Month: March 2023

Last year’s President’s Cup Trophy winner as the NHL’s top overall points getter now find themselves in a MUST WIN situation with 10 days left JUST to make the playoffs.  Can Paul Maurice and Mathew Tkachuk will their Florida Panthers to go on a run ?

Just one minute in, a fumbled clearing pass from Jake McCable let Anton Lundell put the Panthers out front 1 Zip.  A scrambly line change in front of the Leafs bench caused some nastiness between Bunting and Gudas which led to some 4 on 4 play.  The Toronto Maple Leafs had looked a little lacklustre to start but some good play on the 4 on 4 seemed to spark the home team as they lead the rest of the period with a 15 to 6 SOG advantage.  Surprise Panther starter, 30 year old former AHLer Alex Lyon, made several good saves to keep Florida in the lead at the buzzer.

Can you say “Snoozefest” ?  When this writer’s first thought is to comment on the excellent play of the Leaf’s 4^th line or that they have won the face-off battle 70 to 30%, you know we’re not witnessing a classic.  However, Zach Ashton-Reese (ZAR) did knockdown a TJ Brodie point shot for the tying goal and then forced a (failed) penalty shot off a nice line breakout with speed.  Calle Jarnkrok had one called back on an offside right after the ZAR goal.

AM 34 scored his 37^th for the go ahead goal at 6:40 of the third.  That was his 9^th in 11 games.  Mitchell Marner kept up with his own remarkable pace by assisting to support his 11 game point streak.  The Panthers scored in the first minute and the very last minute of this one when Sam Reinhart tipped in a Montour point shot to force an overtime.  In that extra stanza, Mathews was absolutely robbed by Alex Lyon to take away a sure game winner with his catching mitt.   As is almost always the case, Florida took one down on a 2 on 1 where Captain Sasha Barkov feathered one over to Brandon Montour for the game winner.

HOPPER NOTES:   William Nylander was near invisible all night until a risky play in OT lead to the 2 on 1 winner…Montour had been sitting on 61 points for the season for a couple of games now – that was just 1 point shy of the Panthers record for points by a defenseman…well, he is now the franchise record holder with an assist on the tying goal and then scoring the winner – well done Brandon ! …just like the Blue Jays, screw this preliminary stuff and let’s get on with the REAL games…HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY FIRST BABY – AMY, ELIZABETH !!

As we wind down to the playoffs, there is really not much to choose from the NHL’s East division’s top teams (except for the Bruins).  Tonight the 100 point Carolina Hurricanes wanted to prove that they are not going to go out 4 straight to the Toronto Maple Leafs.  The house was packed and the Hurricanes came to play.  Afterall the Canes have 5 playoff appearances to show for Rod Brindamour’s 5 years behind the bench and can clinch the Metropolitan Division soon.

The Leafs had Morgan Reilly back in the line-up for Erik Gufstaven – he started with Luke Schenn.  Most eyes were on Mitchell Marner who has had 15 points in his last 8 games and is currently at 92 points.

40 seconds into tonight’s contest, the Hurricanes were awarded a power play followed closely by a 2 man advantage.  The Canes dominated and Brent Burns put them out front 1-0.  They went up on SOG by 14-6 in very quick order.  Jordan Stall cashed in on a loose puck to make it 2 Zip at the 9:08 mark.  The Leafs seemed to catch a second wind in the back half, after an unlikely disciplined Bunting play 1 on 1 with Burns led to a strong Toronto PP in which they converted 6 shots.  Final SOG 16-16.

Toronto came out in the second with a new zest on life.  Calle Jarnkrok, a new diamond in the ruff, got his 18^th on a screened wrister to make it 2-1.  AM34 followed that with a patented rebound to register his 35th, his 9^th in the last 13.  There was no give from the Leafs posture on this night.

Stepan Nasan scored on a very determined wrap around to put the Canes back out front.  From there the “Carolina Formula” seemed to kick in.  Not to be outdone, the Leafs superstar AM34 scored on his 14^th shot of the game to put things back into perspective for Leafs Nation with his 36^th.  With most of us ready for overtime, Sebastion Aho put the Canes back out front followed by an insurance empty netter by Terrivian to make the final 5-3 Carolina.

