Toronto Maple Leafs

My Name Is Jonas - I’m Carrying Your Will

So the Leafs finally looked the part of winner tonight.  Full points to Niklas Hagman for his hat trick; Tomas Kaberle for his career high production with 4 assists and his goal; and Lee Stempniak for his 3 assists, and power play effort, and huge hit on Todd Marchant.  Nice to see Matt Stajan showing some spine when he came back at Marchant after being hit from behind in the first period, and three beauty assists.

Mikhail Grabovski lit the lamp and played like a dogged terrier.  He get’s points for his effort on the forecheck down low, and his skill with the puck which was quite evident.  Bonus points for getting Niedermayer to take a ridiculously stupid penalty.  Alexei Ponikarovsky was dependable and provided consistent push on the forecheck also.  NIkolai Kulemin seemed to give the Leafs 3 actual scoring lines, while Wayne Primeau and Rickard Wallin added some defensive acumen.  Colton Orr did alright in his fight with George Parros and did his job early on.  Viktor Stålberg played the role of stead rookie, doing mainly good things with the puck in the offensive zone.  His production will come with time.  Ian White looked reasonably solid on D, while Francois Beauchemin and Luke Schenn were both physical without making any real glaring mistakes.

All of those points made - Jonas Gustavsson was the story in this one.  His HUGE saves made all the difference, from his huge leg pad save on the goal line in the first to keep the Leafs in it, to his ridiculous glove save as he recovered from being out of position in the second period.  More than anything the Monster’s top skill appears to be his ability to make the ridiculous saves routine as he bails himself out whenever he’s mildly out of position.  As a result of his efforts, the team was obviously pumped and played with purpose.  The first goal wasn’t his fault as he was clearly interfered with by Todd Marchant (there’s that name again).  He also had no chance on the Bobby Ryan goal after a beautiful pass by Corey Perry.  Overall his play in all 3 periods was stellar, as he made huge save after huge save.  The Leafs finally seemed confident in front of a solid starting netminder.

So who had troubles tonight?  Well - John Mitchell continues to be a confusing player up front, but he played better than he has been overall.  He was given a lot of ice time with solid wingers, but again missed numerous chances with his lack of finish.  He didn’t really show up and make an impact until the 3rd period particularly.

Also on the crap play front, Jason Blake looked dangerous at times, and disinterested at others.  He bounced from line to line without really syncing up well with anyone, and as a result it leaves on wondering when he’ll find a spot that works for him.  He’s obviously dangerous with the puck, but until he finds someone to feed him the puck, his confidence will be lacking.  Blake decided to not shoot on numerous occasions, which is frankly worrying for a player with his skill set.

On the defensive side of things Mike Komisarek and Garnet Exelby were both victimized by the skill forwards of Anaheim on multiple occasions, and Komisarek in particular made a number of bad giveaways.  Jeff Finger should be playing ahead of Exelby if he’s healthy, but I’m not sure if the Leafs will disrupt a formula that appears to be working.  Luke Schenn hardly played, but that isn’t his fault since the Leafs spent almost half the game on the PP.

The Leafs responded well to the Anaheim push late in the second, and they deserved everything they got in this game.  Anaheim responded poorly to the Leafs attack, and took far more penalties than necessary, in essence handing the Leafs the advantage right back, after they took the lead early in the first period.  The Leafs 3rd period push was an awesome sight to behold, and frankly I hope this all carries over into the next game.  Oh and I still think the Leafs need a power forward like Corey Perry on their team.  He played a very solid game for the Ducks and was probably their best player tonight.

If the Leafs can continue to push the way they have in the past two games, they’ll win a few more before this season is done.  The addition of Phil Kessel’s skill set, the continuing solid play of Gustavsson, and the overall level of team defense and pugnacity, will go a long way to determining how many they actually do get.  The Leafs now have the 2nd ranked PP in the NHL with 11 goals on 38 chances, for a 28.95% scoring rate.  Their offense is also improved in the league rankings as they now have an average of 2.33 goals per game.  The D and goaltending could still use some work, as Gustavsson’s .892 save percentage won’t drastically improve it… in fact it will lower his save percentage slightly, which was .894 entering the game.

Either way, the Leafs won, and that’s all Leaf fans care about right now.