Leafs 1 v. Red Wings 5: Not So Special Teams

Game Recap

The less said about this game the better. To sum up the game, this was the biggest disappointment of the season. I am not a big fan of the new schedule and hate to see it killing a wonderful original six rivalry. The Leafs will host the Red Wings next year and if the schedule is not changed they will not see each other for another two years.

The Leafs were undisciplined but the referees also contributed to their woes with some atrocious calls. At the end of the day, the Leafs penalty killing, once a strength, was again a weakness and it made a difference. The Leafs also got 9 powerplays, many of the dubious variety, and could not capitalize on more than one chance and in the end the special team battle decided the game. At even strength I thought that the Leafs competed well and had more of the game been played 5-on-5 would have stood a better chance of winning. However, as has been symptomatic in this losing streak, the Red Wings capitalized on their mistakes and the Leafs offence was not able to create chances.

These games used to be some of the best of the season as the form book could be thrown out because no matter where the teams stood in the standings they would both play up to the occassion. This game was about the furthest from that as possible. The Joe Louis Arena was so quiet that I could hear Maurice and Babcock yelling, there were tons of empty seats in the same areas as at the ACC (clue to the anti-Leafs: it's the rich people at all games and sports not only at Leafs games), and the brutal refereeing robbed the game of any semblance of flow. On the basis of this schedule I agree with Cherry that I would prefer that they do not play each other for another 10 years but the best solution would be a better schedule that would allow these two old rivals to face each other more than once a year.

Leafs 2 v. Red Wings 3(SO): Baby Steps

Scoresheet
Statistics

Game Recap
I already covered the flashpoint of this game, the Kubina incident, earlier and the game was nothing to write home about other than the fact that the Leafs again gave up a shorthanded goal. This time, their lollygagging allowed the Wings to get a three-on-two with Darcy Tucker's man Kris Draper roofing the puck over Raycroft's shoulder. That sort of lazy backchecking was endemic during Pat Quinn's tenure and Maurice must have been going insane.

The scary thing was the stat that was quoted that in 2005-2006 teams that scored a shorthanded goal went 141-39 with the Leafs popping in at 10-2. Clearly, the sense of urgency on the powerplay, which is good in terms of puck pursuit in the offensive zone, needs to be expanded to the backcheck as well.

The best part of the game was that it went to a shootout and we were a able to get an idea of how the team would approach a weak spot from last year. For a team that missed the playoffs by two points going 3-7 in shootouts was the difference between a fifth straight elimination of the sens and a summer of rebuilding. Of course, the problem with facing the Red Wings in a shootout is that they have some amazing one-on-one players. However, there is hope that we will fare much better this year.

Toronto Shooters
Sundin – Almost lost the puck going in but he went with his great wrist shot high glove and scored
Suglobov – Came in at least 200 times faster than Allison used to, tried a deke that had Osgood on the verge of falling but just put it wide
Wellwood – More controversy! He deked the crap out of Osgood but the Detroit tender managed to throw his glove back to 'stop' it. The netcam was not set up so the angle that showed that the puck was in Osgood's trapper which was in the net was unavailable. Leafs lose.

Detroit Shooters
Hudler – Skated in and shot high glove off the post and in.
Zetterberg – Perfectly executed the the Forsberg-move. Note to Leafs: Do not go to a shootout with Detroit in our only regular season game when they will have Pavel Datsyuk available.

Maple Leaf Goals
First Goal
Pavel Kubina displayed some of his offensive skills by sneaking in from the point and taking a Peca pass before flicking it over Osgood’s shoulder.

Second Goal
Sundin wins the faceoff cleanly and Wellwood recovers the puck. He dishes it to Kaberle who shoots? Yup, you read that right. Osgood lets out a huge rebound and Sundin buries the rebound.

