The Monster Returns

Things were looking pretty bleak before last night’s game, weren’t they?

The Leafs limped back home from another Buffalo debacle and had lost their last two games by a combined 11-5 score.

The Bruins having spanked Toronto twice in the last month must have figured they would be picking away a carcass.

Instead, the Monster, Jonas Gustavsson, steadied the floundering squad and was the backbone behind a surprising 2-0 win. The game marked Gustavsson’s first game action since his second heart ablation procedure this season.

This comes o the heels of two more poor efforts by Vesa Toskala, who has clearly lost the top job in Toronto, having tried coach Ron Wilson’s patience one two many times.

Gustavsson picked up his first career shutout, lowering his goals against average to a respectable 2.91, while raising his save percentage to .907. By comparison, Toskala’s numbers are 3.81 and .869 respectively.

Jason Blake showed some versatility on this night playing on a number of different line combinations and scored a nice goal on a line rush when he fired a wrist shot against the flow and caught Boston goalie Tuukka Rask More than that, Blake continues to bring high energy and almost unmatched speed to the Leaf attack. Blake, last year’s leading scorer on the Leafs, has not complained about his lack of a stable linemates, instead proving to be a good team player.

Young Nikolai Kulemin earned our accolades for his diligent checking and overall work ethic. Though he has scored only two points in his last six games, he is seeing a spike in his ice-time as he is playing over 17 minutes per game in that stretch, as opposed to his former pace of 13 minutes per outing.

Speed is not what the Leafs have usually been noted for, but Blake and Kulemin are just two of a number of Leafs on this roster who can really move.

That is one of two Monster changes in Toronto.

Tags: Jason Blake, jonas gustavsson, Nikolai Kulemin, Ron Wilson, Toronto Maple Leafs