HOPPER NOTES:  The Leafs have 8 games in 13 nights to close things out…great Carolina crowd – they get hockey ! …I’d like to see more of Sam Lafferty…The Leafs had 17 consecutive shots after their rather shabby start…I personally thought the Leafs were done after 7 minutes…y’all know one of my “Pet Peeves”, are those bullshit scrums along the boards (one guy holding off 3 defenders)…what a waste of energy and airtime !!…my solution 1-2 warnings from the ref and then both teams lose a man for delay of game…SOMETHING has GOT to stop this scurge on our game ! …oddly tonight a distinct advantage on faceoffs by an opponent (Carolina)….I sure miss my ACE…CHEERS !

The Florida Panthers have clawed their way back in to playoff contention despite a slow start and coming off a President’ Trophy year.  They are just one point out of the final Wild Card spot in the east with 79 points (Pittsburgh 80 and the Islanders 82).  Their big acquisition in the off season was Mathew Tkachuk.  He has 15 points in his last 6 games leading the Panthers to a 6-1-1 record in their last 8 games.  He has plenty of support around him including centreman Sacha Barkov and top point man (60) on defence in Brandon Montour.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are coming off perhaps their ugliest loss of the season on Long Island – a real tape burner.  They are .500 since the trade deadline and with all the experimentation, some are calling to just pick your 18 guys and go with it !  The 11 and 7 alignment was back in play on this evening and the most alarming deletion was Morgan Reilly.

Austin Mathews got things rolling on the scoresheet at 5:05 when he buried his 33^rd from Marner and Giordano.  That was AM34’s 5^th goal in his last 8.  A no goal was issued due to incidental goalie contact which negated a score by Mathew Tkachuk.  Later what seemed like a spectacular athletic series of saves by Matt Murray, it was ruled that the puck had indeed crossed the line to redeem Tkachuk’s place as the team’s leading scorer.  1 – 1 after one.

The second period had just begun when William Nylander got the monkey off his back to open the scoring.  John Tavares was in on the play and recorded his 70^th point.  Not 97 seconds later, AM34 continued his return to form netting his 34^th from Giordano.  My favorite (and only) NHL player that I have ever coached (see HOPPER NOTES below) pressed a strong forecheck line to pot his 7^th goal to tighten things up briefly.  The trend for wide open end to end action continued.  The Leafs (unbelievably) got their very first 5 on 3 late in the period and made short work of that as Michael Bunting got right in to score his 21^st from a very productive Captain Johnny.  4 – 2 after two. 

 These Florida Panthers were not ready to give as they started the third period with grit and determination.  On several occasions they forced offensive zone turnovers that kept the visitors back on their heels.  It wasn’t until the long, lost goal scoring prowess of Alex Kerfoot scored his first in 26 games (again from Tavares) put the nail in the coffin.  That is, until Mitchell buried an empty netter (on a shorty no les) with 4:44 to go.  Great win for TRANNA.

HOPPER NOTES:  While most Leafs fans, including my little pal Glennie, are calling for a “pick your 18 guys and go for it”,  Sheldon Keefe continues to pull out the “blender”…where in the world did they find that anthem singer ?  If it wasn’t for the thousands of Canadian fans in the building to rescue him, that could have been the highest rated butchery of an anthem since Roseanne Barr ! …nice to see what Guffstansen can do anchoring the #1 PP unit without Reilly – I though he played fairly well overall…guys I wish I had on my team – Carter Verhagee…stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but I was a very proud coach of the TIMBITS (4 and 5 year olds) for a number of years back in the day…beautiful children who just wanted to have some fun and learn the very basics of hockey…Florida Panthers 4^th liner Nick Cousins was one of many who crossed my path…a great competitor who just loved to play…he went on up through the Belleville AAA Red Devils to play in the Sault and eventually in to the bigs – great kid…Question, are there any current Leafs that played while Paul Maurice was Head Coach in this town ? …TML is now 5 points up on Tampa Bay with 2 games in hand….34 saves for Matt Murray – not too shabby…APRIL 17 is NOT that far away – CHEERS !

