Leafs continue Jekyll and Hyde season

Sometimes the numbers don’t lie.

That was the case for the Leafs in their first Sunday night game of the season as they visited the home of the defending Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins, and came away with a surprising 4-3 win.

In goal, the Leafs started the shaky Vesa Toskala, who sported a career 6-2 record against the home side. The way this season has gone for the Finnish goalie, this was a matchup that had the makings of a blowout, yet he continued his career mastery of the Pens in turning aside 24 of 27 shots.  Up front, the attack was led by Jason Blake, who notched his 28th career goal against Pittsburgh, the most tallies he has against any NHL club.

The dramatic winning goal was scored by Ian White, who has thrived under the coaching of Ron Wilson, more than any other Leaf player. He ripped a slapper past a stunned Marc Andre Fleury with only 1:22 left in the game, countering the Pens’ tying goal by Mike Rupp, which occurred only 53 seconds earlier. 

The Leafs may have caught the Pens a little flatfooted on this night because it was their first game back after the Christmas break.

No matter, the Leafs will take the win because it allowed them to improve their record to 14-17-9, and pull to within three points of the final playoff spot held by the Thrashers, though Atlanta has played three fewer games. Furthermore, the Habs have played 40 games just like the Leafs and are only four points ahead of Toronto, currently holding onto the seventh spot in the East. Toronto is currently tied with NY Islanders and Tampa for 12th place.

That’s how close the race is, and will likely remain for the last few playoff spots.

It also reminds us that the Leafs cannot afford to throw away points like they did in Saturday’s strong effort, which was capsized by the deadly combination of a terrible start and awful overtime luck, two tendencies which have often hampered Toronto all season.

The Leafs have lots of time to put their best foot forward as their next game, a road trip to Edmonton, to face the struggling Oilers, will mark the halfway point in this up and down season.

Tags: Ian White, Jason Blake, Toronto Maple Leafs, Vesa Toskala