LEAFS STEAL TWO FROM DEFENDING CHAMPS. ON OPENING NIGHT

A solid win for the Maple Leafs. It may just be the first game of the year, but the Leafs players should be proud over the good defensive effort they put up, even with 4 players in the lineup making their NHL debuts.

It’s not easy playing the defending Stanley Cup Champions in their own building and steal two points. Especially when the game was heading into Detroit’s favor and the fast pace style of hockey they like to play, in the first period. The Leafs did hold down their own both defensively and offensively. And at times it looked like the Leafs were going to give the game away, but Vesa Toskala stood tall.

His performance in net was nothing short of superb, in a 35 save effort. The last line of defense showed he could handle the pressure at any given moment. Toskala saved the Leafs from a first period where the Red Wings got plenty of chances to score. A few bounces here, and a few deflections there, and the Wings could’ve been up 2 or even 3 zip. Instead the result came out to be 1-0 for the Leafs, off a Pavel Kubina power play goal with 26 seconds left to play in the first. Detroit goalie Chris Osgood did help out too, by passing Kubina the puck and then gave him an open net to shoot at.

The second period was a bit different, as the pace of the game slowed down, and not too many odd man rushes or mistakes were made from either side. There was one bright spot though for the Leafs, and that came from the line of Nikolai Kulemin, Mikhail Grabovski, and Niklas Hagman. They made the Wings work and created plenty of opportunities to score, and did have one between the three, in the third period from Nikolai Kulemin. He scored his first career NHL goal in first ever game. While that line was working, the top line of Nik Antropov, Jason Blake and Alexei Ponikarovsky were obsolete.

With the good effort along the boards from the Leafs, they skated to out to 2-0 score, off a scramble at the side of the net. Dominic Moore potted home the puck into the top half of the empty net. The Wings did answer with their own solid effort along the boards to create an open point shot. Tomas Holmstrom slid the rebound between Vesa Toskala’s legs and cut the lead in half.

One thing that surprised everyone was the sloppy play of the Wings in the third. They gave up plenty of odd man rushes off of bad neutral ice turnovers. The Leafs took advantage of that, as Alex Steen disrupted an outlet pass which ended up on the stick of Nikolai Kulemin. Who made a smart deke and beat Chris Osgood over the shoulder. Again, the Wings came back, with a power play goal of their own, from some strong play in front of the net. And again, Tomas Holmstrom was there to slide another rebound goal past the outstretched toe of Vesa Toskala.

In the end, the Leafs won the game with a final score of 3-2, even though they were out shot 37-29, but some good defensive end coverage spelled the win. Taking stupid penalties and not taking too many also helped out the cause, as the Leafs only took three penalties, while the wings only took two.

And a side note to add. What a game turned in by 18 year old rookie Luke Schenn. Playing in his first NHL game, he did an excellent job and played 17 solid minutes. He was calm and cool and didn’t do too much or get away from his game. He flourished in penalty kill situations and in clearing the zone. Luke Schenn did what he was supposed to do, and that was to play simple hockey, nothing too hard or fancy about that, and got the job done.

This is a game for all of Leafs Nation. We know that this will be a tough season to go threw, with some rough patches ahead, maybe. If the Leafs can play solid defensively and just try on both ends of the ice, then I’ll take it, win or lose. Look for the media to talk shit and how the fans are all excited after one game and already started planning parade routes and what not. I guess it’s the media’s job to talk shit and make fun of the fans.


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