If you ever thought the New York Islanders were out of the playoff race in the east – I am here to remind you that nothing could be further from the truth !  Just look at the standings:  Islanders 80 points, Florida 79 and the Penguins 78.  There is much work to be done from the team who plays out of Belmont Park.  Their premiere player Matt Barzal is out and even with the addition of Bo Horvat and perhaps the best 4^th line in hockey (Martin, Clutterbuck and Cazykas) they MUST continue to press on.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are coming off a couple of impressive overtime wins over Carolina and Ottawa.  Tonight would feature soon be to daddy Ilya Samsonov vs the steady Ilya Sorokin in goal.  Noel Accuraci, Marc Giordano and Gustavson were back in, while Luke Schenn and TJ Brodie sat out.

As expected, a fast paced, tight checking game got underway with a slightly favored Leafs twinge including nice, in close attempts by Marner and Matthews.  It wasn’t until the 9 minute mark that Sam Lafferty got his first goal as a Leaf off his back, thigh and whatever to convert a great net jam thanks to Liligren and Bobby McMann.  A 10 bell, paddle save by Sorokyn off a beautiful feed from Marner to Gustaven negated any further damage.  The Islanders came back strong in the final 2 minutes but Samsonov was fabulous to maintain his shutout status.

The second period started off at 4 on but within :28 seconds Zach Parise tied things up at ones.  Suddenly we had a game, or did we ?  At the 6:10 mark a brutal Liligren giveaway allowed Fashing to score his 7^th and the Islanders seemed to take over the momentum from there.  They had more shots, more space and remember that 4^th line I referred to earlier ?  Sure enough Cal Clutterbuck (one of the best names in hockey) buried his 5^th to put his Isles up 3 to 1.

Sheldon Keefe tipped his hand by reuniting his “top six” IMO.  It worked at first when a tough forecheck from Accairi/Kampf and ZAR put the Isles back on their heels.  Marner pooped his 27^th immediately following.  Cal Clutterbuck put one up high just 44 seconds later to put that uprising down.  By the end of the massacre, the Islanders ensured their presence in that wild card race with a 7 to 2 win.

HOPPER NOTES:  Oh yeah, they still BOO John Tavares, even though it’s been five years since he left…so nice to see the outboard motor and lawn equipment ads back on the air…didn’t hear Justin Holl’s name called much – that’s probably a good thing…to all those hosting dinner and/or birthday parties this evening – you didn’t miss much… there’s really not a lot to say about a team that just got the snot kicked out of them…tomorrow is another day – CHEERS !

The once fertile opportunities of the Ottawa Senators sneaking into that final wild card position in  the east is pretty much out of sight now, having lost 5 of their last 10 games.  Not that there’s anything wrong with that.  Pierre Dorion had built himself a highly competitive team lead by Brady Tkachuk at over a point a game and rising superstar Tim Stutzle at 34 goals and 43 assists to date.

The Toronto Maple Leafs continue to stir the stew pot, going back to a more traditional 12F – 6d lineup.  Coming out tonight were Noel (Cookie) Accuari (pre-cautionary), Mark Giordano (rest) and Gusstaven (numbers).  Back in were Bobby McMann, Wayne Simmonds and Justin Holl.

The Canadian Tire Centre was rockin’ as it always is when the Battle of Ontario is on tap.  The Senators got off to a great start with 3 legitimate chances in close on Matt Murray.  My growing affection for Jake McCabe continued as he opened the scoring, placing a perfect shot thanks to John Tavares and Mitchell Marner. Marc Gauthier got credit for a mysterious, high deflection goal with less than 6 minutes left to tie things up.  Murray made several steady saves throughout which reflected in the final SOG 19-9 for Ottawa.

