Leafs Blown Away By Hurricanes

Much to the surprise of many prognosticators around the NHL, the Carolina Hurricanes are off to a tremendous start, in fact the best start in their franchise’s history. Their unbeaten record at home has certainly been a main reason for their early success. Oh yeah, and some guy by the name of Eric Staal. All he has done so far in his second season in the NHL is lead the league in scoring with twenty five points in twelve games. It was the Eric Staal show again tonight as he went onto score twice and add an assist in the Hurricanes 4-3 victory over the Leaf.

The Maple Leafs’ youth played a major role itself despite falling to the Southeast division leading Hurricanes. Matt Stajan and Alex Steen each had impressive three point performances. Steen, who continues to improve dramatically, registered his first two goal game in his NHL career along with his first shorthanded goal. Apart from these youngsters who are consistently contributing, the Leafs have seen their offense dry up somewhat over the past few games as big producers from earlier in the season like Allison, Lindros, O’Neill and Tucker have all seemed to fall into a slump at the same time.

The power play which had been the Leafs saving grace while their defensive coverage was deplorable has also disappeared. The Leafs went zero for six on the power play while squandering a lengthy five on three opportunity in the second period. Teams around the league have heard quite a bit about Bryan McCabe and have adjusted their penalty killing tactics appropriately taking away many of his opportunities for shots from the point. It is imperative for the Leaf to attempt to generate more scoring opportunities down low on the power play as teams will not let themselves be beat by McCabe anymore.

It will be a busy time for the Leafs over the next week as they will three games in four nights beginning Saturday against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Sometime over that stretch of games, the Leafs hope to welcome Mats Sundin back to the lineup after his lengthy absence recovering from an eye injury. Given the sluggish of their offense lately, his return cannot come soon enough for the Maple Leafs.