The Final Word

"Don't panic," said Maurice of what fans watched at the ACC last night. He dismissed it as two tired teams playing out the exhibition string and looking ahead to the regular season.
Paul Hunter, Toronto Star

Leafs 2 v. Red Wings 4: A Tale of Two Teams

Forward Lines
Wellwood Sundin Ponikarovsky
Kilger Peca Antropov
Steen Stajan Tucker
Suglobov Pohl Battaglia

Defence Pairings
McCababe Kaberle
Kubina Wozniewski
White Gill

Scoresheet
Statistics

5 Things that will give you Hope

1. Andrew Raycroft made a couple of great saves, including a couple of great reaction saves, and generally looked solid for a second straight game.
   
2. John Pohl centred the fourth line, scored his third goal of the pre-season, and looked lively all night.
   
3. Aleksander Suglobov is starting to look a lot like Sergei Berezin (I also lay claim to being the first to make that comparison).
   
4. The Leafs only took THREE penalties! This was largely because the Leafs were moving their feet. Even when they were pinned in their zone they did not pick up the same penalties as last year (hooking, tripping, interference) that so often arose from static feet.
   
5. The Leafs moved the puck extremely well. So much of the success of good teams last year was based on quick puck movement from the defence to the forwards. The passes were crisp from all the defencemen (even Hal Gill) and the forwards were getting through the neutral zone with speed. In the first period, the Red Wings could not handle the Leafs.

5 Things that will take that Hope into a dark alley and shoot it

1. Aleksander Suglobov looked like Sergei Berezin. On one shift he went from losing the puck to Datsyuk in the slot in front of the net and about 20 seconds later he led a rush and almost pulled off a great deke to create a scoring chance. Get used to the frustration if he makes the team.
   
2. Andrew Raycroft's strength does not lie in playing the puck. The first goal combined a terrible attempt at playing the puck with a dodgy attempt to hug the post. If this is a case of Raycroft and the defence still working out their communication then get used to seeing Adventures In The Trapezoid.
   
3. The powerplay, and specifically Kubina, had trouble with the Detroit forecheckers. Cleary almost scored a couple of shorthanded goals. Granted, Detroit had the top-ranked PK last year but the back end needs to show more urgency on the powerplay. (note: I realize this kind of goes against # 5 above but the problems that the Leafs had on the powerplay were not present at even strength until the third period.)
   
4. After a strong first period in which the Leafs outshot Detroit 13-5 and drove them to take four penalties with their strong skating they took their foot off the gas. The Leafs only got 11 shots the rest of the way as they got away from their early game plan. A team that cannot put together a full 60 minutes will frustrate their fans to no end.
   
5. The Steen-Stajan-Tucker line was -9 as a group (-3 each). These three are players that must increase their offensive output and improve their consistency for the Leafs to succeed. Granted, they are getting used to each other but there is only one more game before the real season starts.

Of course, you can take all of this with a grain of salt because this was the first game in which Maurice was able to use his probably opening night lineup. On the other hand, there is just one more game until October 4th. Tomorrow night will help flesh out the answer to my four earlier questions.

Maple Leaf Goals
First Goal
Good puck pressure from Stajan forced the puck up the boards to Kubina who fired a low, hard shot from the blueline. Pohl was the first to react to Hasek's big rebound and he slotted his third home before Dom could react.

Second Goal
This goal highlighted a dogged puck pursuit which result in the recovery of the puck three times. As for the play, it will sound familiar: Kaberle feathers a pass to McCabe for a one-timer, repeat as necessary for goal. On this powerplay it took four shots. Wellwood provide a good screen as the puck found its way through Hasek's legs.

Three Stars
DET - Cleary
TOR - Kaberle
DET - Franzen

The Final Word

The Leafs may be forgiven their shakiness. Raycroft hadn't played in a week while Maurice let Jean-Sebastien Aubin and Mikael Tellqvist battle for the backup's spot. And others, like Mike Peca, Darcy Tucker, Kaberle and Pavel Kubina were all returning from injury.

Kevin McGran, Toronto Star

Babcock said Cleary was a gifted offensive player in juniors but "he got to the National Hockey League, and that didn't work for him. He's made a commitment to training and a commitment to being a pro. ... He's growing up, and he's a man and he plays like it. I think (if) Danny can keep it in perspective and not get ahead of himself, I think you'll see more and more it'll come up."

George Sipple, Detroit Free Press