A Leafs Power Play at the 15 minute mark didn’t mean much as budding superstar Tim Stutzel scored his 35^th to help his team take a 2-1 lead.   Wait a minute – that seemed to have pissed the Toronto club off as Mitchell scored short side from an astute pause to zing one in short side on the same PP.  That was Mitchy’s 26^th g and 89^th point.  Underrated Calle Jarnkrok (the new “Swiss Army Knife ?) placed a perfect Mathews feed to score the 3^rd Leaf goal on just 14 shots.  Intermission 3-2 TML.

Whose game was this more important to ?  The “chip on their shoulder” Ottawa Sens or the “staying ahead of the Lightning” Leafs ?  Emerging steady-man Calle Jarnkrok kept the Toronto ahead of the race by converting his career high 17^th from his new centreman AM34 (his 70^th point).  That Brady Tkachuk guy just doesn’t go away.  As witnessed by his comeback goal just 62 seconds later.  An Ottawa offside goal call back kept the game at 4-3, but the Sens weren’t about to turtle.  That annoying (but highly respected) Brady Tkachuk scored his 30^th to tie the game at 4’s.  Final SOG 52-29 Ottawa.

OVERTIME:  as always, great end to end, 3 on 3 action – hilte of which was another big Murray stop – this time on a Stutzle breakaway.  After a 9 round shootout, Alex Kerfoot won it for the Leafs – GREAT GAME to watch !

HOPPER NOTES:  First look at Jacob Chychryn – SO ? .…Bobby McMann didn’t look out of place (loved seeing him in the shootout!)…I thought Liligren looked pretty solid…was Nylander dropped down because of his passive performance on Friday ? …they really don’t need Ron Maclean to baby sit the 32 thoughts segment do they ? …guys I wish I had on my team:  Jay Sanderson…when will Matt Murray finally get punished for knocking his own net off the moorings ? … to all the Kellaways, Pattersons, Gales, Higgins, O’Briens  and McBrides in my life – I hope your heads are OK  today ! CHEERS  

The Carolina Hurricanes are the second place beasts of the east, sporting a 44-14-8 record for 96 points (Boston has 107) just one ahead of the persistent New Jersey Devils in the Metropolitan.  The Hurricanes are without their top two scorers Max Paciorety and Schvetzenkov. Igor Kocheton got the start for the Hercs and appears to be the next “big” thing.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have dropped their last 2 games and appropriately appeared in their colorful, seasonal uni’s.  The Toronto St. Pat’s won the 1922 Stanley Cup championship under that moniker.  Luke Schenn was back for his first home game since his return to the Leafs roster.  Justin Holl was a healthy scratch thanks to this ongoing 11f – 7d configuration.

Zack Aston-Reese got things going for Toronto at around the 3 minute mark, tipping in a nice point shot feed from Gustavann.  Calle Jarkrok also got an assist.  Despite playing over 29 minutes in Wednesday’s game, Mitchell Marner benefited from the day off by scoring his 25^th from Michael Bunting and John Tavares.  Carolina D-Man Brady Shea lofted in a softy that I am almost certain Sami would have liked back to make it 2-1.   But, with a Toronto PP with less than 3 minutes left, Austin Mathews scored his 32^nd on what some might call a “butt” goal – the kind he has not been getting this season.

Make no mistake, this was a close game between two elite NHL squads.  Carolina started the second with a power play that the Leafs were able to squash.  Samsanov made a huge save on a cross crease Sebastion Aho attempt.  The tone was set.  Mark Necas got his 26^th off a hard Carolina forecheck to make it close at 3-2.  Secondary scoring is so important for any true contender and Aston-Reese stepped up for his second of the game, 7^th of the season thanks to a clever cross ice pass from the emerging Sam Lafferty.

A number of so-called pundits (incl. me) had been putting the knock on Leaf veteran Mo Rielly this season.  His production was low – he’s lost a step etc.  Well, tell that to kid in net for the Hurricanes tonight who still hasn’t seen Rielly’s top shelf, short side zinger to put Toronto up 5 to 2.  That was Morgan’s second goal in 2 games.  That didn’t mean that a high calibre team like Carolina was just going to fold up.  Several threatening  chances and constant pressure kept the Leafs from celebrating just yet, including a key PK in which the Hurricanes did not have a shot on net.  Impressive win for Tranna who now embark on a five game road trip.

