Leafs Jump Back Into First Place

The Maple Leafs jumped back into first place in the Eastern Conference after briefly being passed by the Ottawa Senators after their 4-1 win against Phoenix on Thursday. However, the Leafs are not on easy street quite yet. A win tomorrow in a head to head match up with the Senators is essential if the Leafs hope to retain that first place position. In fact, the Leafs will play the Senators twice in the next week with the second game coming on Thursday. These two games will be crucial in determining which team comes out with the conference lead.

The Leafs played a solid game against the Thrashers dominating the final two periods of play. Trevor Kidd looked very strong in goal especially when the Leafs were under heavy pressure in the first period. Kidd made twenty five saves, many of which were of the difficult variety.

Balanced scoring was the key to the Leafs attack as goals came from four different players on three different lines. All four goals were of the highlight variety, the best of which was Matt Stajan’s goal. Stajan picked up the loose puck at the blueline, split the defense and put a backhand shot over the shoulder of Pasi Nurminen.

Defensively, the Leafs struggled in the first period but tightened things up and cut down on the amount of quality scoring chances they gave up in the second and third periods. The defense also contributed offensively as they have often done this season with Pilar recording two assists and Kaberle contributing one.

Tomorrow’s game against the Ottawa Senators is arguably the most important game so far this season as it will determine first place in the conference. It should be interesting to see how the Leafs play after having been throttled 7-1 in the last head to head meeting.

Weekes Makes Leaf Attack Look Weak

Kevin Weekes was the story of last night’s game between the Maple Leafs and the Carolina Hurricanes. On a night where the Leafs were getting some really good scoring opportunities, Kevin Weekes shut the door every chance the Leafs had. Making thirty-two saves for his sixth shutout of the season, Weekes carried his Hurricanes to victory, something he has to do each night in order for the lowly Hurricanes to pick up a win.

The Maple Leafs would have been fine last night if they had managed to put in a couple of goals on six power play chances including a lengthy five on three opportunity. The power play is becoming a real concern for the Leafs as they have gone zero for twenty-one in their last five games. With Alex Mogilny, Owen Nolan and Darcy Tucker on the way, the power play will soon be given a much needed injection of fire power.

What made the power play situation even worse last night was the fact that the Hurricanes scored the game winning goal while shorthanded. The puck was chipped off the boards and it caught the Leafs’ defense standing still as Eric Cole motored past them and walked in all alone on Ed Belfour beating him over the shoulder.

The Leafs will play the Atlanta Thrashers on Friday and will return home to play an important game against Ottawa on Saturday which could determine first place in the conference.

Leafs Make It Three In A Row

After a very tough past few weeks with games against New Jersey, Ottawa and Philadelphia, the Leafs have gone back to basics and are rolling along once again. Last night, the Maple Leafs recorded their third win in a row with a good performance against the always difficult Montreal Canadiens. Despite the Canadiens scoring the first goal, the Leafs rebounded quickly and dominated the play for the rest of the game. It was an important victory as it allowed the Leafs to keep pace with the surging Ottawa Senators who won again last night 9-1 against the New York Rangers.

Joe Nieuwendyk has played very well of late between Nik Antropov and Alexei Ponikarovsky. Ponikarovsky had a big game on Thursday against Washington with two goals and he followed that up last night with a couple of assists. Nieuwendyk scored the game winning goal on a great set up by Nik Antropov that left him all alone in the slot to put it by Jose Theodore.

Matt Stajan and Mats Sundin have been developing into a very effective pair of penalty killers. They have been paired together during the PK for about three weeks now and have been doing great jobs. Stajan made a strong play to intercept a pass in his own zone sending himself, Sundin and Ponikarovsky away on a three on one that Sundin eventually capitalized on. On separate plays, Stajan hit both the cross bar and goal post. He did not have much luck last night but he is generating chances for himself and his teammates which is the most important thing.

The Leafs will return home to face Carolina at home on Tuesday, the game Owen Nolan has targeted for his return. Should the Leafs win on Tuesday, Pat Quinn will go for his six hundredth win as a head coach on Friday against Atlanta.

Sundin and Roberts Named To Eastern Conference All Star Team

The NHL announced the reserve players for the All Star game taking place on February 8th in Minnesota. Among the players chosen were Mats Sundin and Gary Roberts of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Ed Belfour and Bryan McCabe were given consideration but were both excluded from the roster.

