Leafs/Flames Preview
The Toronto Maple Leafs are now back from Chicago to host the Calgary Flames at the ACC in Toronto. Jonas Gustavsson is expected to get the start tonight, but Vesa Toskala must be credited with his strongest performance of the season.
Toskala finished the game with 31 saves and a 0.911 SV% for the first time this season. It improved him to 0.904 SV% and a 3.42 goals against average in his last two games. He still currently sits with an 0.851 SV% and a 4.76 goals against average on the year, but he’s starting to slowly knock those numbers back into a respectable total.
“Vesa had an outstanding night. There was nothing he could do on any of the goals,” Wilson said. “He made a dozen outstanding saves.”
If Toronto can get consistency from this type of play out of the Finnish netminder, they could very well be in a comfortable position in which pressure is no longer put on the rookie goaltender. It will no longer be a case of “who gives us the best opportunity to win”, but rather “who deserves to play tonight.” That is a situation Brian Burke would also like to be in as the Trade Deadline inches its way closer.
But tonight, the Leafs return from a respectable loss to the Chicago Blackhawks and are faced with another immediate challenge – the Calgary Flames. Fortunately, both teams played last night. The Flames lost a shootout battle with the Buffalo Sabres.
Jarome Iginla leads the charge for the Calgary Flames as he has 11 points in his last 9 games. But the Flames, despite being 7-2-1 in their last 10 games, are struggling to score as of late. They have averaged just 2 goals a game in their last 6 matchups, but have won the majority of them. They execute a strong defensive game plan and pounce on the little mistakes their opponents make. Backed by Miikka Kiprusoff, who looks as stellar as ever, and the Flames have discovered their own recipe for success.
Phil Kessel scored his 3rd and 4th goals last night. It made me wonder when I’ve ever seen someone on the Leafs shoot the way he can. He picks corners with ease and flies his way across the high slot. Kessel will be leading the Leafs offensive charge into the game tonight and hopefully he can add to his already impressive numbers of 4 goals, 2 assists and a +2 in 5 games this season.
Kessel is a part of a lonely trio on the Leafs who do not sit in the minus column. Phil Kessel (2), Ian White (3) and Alex Ponikarovsky (5) are the only players on the Leafs who are a positive – to to speak. Toronto will continue to try and improve the teams +/- in their affair tonight.
Team Comparison:
Powerplay: TOR 3rd (24.3%), CGY 14th (20.3%)
Penalty Kill: TOR 30th (71.8%), CGY 11th (82.4%)
Faceoff % – TOR 23rd (48.4%), CGY 24th (48.1%)
Average Shots For: TOR 5th (32.9), CGY 30th (25.6)
Average Shots Against: TOR 22nd (31.1), CGY 19th (30.9)
Average Goals For: TOR 21st (2.53), CGY 7th (3.12)
Average Goals Against: TOR 29th (3.65), CGY 10th (2.59)
5 on 5 Goals For/Against Ratio: TOR 27th (0.71), CGY 5th (1.29)
Other Articles:
Watch this Line Brawl between Los Angeles and Atlanta last night!
Top 10 Items Thrown On the Ice – Video
Micheal A. Aldred
michealaldred@mapleleafshotstove.com
November 14th, 2009 at 3:49 pm
UPDATE: GUNNARSSON WILL PLAY TONIGHT PENDING ANY LAST MINUTE CHANGES. GUSTAVSSON GETS THE START. HE HAS A 0.933 SV% IN HIS LAST 4 GAMES.
November 14th, 2009 at 3:51 pm
michael-who is he in for?
November 14th, 2009 at 3:51 pm
Gunner or Stralman?
November 14th, 2009 at 4:00 pm
@Jordan -”it should be about a 60-40 split with Gustavsson getting the latter of the games”
.
I agree that Toskala should get the 40%.
November 14th, 2009 at 4:09 pm
@Gary
What if Toskala started playing better than Gusto? Just wondering?
November 14th, 2009 at 4:16 pm
From what I’ve seen so far.. Even if Toskala returned the form, Gus is still the better goalie. Regardless of what management says vocally, the number one spot is Gus’s to lose… Whatever time Toskala sees is for exposure to other teams for trade bait.
November 14th, 2009 at 4:17 pm
@ Bigblue
Our goalie that is playing the best should be the #1. Right now it’s still Gustavsson. However should he stumble and Toskala keeps playing like last night then he should get the #1 job. IMO!
November 14th, 2009 at 4:19 pm
And by stumble, I mean playing sub par for a couple or three games
November 14th, 2009 at 4:25 pm
I agree…Gusto makes me feel a lot less nervous when he’s in net. I’ve seen Toskala turn in some allstar performances in the past though and his game against Chicago makes me feel like he is not ready to give up his spot to Gusto. I think it would be awesome if we could get them both rolling and let them battle all year long. It looks like we’re not going to win unless Kessel scores hattys and our goalie is first star. The rest of the team is really letting us down
November 14th, 2009 at 4:25 pm
Gunnarsson in for either Schenn or XLB is what is being reported as of yet.