HOPPER NOTES:  Hated to see stalwart Noel Accurai go out with a suspected head injury…it’s been 11 years since Luke Schenn suited up on home ice for the Leafs…I love the 11f – 7d approach at this time of the season…Coach Keefe has 9 d-men to sort through, not to mention the pairings before mid-April…AND what about the forward line combos – test ‘em out while you can…didn’t hear much from Brent Burns tonight…how long before Bunts gets out of Sheldon’s doghouse ? …not too much from Nylander either…final SOG – Carolina 32 – Leafs 24….shout out to all my Irish friends and those who want to be – CHEERS !

The marquee visitors to Scotiabank Arena continued tonight with an appearance by the Stanley Cup Championship Colorado Avalanche.  The Champs hace been decimated by injuries all season long, the latest of which Arturi Lechonen with a broken finger.  Add to this, Captain Gabriel Landesgog, Cal McKar and several others who’ve been out at various times.

The Leafs are coming off a rather smelly performance, losing 4-3 to the Buffalo Sabres on Monday.  Calle Jarnkrok has been promoted to the first line with AM34 and MM16, while Kerfoot and Lafferty have moved to the “extra” category in the ongoing 7-11 strategy the Leafs have adopted.  Luke Schen sat out after just arriving back in T.O. and Ilya Samsanov got the assignment in goal.

An awful lot has been said about Morgan Reilly’s lack of offensive contributions since returning from injury.  However tonight, not only did he have the first shot at the net (goal post) but he also got the Leafs first goal going to the other side of the net off nifty Mitchell Marner and Calle Jarnkrok set-ups.  With Toronto down a man, Niko Rantenan added to his goal total (now 44) from an unfortunate “own-goal” off Jake McCabe’s shin pad to tie things up.  A high pace first period came to an end with solid pressure from the 1^st and 2^nd wave of the Toronto’s power play units.

The Colorado Avalanche would appear to be back.  Spectacular rushes by Cal McKar, the omni-presence of Nate McKinnon (15 goals in last 15), the forechecking, speed and head-manning breakouts.  They were full measure for their 11-4 SOG advantage.  The Leafs stood tall but should consider themselves lucky to come of the second tied at ones.

Toronto came back a little stronger in the third, with a couple of key PK’s and outshooting the visitors.  Back and forth these teams went until the final buzzer sent them to 3 on 3 OT.  Similar to regulation, chances at both ends solved nothing and it wasn’t enough to break the tie, until Nate McKinnon won for the Champs in a shootout.  A good test for both squads.

HOPPER NOTES:  Ilya Samsanov was brilliant for the Leafs with a 28 save performance… Unfortunately, that dropped hi home ice record to 18-2…Colorado is the only NHL club with 3 – 30+ point + D-men…speaking of which, the Leafs have D-men on their roster…the current 7-11 alignment help get most in to play…but as most suspect, Toronto will go back to the traditional 6-12 line-up once Ryan O’Reilly comes off the injury list…SO, that means 3 of the 9 D (O’Reilly, TJ, Giordano, McCabe, Liligren, Holl, Timmins,, Schenn or Gufstasenn) will sit come April 17…please advise on which 3 it should be…Mathews had one of his better games… he admitted to Jonas Seigal in an article in the Athletic, that a nagging hand/wrist had been holding him back…even Coach Keefe admitted he’s seen more jump from AM34 recently…I don’t think I’d like to play the Avalanche in the first round…CHEERS !

The Buffalo Sabres came into Scotiabank Arena tonight after losing 4 in a row and 6 of 7.  This after threatening to steal the final wildcard spot in the east just a couple of weeks ago.  42 goal scorer Tage Thompson hadn’t scored in 5, but he did have his wing man Alex Tuch returning tonight.  41-year-old Craig Anderson was in the Sabres net against Matt Murray.