Mats Sundin has made all star appearances a habit since coming to the Leafs in 1994. Since then, Sundin has been named to the All Star team each season as a representative from the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Gary Roberts will make his first appearance in an All Star game in over a decade. This all star appearance is a testament to Roberts’ truly remarkable career that many thought was finished in 1996 when he suffered a debilitating neck injury. After several surgeries to repair the damage and months of painful rehabilitation, Roberts set his sights on a comeback. In 1997, Hurricanes general manager, Jim Rutherford decided to take a chance by signing the unrestricted free agent to a contract. Roberts did not disappoint as he registered twenty goals and twenty-nine assists for forty-nine points.

After reestablishing himself as one of the league’s premier power forwards, Roberts was hit with another major injury. At the end of the 2001-2002 campaign, Roberts required double shoulder surgery to repair the damage his shoulders had sustained throughout the season and the rigorous playoff run his Maple Leafs had been on. Again Roberts went through several months of painful rehabilitation to get his shoulders back to the level they needed to be at in order for him to be effective at the National Hockey League level. Early on in his recovery, he could barely get enough strength to lift himself out of bed. However, Roberts, once again, showed his remarkable determination and made his return to the Maple Leaf lineup in late February scoring five goals and registering three assists in the final fourteen games of the season.

This season Roberts is on pace for twenty nine goals and fifty one points. His appearance at this season’s all star classic will definitely be something that will be looked back on as a remarkable achievement after the two serious injuries he has dealt with through his career.

Simple Hockey Gets The Job Done In Washington

For the second game in a row with a lineup so depleted that would cause most teams to simply throw in the towel, the Maple Leafs found a way to pick up a much needed two points. Without many of their regular players, several members of the Baby Leafs and other players who are usually not expected to contribute offensively stepped up and played solid games for the Leafs. The team also had a very good defensive effort for the second night in a row. Without many regular players in the lineup, a solid defensive effort is crucial to the Maple Leafs’ success while these key players recuperate.

Alexei Ponikarovsky has played extremely well since being called up earlier in the season. Last night, Ponikarovsky recorded two goals marking his first two goal game of his career. Playing on a line with Joe Nieuwendyk and Nik Antropov, Ponikarovsky has really fit in well and has been somebody who has been contributing in various ways. Thankfully the Leafs have stuck with him over the past few seasons as he is now beginning to show what he is capable of. When he is physical and uses his size, he can be a very effective power forward.

Craig Johnson got his first goal as a Maple Leaf in his second career Leaf game on a scramble infront of Olaf Kolzig. Carlo Colaiacovo stepped in from the point and put a shot on net which caused a large rebound that Craig Johnson slid in from his belly.

The Maple Leafs will take on the always difficult Montreal Canadiens on Saturday before returning home to play the Carolina Hurricanes next Tuesday, the game in which Owen Nolan is expected to make his return from his eye injury.

Flying Sticks And Shutouts

Coming into last night’s game against the archrival New York Islanders, the Maple Leafs desperately needed a victory to maintain their hold on first place in the conference, not to mention, breaking out of their mini two game loosing streak. Playing with much better attention to their defensive game, the Leafs were able to get the win behind twenty-five saves by Ed Belfour. The big line was instrumental in getting the win as both goals were scored with them on the ice. Mikael Renberg broke out of his thirteen game goalless drought by recording the Leafs first goal on a delayed penalty. Gary Roberts put the game out of reach with 2:39 remaining in the third period with a vintage Roberts goal from two feet out on a good set up from behind the net by Mats Sundin.

Perhaps the more important occurrence in last night’s game was the overwhelming amount of sticks that struck people in the face. Six of the nine penalties in the game were for high sticking and there were others that went unnoticed. This is becoming a very disturbing trend in the NHL as more and more injuries, especially ones to the eye area, are occurring as a result of high sticks. Owen Nolan went down with an eye injury a mere thirteen days ago and now already a second Leaf is out with an eye injury. As a faceoff in the defensive zone for the Leafs occurred, Tucker was attempting to get to the point to cover his man when a stick was flung around, striking Tucker just under the eye. Though it did not make direct contact with Tucker’s eye, it was close enough that he was taken to hospital for observation and will sit out tonight’s game in Washington.

It seem as though players are loosing the respect for their fellow players and thus are not making enough of an effort to keep their sticks under control. A high stick is essentially a weapon that can cause serious damage to a player that is struck by it. Five even three years ago, there were not the amounts of high sticking incidents that seem to be occurring and sooner or later, if something is not done immediately, somebody is going to be permanently injured.

