreal Canadiens (1-4-2).

 

1:15 into the game Gionta was called for goaltender interference after running right through Reimer knocking off his mask and leaving him looking visibly shaken. This would eventually lead to a short handed goal by Moen as he out muscled Steckel to the net.  Roughly five minutes later Steckel made up by tipping a nice point shot from rookie bright spot Jake Gardiner.

 

Jonas Gustavsson began the second period in place of Reimer as the concussion rumours begin to swirl.  He was tested 29 second in but was unable to stop a Kostitsyn wrister.  Shortly after Kessel continued his hot start by potting his eighth of the year. Then Dion Phaneuf scored for the Leafs as a busy first five minutes to start the second left the score at 3-2 Toronto. A chippy period led to continued penalty trouble for both teams.

 

Montreal began the third strong with a goal by Toronto area native Michael Cammalleri, blasting a shot past Gustavsson. Montreal then took the lead 4-3 with a savable shot from Gorges. The Habs dominated the first half of the period as it looked like a Montreal win was becoming the more likely scenario. Then at 13:07 Mikhail Grabovski cleaned up a rebound in front giving the Leafs life. Originally the goal was given to Kulemin but upon further review Grabo beat his teammate to the puck.

 

At 1:23 into OT Grabovski completed a skilful backhand to forehand spin move to beat Price top corner blocker side from a nice feed by Liles.  A special goal from the former Hab who has grown as a player and person since his move to Toronto.

 

By: Liam Niven

Leafs Spanked 6 To 2 By The Bruins For First Regulation Loss Of Season

The first regulations loss of the season for the Leafs comes from an embarrassing 6-2 defeat at the hands of the Boston Bruins.  In his season debut, Colton Orr took on Shawn Thornton in a lackluster battle 1:54 into the game.  Steckel potted his first of the season with a nice pass from Nazem Kadri who was recalled a day after being sent down following his return from injury. Shortly after, Boston climbs in front with two powerplay goals from Nathan Horton and a laser off the circle from Zdeno Chara. Both teams went on to take three penalties each in the second but neither team could capitalize with a strong period from Tim Thomas as the Leafs outshot the Bruins 14 to 11 for the period. The third period got ugly for the Leafs as goals by Lucic, Bergeron and Seguin made it 6–1.  The Boston faithful erupted with “Thank you Kessel” chants after Seguin’s second of the season.  49 seconds later Grabovski fired a wrist shot past Thomas to bring the deficit to 4 goals. There was no comeback tonight as the Bruins held on to hand the Leafs their first regulation loss.

 

Remember what happened last year? After going 4 and 0 they followed that up with an impressive 1-8-3 record. Not to mention Phil Kessel’s similar hot streak to begin the 2010 season followed up with a brutal next month of embarrassing production. Have they evolved from last year? I for one am not totally convinced.  It is no secret that a true number one center and an additional top six player are needed to make this team a true contender but if all things go there way this team may qualify for the playoffs.  At least there is some hope with quality youth in the system and those beginning to make an impact with the big club but they are still a work in progress.  It all depends on Reimer from here on out and unfortunately for this likeable guy he will be much of the blame if things go wrong.

 

By: Liam Niven

From Teammates to Enemies: Calgary vs. Toronto

In the first all Canadian match up of the night the visiting Calgary Flames (1-2-0) take on the Toronto Maple Leafs (2-0-0) at 7PM ET on CBC. The Flames corrected a two game losing streak to start the season with a 4-1 win over Montreal Thursday.  With wins over Montreal and Ottawa the Leafs have started strong for a second straight season but can they keep it up? 

Making their season debuts Clarke MacArthur, back from suspension, and Cody Franson, healthy scratch, will look to add to the winning start.  For Franson this is a huge game to show why he deserves to be in the lineup on a regular basis. MacArthur hopes to build on the chemistry that was developed last season with line mates Mikhail Grabovski and Nikolai Kulemin, all recording career highs in goals and assists. 

Alex Tanguay has started hot with 4 assists so far not to mention the strong game in Montreal from Rene Bourque and his 3 goals on the year.  Jarome Iginla, who finished with a strong season last year, will look to lead the Flames in their hopes of keeping pace in the always-strong Western Conference

Calgary Flames 2003 1^st round draft pick Dion Phaneuf will look to make an impact against his former team who ultimately gave up on him, which he has clearly used as motivation since he was traded to Toronto.  Matthew Lombardi, also a former Flame, has returned to action quicker than expected and will expect to build on the success of his last two games. Matt Stajan, Nikolas Hagman and Lee Stempniak will be returning to Toronto to face their old team.  With so many personal connections to this game, the compete level will be up there and look to expect an intense game.

Whatever team you support, these are two teams with a lot of questions that will make this an interesting Saturday night battle.

By: Liam Niven