Leafs Offense Takes Weak Penguins Defense Apart

For the first time in recent memory, the Maple Leafs were able to register over 35 shots in a single game. It seems as though the concept of shooting the puck finally got through to the Leafs as they seemed to shoot instead of over handle the puck as they seem to have done for quite a while now. Instead of their usual 15 – 25 shots a game, they registered 38 shots, a staggering number for the Leafs.

Against rookie netminder, Marc-Andre Fleury, the Maple Leafs were able to score four goals, all resulting from good forechecking in the offensive zone. They were able to establish a good cycling game very early in the first period which they were able to carry through the whole game. Playing with energy and jump seen very rarely this season, the Leafs were able to recover the puck in the corners and work it out to the point where the defensemen got good, hard, low shots through that either beat the goalie with traffic infront or produced rebounds that were jammed in by players in the slot.

Team unity was also prevalent in the Leafs victory against a very depleted and weak looking Penguins team that was without star centre Mario Lemieux. There were several instances that the Penguins resorted to dirty play and cheap shots directed at some of the Leafs’ younger players. Steve Webb, a player the Leafs already have a particular distaste for from when he was with the Islanders, was, once again, playing with his usual disregard for respect of other players. As usual, he looked more interested in hurting people than he did in playing hockey. Owen Nolan finally gave Webb what he deserved late in the third after he had taken some runs at rookie Matt Stajan earlier in the game. Nolan was assessed a game misconduct penalty among other penalties after the altercation. Webb is excellent at getting under the skin of his opponents; however, he always does so in an inappropriate fashion. Players can never get him back with a clean body check because he never seems to have the puck. This ultimately leads to the degeneration of the integrity of the game as players are forced to get back at him in ways that are not completely within the rules.

Following the game, Wade Belak commented on the situation of Leafs being thrown out for defending their teammates. Belak said, “Something must be done to rectify the instigation penalty. Guys should not be allowed to take cheap shots at guys and not be held accountable. You drop the gloves to settle things the way it should be done and you end up being thrown out with the guy who took the cheap shots laughing in your face.” Indeed the NHL must do something to straighten out this matter because, quite frankly, the guys taking cheap shots are getting away with it and the guys who try to settle things properly are getting more punishment. There is no place in hockey for stickwork, dirty hits or cheap shots and it’s about time the NHL gets the rules set properly. Having clean players punished more severely for fighting face to face than guys who use the stick or the dirty hits is utterly ridiculous.

The Leafs will take on the New Jersey Devils on Friday. The Devils are defense masters so this could be a relatively low scoring game.