It might be time for the mandatory use of visors to be implemented despite the unwillingness of some players to comply. Many players complain that it restricts their vision and prevents them from being as effective as they can be. They say it fogs up or gets spots from water droplets and impedes their vision.

Let us quickly look at some facts here to perhaps prove these arguments to be nothing but poppycock. As of today, the leading goal scorer in the NHL, Rick Nash, wears a visor. The visor certainly does not seem to be causing Nash any problems as he already has twenty-eight goals. In fact, the top three goals scorers, Nash, Kovalchuk and Naslund, all wear visors. Secondly, when goaltenders masks were first implemented by the NHL, the same type of arguments were put forth by stubborn players. “The cage impedes my vision and I can see it out of the corner of my eye. It also makes seeing the puck at my feet really difficult,” said all the stubborn goalies. Now, can anybody imagine goaltenders not wearing helmets today when players can shoot the puck over 100km/h? Probably not. People have to realize that the risk of head injuries from pucks for goalies is not that much higher than the risk of serious eye damage from high sticks for players.

The visor obviously does not give the league’s top players any problems so to say that it does present problems shows nothing but ignorance and stubbornness on the part of the person arguing this. And let us finish with this, it is a lot easier to play hockey looking through fog or past some water spots than it is with one functioning eye.

Flyers Still Have Answer For The Leafs

For an unknown reason, certain teams have more trouble than usual when playing against a few particular teams. For the Maple Leafs, their troublesome teams seem to be the Buffalo Sabres and most recently, the Philadelphia Flyers. The Leafs have a tremendous amount of trouble beating the Sabres in Buffalo and always have to fight for a win at home. As for the Flyers, well, the Leafs cannot beat them anywhere. In the last four head to head games with the Flyers, two have been played at Air Canada Centre and the other two have been played at the recently newly named Wachovia Centre. In these last four games, they have been outscored by a total score of 21 to 3, scoring no more than one goal in a game.

Ed Belfour has also not looked good in these games which is concerning as he is usually somebody that the Maple Leafs can always count on. Whenever the Leafs play the Flyers, Belfour looks as though he is fighting the puck and never looks comfortable with his positioning. Not to blame these loses on Belfour, he certainly has not received a lot of support from his defense in these games. In tonight’s game, at least two goals were scored with nobody infront clearing away Flyers. On one goal, McCabe lost the puck behind the goal catching his teammates out of position. Two Flyers were left all alone infront of the goal and were easily able to jam the puck in without any difficulty. The other goal resulted in Bryan Marchment being beaten to the net and the puck carrier was able to jam the puck in alone infront.

The Leafs will have trouble winning games without solid defensive play; moreover, their trouble scoring goals has made the poor defense stand out even more. The Calgary game on Tuesday notwithstanding, the Leafs have only scored two goals in their last four games starting with the Senators on January 8th and finishing tonight against the Flyers. That kind of production is simply not going to get it done. Missing three players in Robert Reichel, Owen Nolan and Alex Mogilny that essentially makeup the Leafs second line does not help; however, the Leafs must find a way to generate more offense in order to start winning some important upcoming games.

The Leafs will take on the New York Islanders on Tuesday at Air Canada Centre and the Washington Capitals on Wednesday at MCI Centre before coming back home to play their long time rivals, the Montreal Canadiens, next Saturday.

Leafs Drop Another to Flyers

For the third game in a row, the Philadelphia Flyers easily disposed of the Toronto Maple Leafs by a hefty score. Tonight’s game was no different as the Flyers quickly got off to a good start building up a 3-0 lead by the halfway mark of the first period. Though the Leafs did score a goal on the power play, they did little to generate any good offensive chances. The Flyers dominated the play right off the start and prevented the Leafs from gaining any momentum.

Ed Belfour was pulled after letting in three quick goals, all of which were somewhat questionable. The third goal came off a rebound that Belfour let out from a dump in from centre ice. This loss cannot be blamed entirely on Belfour; however, as the first two goals came from the result of poor defensive zone play.

The Leafs will take on the Philadelphia Flyers again tomorrow at Air Canada Centre. Hopefully the Leafs will address the problems that they have been having of late and come out with a strong performance to counteract tonight poor result.

The next two weeks will be very important for the Leafs as they are playing a lot of conference rivals and must make sure they put a few wins together to maintain their current position.

