Leafs lose to Bruins in OT, but this effort showed some positives
March 5th, 2010 | by jays1992 |
Playing out the final 20 games in a season may be tough to watch on nights like last Tuesday against the Hurricanes, but the big picture got a boost from a couple of players who will get a long look during the latter part of this season.
Victor Stalberg has provided glimpses of his breakaway speed and last night showed just how dangerous that speed could make him. He sped outside and around the Bruin defense before whipping a wrist shot past a bewildered Tim Thomas, before the goalie realized what was happening. Stalberg has repeatedly shown off his tremendous speed and must continue to hone that ability to make good shots out of the scoring opportunities that his legs will provide.
On the second goal, the future of the Leafs was on display as Nikolai Kulemin and Luca Caputi conspired to set up Tyler Bozak, who tipped in a goalmouth pass to draw the Leafs back to even terms before dropping the decision in the shootout.
These young names are all worth noting as GM Brian Burke now has the youngest team in the league, with an average age only slightly more than 26 years of age.
In addition to those two goals the Leafs played some stout defense to support Burke’s confidence in the new defense corps he has fashioned early in his tenure.
Also, Colton Orr decisioned Bruin tough guy, Milan Lucic, in convincing fashion to cement (no pun intended) his status as one of the best policemen in the league.
The club’s compete level was way up over their previous game and this game was more like what is expected over the remaining slate of games.
If the youngsters on this squad want to stick around, they know what they have to do. It’s all about maximum effort.
Tags: brian burke, Colton Orr, Luca Caputi, Nikolai Kulemin, Toronto Maple Leafs, Tyler Bozak, Viktor Stalberg
