Leafs Slap Habs 5-4

[The Cobra]

Well kids the Leafs are back in the hunt for a playoff spot thanx a lot to Phil Kessel. It was the Kessel show tonite at the Bell Centre who not only got 4 pts but he was the complete player defensively as well.
I have never said too much re Wilson this season but if the Leafs would have lost this game late I would have bought the rope to lynch him. When the Leafs went to 5-3 Wilson employed a 2-1-2 defensive strategy with about 9 mins to go---------way too much time left to be pulling that crap, esp when you were all over the Canadiens the whole game. After Montreal got their goal, the last 2 mins the leafs went to a 1-2-2 that works to perfection against any team that won`t take a check to make a play----and it did, Montreal barely made it out of it`s zone the last 2 mins.
I hope Burke plans on mentioning that to Wilson as soon as Wilson is done taking his bows for tonite. The Leafs won in spite of him.

[The Cobra]

Well there is was----the Jacques Martin interview after the game complete with built in excuses #1 & #2
#1---officials, the game I watched,true, the officials were horrid---but they were horrid for both teams
#2---he went on to explain why he started Auld---just by doing that explanation alone he`s insinuating that if Price would have started Montreal would have won.

Excuses-----not a word on how well the Leafs played or how the Leafs outhit, out hustled, out checked and outplayed the Canadiens. For the most part the Leafs kept the Canadiens on the perimeter depending on deflections or rebounds----once again the Canadiens allowed the Leaf forwards to camp out front of their net without throwing a check----that`s why they lost Jacques.

[Costactc]

I give full credit to the Leafs but they were outshot and if Habs didn't take so many stupid penalties the outcome would have been different. Good thing they still have a guy called Kessel.

[chuck]

its quite evident the leafs are a rejuevenated team with the latest of trades ( reimer is also showing signs of #1 ) and poised to surge and become a mix in the playoff hunt. the score may have reflected a close game, but it really wasn't. the leafs clearly displayed dominence, and as you state cobra, the habs simply do not have, or show physical presence.

coach martin, should never have started auld, and as i said in an earlier thread it would lead to the leafs captureing an early lead....which it did. habs were on there heels the rest of the game.

[The Cobra]

I give full credit to the Leafs but they were outshot and if Habs didn't take so many stupid penalties the outcome would have been different. Good thing they still have a guy called Kessel.

Yup the Leafs were certainly outshot---but most of the shots were harmless quality ones from the perimeter, the kind that pray for deflections. The penalties outside of the 1 delay of game against Montreal were dead even. The refs were horrid, but were horrid both ways so it`s a wash there. Price played great-Reimer played great, another wash. Martin and Wilson both coached like a couple of House League idiots--another wash.
So the difference as I saw it -----the lack of desire to throw or take a check by the Habs in both slots, whether it was in their own zone to help Price and not let Leafs skate around so freely or taking a hit in the Leaf zone to make a play.
The Leafs stepped out of charachter last nite---they actually dumped the puck deep instead of turning it over at the Montreal blueline. They dumped and chased cause they knew when they got there they wouldn`t get checked.
The Habs are fast, skilled players with the puck---but without the puck they wait for somebody else to make a play and feed them. It`s becoming more and more evident as we get closer to the playoffs and they better address it pronto.

[dishuser]

the difference was auld being a waste of skin and letting in 3 goals in 5 minutes

[The Cobra]

the difference was auld being a waste of skin and letting in 3 goals in 5 minutes

LOL----I don`t think I`d go that far but clearly it was a coaching blunder that started Auld...the first goal was pure and simple a great shot from a sharpshooter like Kessel, you don`t allow a player like him to go into the low slot unchallenged and expect him not to score on anyone. The second goal should have been stopped by Auld---but the bigger question is why Kessel was allowed to go from behind the net unchecked and take 2 wacks at the puck, again untouched. The third was pretty much a breakaway to the slot where again a good shot beat Auld---but again where was the Montreal defense? Lebda went all the way from the blueline to the slot unchecked with nobody anywhere near him. So I`ll find a lot more fault in the Montreal defense than I would on Auld. JMHO

[habs fan]

leafs won fair and square, they were the better toinight,habs played like kids on a pond with very little intensity and emotion
hopefully soon someone will take their hockey sticks out of their arses and start playing for the playoffs,doesn't seem they want to get in
they think they'll be there just by history alone, .......work for it and maybe they'll deserve it

[stream™]

Best fun I've been having all season...w00t!
Go Buds Go!