Leafs Win In Roberts’ and Fitzgerald’s 1000th Game

It was a very special night for two players on the Maple Leafs team last night who went forward to make NHL history. Gary Roberts and Tom Fitzgerald became the first two players in NHL history to ever play their 1000th games as teammates in the same game. With their families looking on, both players had very strong games helping the Leafs to a 4-1 victory over the highly improved Calgary Flames. Fitzgerald capped off his special night by recording a goal in typical Fitzgerald fashion on the forecheck. He caused a turnover down low and then outlasted the Calgary netminder before putting it along the ice under his arm.

As a team, the Leafs devoted a lot more attention to the defensive side of their game. Despite having several key defenders in Klee, Kaberle and Belak out of the lineup, the Leafs played one of their best all around defensive games of the year limiting the Flames to only a handful of chances. Pierre Hedin took Klee’s spot in the lineup and filled in admirably as a partner to Aki Berg. Berg, as well, had a very solid game and seemed to enjoy being the older veteran, helping Hedin gain experience in the North American game. It seemed to give Berg a bit of extra responsibility knowing that he was the “go to guy” on the defense and he seemed to play a much more dependable game.

McCabe is quickly making the transition from adequate NHL defenseman to big time stud or “horse”, if you will. Playing nearly thirty minutes last night, he was solid on the defensive end and added two goals for his second two goal game of the year. Two years ago, McCabe had a solid year offensively but at times seemed to compromise his defense to generate offense. This year; however, he has clearly matured and improved his game as he is producing offensively but is still dependable in his own zone.

The Maple Leafs will play a home and home series with the Philadelphia Flyers on Friday and Saturday. The Flyers have been struggling miserably of late and recently had their star offensive player, Jeremy Roenick suspended for one game.

Leafs Get Edged By The Devils

For the first time all season, the Maple Leafs dropped two games in a row at Air Canada Centre against two of the best teams in the Eastern Conference. Yesterday’s effort was much better than the 7-1 debacle on Thursday; however, the Leafs were unable to figure out a way to beat the defensively proficient Devils and their phenomenal goalie, Martin Brodeur. The Leafs never really tested Brodeur with any great scoring chances allowing him to easily record his league leading ninth shutout of the season making twenty-five saves.

After the embarrassing defeat at the hands of the Senators on Thursday, it was expected that the Leafs would have come out with a lot more energy than they did last night. They really did not show much speed or energy during last night’s game allowing the Devils to easily stifle any kind of offensive attack with their well executed trap system.

The Leafs were not very effective defensively. Many poor decisions were made in the defensive zone allowing the Devils to get bonus opportunities. Pilar and Jackman struggled last night as they looked to be fighting the puck and did not show any confidence throughout much of the game.

Ed Belfour made his return to the lineup after a three game absence with a groin injury suffered in practice last Sunday (January 4th). Belfour played very well keeping his team in the game with some very strong saves. After the game, he said that he felt pretty good which is a good sign as the Leafs really need him to be healthy to have any kind of long term success.

The Maple Leafs will take on the Calgary Flames on Tuesday and then play the Flyers in a home and home series next Friday and Saturday.

Boucher Sets Modern Day Shutout Record

Brian Boucher of the Phoenix Coyotes set a modern day shutout record tonight by recording his fifth consecutive shutout by a score of 2-0 against the Minnesota Wild. He broke the previous record held by Bill Durnan who recorded four consecutive shutouts in 1949. Since then that record has been untouched until Boucher, the Coyotes backup netminder, pulled of this truly unbelievable feat.

Brian Boucher recorded his first of five consecutive shutouts on December 31st against the Los Angeles Kings by a score of 4-0. His second came on January 2nd against Dallas by a score of 6-0. He then went onto shutout the Carolina Hurricanes and Washington Capitals on January 4th and January 7th, respectively, each by a score of 3-0. The record breaking shutout came tonight against the low-scoring Minnesota Wild by a score of 2-0.

This marks a stunning turn of events for Brian Boucher in Phoenix. At the start of the season, he looked to be the odd man out as the Coyotes seemed to have settled on goaltenders Sean Burke and Zac Bierk. However, injuries forced Boucher into action and he certainly has taken advantage of his opportunity.

Along with the fact that Boucher has recorded five straight shutouts, it seems to go unnoticed that the Coyotes as a team are also climbing up the Western Conference standings. Winning five straight games has put the Coyotes in seventh spot with 45 points ahead of teams like Dallas, Edmonton, Anaheim, and Minnesota that were all a part of last year’s Stanley Cup playoffs.