This was third high octane opponent for the Toronto Maple Leafs in a row, having already put aside the New Jersey Devils and the Edmonton Oilers.  The Leafs went with their now popular 11 forward – 7 defence alignment.  They had the upper hand throughout the first period, out shooting the Sabres 11 to 3.  I really like following the forward combos that Keefe sends out.

What a tale of two periods in one.  The Leafs came out storming, rabid to score the goals they thought they deserved in the first.  AM34 piled in some garbage off a Marner rush and a Kerfoot kick pass to notch his 31^st.  Calle Jarnkrok continued to show his worth as he decoyed Mathews to register his 15^th.  THEN, all of sudden the Sabres came out of their trance to completely dominate from the 9 minute mark on.  Strong on the forecheck, great breakouts and toughness on the wall.  During their second power play of this segment, Quinn put in his 13^th and the score was more indicative of the play.  Buffalo ended up outshooting Tranna 17-4 in the second period !

Tage Thompson has been pegged as one of the “new” stars of the NHL.  It showed tonight as he finished off a play from a strong Buffalo forecheck to set up Alex Tuch.  That was followed closely by a breakaway (nice save Murray) and a follow up goal by Dylan Cozens to make it 4-2.  John Tavares stole a puck to send him away on a 2 on 0 but Anderson was up for the challenge.  Keefe pulled his goalie at the 3 minute mark and that finally resulted in a nice individual effort by Nylander to make it close.  Close, but no cigar.

HOPPER NOTES:  STOP, immediately STOP those “blue bubbled” name plates that appear on the TV coverage during a power play !  We know who the players are – what’s next, the FOX ghost puck ?  Disgusting… nice welcome back for Alex Tuch  – 2 important goals…Alex Kerfoot does not belong on the top line…the forgotten man:  Liligren…somehow (tech difficulty ?) the Sportsnet feed lost what they call “international” sound on their telecast (crowd noise, sticks bashing, ref whistles etc) for about 3 minutes in the third period…boy what a difference…CHEERS !

A Saturday night in mid-March pitting two Canadian NHL contenders face to face.  It doesn’t get much better.  The Edmonton Oilers led by their generational superstar Connor McDavid.  He’s on pace for 154 points and 67 goals.  Those are Wayne Gretzky/Mario Lemieux numbers.  The Toronto Maple Leafs, after a couple of days off, looked to get back in to it, melding their newly acquired 6 additions in to the system after a 5 game road trip.

One of those newcomers, Noel Accuri started Toronto off with his second as a Leaf converting a nice forecheck goal from his new pals David Kampf and Zach Ashton-Reese.  The Oilers made some deadline deals as well adding Mathias Ekholm, a badly needed steadying influence on the back end.  He popped one in just :22 seconds after the Accuri goal.  Oft injured Evander Kane made his presence felt scoring on a wrap around set up by McDavid making the game 2-1 heading for the intermission.

After McDavid scored his 55^th to start the second, this reporter started to wonder.  The Leafs had been playing well, they had outshot their opponent by a significant margin and most importantly, they were skating stride foe stride with the Oliers.  Then came the “AHA” moment – Mitchell Marner intercepted a weak, cross ice pass deep in the offensive zone – Holy Macinaw (sorry Joe) what a double deke, off both posts goal to turn things around ! Willy Nye got involved almost immediately with his 34^th (career high) in through the 5 hole.  Captain Johnny continued the onslaught, converting a perfect pas from AM34 and within a 3 minute stretch, the Leafs had a 4-3 lead.  Cherry on top, Johnny T scores his 30 on a PPG to make it  5-3.

This was a high intensity game.  You could tell the tick for tack – hit for hit nature of the game from the get-go.  A good example was the mano au mano wrasslin’ match from Kane and Bunting early in the third.  Auston Mathews scored his 30^th on PPG with the help of JT91.  That was Mathews 8^th shot on goal.  With Liligren in the box, Leon Draisaitl squeaked in a short sider to make it interesting, but it would seem Toronto had it covered looking to seek revenge after that rather embarrassing 5-2 loss in Edmonton back on March 1.  Noel Accari not only got the first Leaf goal but he was up for the last with an empty-netter.  Final SOG 38-28 and 7-4 Tranna.

