HUGE WIN IN THE SWAMP !

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 !