Leafs Get Blown Out Big Against Sens

With at least six key regular players out of the lineup including captain Mats Sundin who served his one game suspension, the Leafs were unable to put up a good challenge to the high powered Ottawa Senators team. The Senators scored five goals on the Maple Leafs before the eleven minute mark of the first period, all of which were either poor defensive plays or blown saves by Trevor Kidd.

This abysmal performance by the Maple Leafs is not something to get all worried and upset over, however. This is not the same Maple Leaf team that will be competing in the playoffs and with any luck, by the time the Leafs play the Senators again on January 31st, Reichel, Nolan and Kaberle will be back in the lineup giving the Leafs a much more powerful team.

Some good news on the injury front came today when Ed Belfour skated without pain in his groin. As long as no problems arise between now and tomorrow night, Belfour should be ready to play the New Jersey Devils.

Leafs Pass Big Test But Loose Some Bodies Doing It

Though the Maple Leafs just finished playing back to back games against the lowly Pittsburg Penguins and the starless Nashville Predators, winning both of them along the way, it was clearly evident that the Leafs were at the top of their game. Disposing easily of the Penguins 5-0 and fighting back in the third period against the Predators for their first victory of the season when trailing after two periods showed the Leafs are ready to take on the best. Both victories came with backup goalie Trevor Kidd in the net. Historically, the Leafs always struggled against the lower lights of the NHL; however, this season, they have seemed to play much better against these teams realizing two points against Pittsburg are worth as much as two points against Philadelphia.

Despite their victory, the Leafs lost two more players in last night’s game. Tomas Kaberle was crunched by Gary Roberts on an accidental collision at the blueline as they tried to cut across the ice. Kaberle strained his shoulder on the play. Wade Belak also went down with a knee injury after attempting to throw a body check and landing awkwardly on his knee. This adds Kaberle and Belak to the already lengthy list of injuries which includes Nolan, Mogilny, Reichel and Belfour.

Bryan McCabe had a great game last night as he was a force on defense and scored both Maple Leaf goals on set ups by Mats Sundin. Sundin was lucky to be around for the third period as he accidentally threw his stick into the crowd in disgust after it broke during a great chance. The referees determined that it was not intentional thus not assessing a penalty on the play. Had the incident been deemed to be intentional, Sundin could have been assessed a match penalty meaning his team would have been shorthanded, he also would have been kicked out of the game and the play would have been reviewed for a possible suspension.

The Leafs will take on the Senators and the Devils this coming Thursday and Saturday, respectively. These will be good tests for the Leafs as both these teams are very good. With many regulars on the shelf, these games could be quite difficult for the Leafs though.

Leafs Use Penguins Game As Glorified Practice

In hindsight, a loss in yesterday’s game against the Pittsburg Penguins would have been completely devastating to a Maple Leafs team that had just come off a long streak off success but was experiencing a little bit of trouble of late. Fortunately, the Maple Leafs showed why they sit first in the Eastern Conference by easily disposing of the Penguins 5-0.

It seemed to be a game of firsts for the Leafs. Aki Berg and Tomas Kaberle recorded their first goals in a long time and Nathan Perrott scored his first goal as a Maple Leaf. Trevor Kidd recorded his first shutout as a Maple Leaf marking his first shutout since November 16, 2001 against the Buffalo Sabres. Ed Belfour also recorded his first shutout as a Maple Leaf against Pittsburg at the Melon arena in his first game as a Leaf at the beginning of last season.

The Leafs looked much stronger defensively than they have over the past five games; however, playing a strong game defensively is not that hard against the offensively challenged Penguins who have been shutout now four times this season. Trevor Kidd was solid when called upon although he was never really challenged. Hopefully this shutout will give Kidd a bit of confidence allowing him to play more often to give Belfour some much needed rest.

Joe Nieuwendyk had a very strong game scoring the Leafs’ first goal early in the first period. This gave the Leafs a big confidence boost and allowed them to establish a dominant style of play early on in the game. Nieuwendyk is on pace for over twenty goals this season which is a respectable output in this day and age. Not only has Nieuwendyk been producing offensively, he has also been an excellent leader, somebody the Leafs can count on to give 100% each and every night.

The Leafs are back at it tonight against the Nashville Predators. They have been hot of late; however, they were crushed by the Detroit Red Wings 6-0 last night.

