Hurricanes Blow Leafs Out In Atrocious Home Effort

The Maple Leafs may still be trying to figure out what hit them last night at Air Canada Centre. One thing is for sure, they never saw it coming. Going into Tuesday’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes, there were several rallying points for the Maple Leafs to take advantage of and build on toward a successful performance.

Two games ago against the Ottawa Senators, Mats Sundin tied Darryl Sittler’s twenty five year old record for most goals all-time as a Toronto Maple Leaf. Then just over four minutes into last night’s contest, Sundin was at it again, equaling Sittler’s record for the most points all-time in a Leaf uniform, when he assisted on Bryan McCabe’s power play goal, the only marker the Leafs would post against the Hurricanes. Unlike many world class superstar athletes, Sundin has long shown a passion for seeing his teammates have success of their own. His teammates ought to return the favour one of these days.

After an emotional come from behind overtime victory over the Montreal Canadiens this past Saturday, one would have to think the energy would be running high in the corridors of Air Canada Centre. Apparently, that was not the case.

In Carolina, the Maple Leafs faced a team in direct competition with them to fight their way back into the playoff picture. Both teams missed out on post season play by slim margins a year ago. Judging by the result of last night’s game, it is quite clear which team is serious about seeing action come the springtime.

If all that was not enough, Jason Blake was playing in his first game since being diagnosed with leukemia. On his first shift, Blake showed he was ready to lead the way with an energetic effort and few body checks. Unfortunately, no Maple Leaf decided to follow his lead.

Last night’s was the first game for the Maple Leafs this season that lacked an element of glamour. A mid week game against an opponent with really no particular rivalry from the Southeast Division hardly carries with it the sort of glamour that the season opener held, or the kind of glamour that the Ottawa Senators Eastern Conference Championship banner raising ceremony during their home opener a night later had, or even the glamour of the first Saturday night match up of the season with none other than their forever rivals, the Montreal Canadiens in town. See those games are easy to get up for and for the most part, the Maple Leafs did. Last night’s game against the Hurricanes was where being a professional has to take over to ensure your team comes out strong and to a man, the Maple Leafs were unable to do that.

Instead, the Maple Leafs started out very disjointed forcing netminder Vesa Toskala into a difficult series of saves on the first shift of the game. Once they took the lead 1-0, the Maple Leafs let their laziness continue by turning the puck over constantly, making horrible decisions with and without the puck and showing literally no interest in staying out of the penalty box.

Vesa Toskala was left on his own with no chance on the majority of the Hurricanes’ goals. Frankly, without Toskala, the score likely would have reached double digits. Head Coach Paul Maurice would be wise to give Toskala the start again on Thursday when the New York Islanders arrive at Air Canada Centre. By starting Andrew Raycroft in their next game, it implies that Toskala was somehow not good enough and in a way, lets the rest of the team off the hook. Toskala was far from the problem against the Carolina Hurricanes. Unless the whole team gets better in a hurry, it would not matter who is in the Leafs net.