HOPPER NOTES:  What a great hockey game ! …the scorers scored, the goalies made big saves and the pluggers showed up…the Oilers looked bigger, stronger and more confident to me on this night…LOVED Sarah Polley’s opening voice over…to me, there was a notable scrum response  by the Leafs late in the second when both McCabe and Lafferty were very quick to clear the area after a stoppage in play…little, intangible things…enjoy the rest of your evening and don’t forget to put you clocks ahead – CHEERS !

Two of the top six NHL teams in the fully loaded Eastern Conference went head to head tonight in New Jersey.  The somewhat surprising New Jersey Devils lead by superstar in the making Jack Hughes (36 G/ 77 P) have grown their status in a huge way, coming from a distant playoff contender to 4^th overall in the league with 88 points.  They got their prize with the addition of 6-2, 220 Timo Meir before the trade deadline to add to an already potent forward group than includes Niederyder,  Mercer 12G and Hughes.  Dougie Hamilton anchors a solid no name d-corps.  Now they need to fine tune down the stretch.

The Toronto Maple Leafs were without John Tavares (concussion symptoms?), Ryan O’Reilly (broken finger), Luke Schenn (family matters) and Eric Gustaven (scratch).  This lead to Sam Lafferty moving into centre between Nylander and Jarnkrok, Kerfoot moving up to LW with AM34 and MM16, Michael Bunting getting a little slap moving sown to the 4^th line with Pontus Holmberg and Alex Steeves.  The 3^rd line had Kampf, Ashton Reese and Accuri.  D- pairings: Reilly/Liligren, TJ Brodie/McCabe and Gio/Holl.  Sami got the start in net.

You know what ?   Jersey has a good team.  As advertised they play a fast, aggressive style and outshot the Leafs 15-4 in the first period.  This team is no fluke, based on tonight’s first period performance they are for real.  Other than a last minute PP opportunity, Toronto didn’t put up much of a fuss.  Zeroes after one.

The Leafs pulled their Jeckell and Hyde persona to start the second.  Granted, they started with the man advantage, but the passes were crisper, they out shot the Devils significantly in the first 15 minutes and they seemed to shake off the “Mountain Legs”.  At 12:30 Cale Jarnkrok was the recipient of a beautiful Nylander pass to finish off a dandy 3 way from centreman Same Lafferty.  That quickly assembled line had played well throughout.  The Devils turned things around in the back end of the period which lead to a rush goal to tie things up.  Pontus Holmberg took a dummie 4 minute high sticking penalty to end the second.

Naturally, the Leafs had to scramble to kill off the double minor to start the period.  They did.  Not long after, Mitchell stole a breakaway pass and scored at the 15 minute mark to give the Leafs a 2-1 lead.  This New Jersey team is deep, as proven by an immediate strike back goal by Andrje Palat as a result of a brilliant Mercer pass to make things 2-2. There were 5 goals scored in this final stanza and the next came from a highly skilled Erik Huala tip for his second the game.  And then, just as the Toronto Doctor’s ordered, Dog Boy Michael Bunting tapped in his 20^th to tie things up again thanks to David Kampf.  And the cherry on top for Leafs Nation ?   A gift of a PP opportunity that led to main man AM34 to score the winner from MM16 and WN88.  Great win off a great game ! 

HOPPER NOTES:  The New Jersey Devils have missed the NHL Playoffs 9 out of the last years – KUDOS !  Lindy Ruff kinda looks like my old Buddy Roddy…what a beautiful moon to play/write under…will this get Bunts out of Coach Keefe’s doghouse ?…I thought Sam Lafferty didn’t look out of place on the second line…a considerably nicer exit for the Leafs – last game, they had to leave the ice surface to avoid getting beaned by full on beer cans after 3 straight Jersy goals were called back…Joizy, whatcha gonna do ?  Cheers !