Canadian Juniors Fail To Close The Door For Third Year In A Row

Most Canadians are probably beginning to believe that Canada will never win another World Junior Hockey Tournament. Taking into account the fact that the Canadians have not won at this tournament for seven years now and that in the past three tournaments, the Canadians have held leads going into the third period of the gold medal game, it is very difficult to believe that luck will once again return to the Canadians side.

The Canadians took on the Americans in this year’s gold medal game and had much the same fate occur as the previous two years. The Americans had never won gold at this tournament until today, causing the Canadians to have to wait another entire year to attempt to break their drought. Canada had a 3-1 lead going into the third period provided by two goals by Nigel Dawes and one goal by Anthony Stewart. The Americans scored three unanswered goals in the third period and hung on for a 4-3 victory. The winning goal came on a fluky play where the puck was halfway between Canadian goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury and American forward Patrick O’Sullivan. Fleury raced up to clear the loose puck away but the clearing attempt hit a Canadian defenseman and went directly back into the net.

Should there be a work stoppage in the NHL next year, a number of star Canadian players be available for the Junior tournament next year. Nathan Horton of the Florida Panthers and Patrice Bergeron of the Boston Bruins were not allowed to participate in this year’s tournament by their respective NHL clubs but would still be eligible for next year’s Junior tournament. If the NHL is on strike next season, teams with young players would be thrilled to have them participate in this tournament to continue their development.

Canada should have another strong team for next year’s tournament. Hopefully, the people who put next year’s team together will take a lesson from the three consecutive missed chances and ensure that next year will be the year the Canadians end the drought.

Leafs Fight Back For One Point Against Buffalo

The Leafs did the same thing in last night’s game as they have been doing for about the past five games now: they fell behind early in the game and had to spend the third period fighting back to at least salvage one point. However, contrary to recent games, the Leafs looked much better in the first period last night, dictating the tempo of play and coming out with a 1-0 lead going into the first intermission. The second period proved, once again, to be troublesome for the Maple Leafs as they surrendered their lead and eventually fell behind 3-1. All three goals resulted from defensive breakdowns and in one case, a lack of execution in clearing the zone on a power play.

Matt Stajan followed up his strong game on Thursday against Boston with another strong performance last night. Stajan’s line which also included Darcy Tucker and Tie Domi were probably the Leafs’ best line last night. They generated chances and played with a lot of energy causing problems for Buffalo in their own zone throughout the game. Some more good work by their line ended up in Stajan scoring the tying goal by deflecting in a point shot from Ken Klee.

Offense from the defense has been something the Leafs have been proficient in all year and it was prevalent again last night as the Maple Leafs defensemen registered five more points, all coming on assists. Bryan McCabe and Ken Klee each had two assists along with Tomas Kaberle who recorded one assist. Ken Klee is producing at a far higher pace than the Maple Leafs could have expected when they signed him in late September. Still not even past the halfway point in the season, Klee has surpassed his previous career high in points.

The Maple Leafs will have one of their busiest weeks of the season this week as they will play four games in six nights. Two games are against lower caliber teams including Pittsburg and Nashville, and the final two games are against bitter rivals including Ottawa and New Jersey.

Leafs Cannot Get It Done In Boston

The Leafs went into Boston last night after spending New Year’s Eve back in Toronto to finish up their four game road trip that had not gone as well as hoped. Again, defensive coverage seemed to be the Leafs’ problem as it has been over the past four or five games. Trying plays that were much to fancy for the situation they were in and lack of communication during routine situations led to a 3-2 defeat at the hands of the Boston Bruins. The Leafs allowed forty-one shots during last night’s game and close to forty shots on Monday against Florida. This is far too many shots to be giving up and it also puts far too much stress on Ed Belfour to win the game singled handedly.

Matt Stajan played a very strong game for the Maple Leafs scoring the Leafs’ first goal and helping the fourth line to generate several other good scoring opportunities. Playing with a great deal of energy, Stajan and his linemates, Wade Belak and Tie Domi, were probably the best line for the Maple Leafs last night.

Despite the poor play of the last four games, there is certainly nothing to get concerned about and certainly no reason for all the casual fans to start trying to redeem their bandwagon ticket. The Leafs still sit in first place overall and with Buffalo and Pittsburg up next, these games can be used as opportunities to get back to the basics of what allowed them to get the point streak going. Buffalo will probably come out with a very good effort; however, if the Leafs play their game, there is no reason why the Leafs should not win this game.