November 14th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
@TT
choose your poison..lol
November 14th, 2009 at 4:29 pm
Look at the only two games that Toskal played well this year. The Ottawa game and the Chicago game and look at how the team performed in front of him in those two games. It was our two worst efforts offensively… Until obviously in the third period last night when we had no choice but to open it up and hope that Toskala could make the big save. Hopefully Toskala can regain confidence but at this point him being in net takes away from the forwards doing anything offensively.
November 14th, 2009 at 4:32 pm
If Toskala were to start playing better than Gustavsson, the Leafs’ fortunes would probably start to turn for the better – it provides an opportunity the Leafs would love to have and one they probably counted on this past summer.
Schenn seems like a responsible and conscientious kid – he knows he screwed up, tried to make up for it by fighting (might have regretted it once he saw what he was up against). He just has to work through it – and he will. Problem is the Leafs and Wilson can’t afford to waist valuable minutes on him right now – especially when they consistently need to come from behind. He still gets PK time.
November 14th, 2009 at 4:33 pm
Toskala the #1 if he’s playing better? Oh fuck ya, dial it in. I HOPE that happens to get some value out of him!
November 14th, 2009 at 4:34 pm
@TKO
by doing anything offensively you mean cycling the puck in the O zone and shooting the puck at the goalie’s pads.
November 14th, 2009 at 4:38 pm
@bigblue
I’d be thrilled if a couple of forwards could even hit the pads.. It would be about 5 ft closer to scoring than what they are currently doing.
November 14th, 2009 at 4:40 pm
lol…I wouldn’t be opposed to calling up Hansen and telling him to park his a** in the crease. It’s just about time that management started expirementing a little. Not like they got anything to lose
November 14th, 2009 at 4:48 pm
If Toskala could play better,his value would go up and we could get a good return for him at the deadline,also it would help us win witch is also good.
November 14th, 2009 at 4:54 pm
@BigBlue
That would only happen if Gustavsson started having problems and was 1)hurt or 2)cracking under the stress. I don’t see 2 happening…
.
But all things being equal, and both mentally and physically okay? Toskala doesn’t have the stuff to be better than Gustavsson. Toskala is playing at 95% of his potential. Gustavsson is playing somewhere more like 80% of his potential, and even at that, he makes Toskala look bad.
.
Toskala can be a solid backup for us if he holds it together. But he’s going to have to take a pay cut to stay in that role or be moved to somewhere else in a trade.
November 14th, 2009 at 4:56 pm
Sens lose in a shootout… at least something to cheer about today. Callahan is a beast on the PK… must have blocked about three shots in that PK in overtime.
One decent game and Toskala is being talked about as the #1 again… tell me it’s not true!
Unless Gustavsson has bipolar disorder or, God forbid, gets injured/sick, this can never happen (I hope).
Bring back Wendel!
November 14th, 2009 at 5:04 pm
Don’t kid yourselfs…Toskala is gone, its just a matter of how.
November 14th, 2009 at 5:04 pm
*and when
November 14th, 2009 at 5:56 pm
Yea I’d look to detroit they block a lot of shots which is what I think toskalas weakness is he’s not big enough to get lucky when a shot from the point gets through i don’t think we can ask for much maybe a mcgrath or emmerton and a 2nd round pick if we are lucky
November 14th, 2009 at 5:59 pm
As well it’s even easier to part with toskala for a respectable offer because we have joey mcdonald who is a very capable back up. how does the waiver work then if we trade toskala we have to call up macd and he’s on waivers right?? Or am I just stupid??
November 14th, 2009 at 6:21 pm
What do you guys think of trading Blake + 3rd 2011 + Poni + 2nd 2012 to Carolina for Tuomo Ruutu
Carolina is going to have to rebuild and Ruutu is a young power forward (26 yrs old) that hits like a truck and hits a lot. Would be a good addition to the top-6 immediately and if he can elevate his game while playing with Kessel he could be a real gem.
November 14th, 2009 at 7:17 pm
I’m not sure I’d trade Ponikarovsky straight up for Ruutu, let alone throw in Blake and a 3rd.
November 14th, 2009 at 7:25 pm
YEAH ORR! FUCK THAT SHIT UP!
November 14th, 2009 at 7:32 pm
I miss Wendel!!!!! I still get emotional watching those videos of him.
November 14th, 2009 at 8:26 pm
That’s how you score a fuckin pp goal! Love it!
November 14th, 2009 at 9:52 pm
@Bigblue – you should watch some more Columbus games.. you clearly are making comments based on heresay from the kids Toronto days… fact he, he would be our 2nd best D today, right behind Kaberle.. and as far as I can tell, Kaberle does not look like he would be a specimen with “his shirt off” either.. and psst.. Kaberle is a -6 after tonights game..
December 27th, 2009 at 2:57 am
We guarantee we provide the cheapest ghd, ghd Hair Straighteners,ghd straighteners, ghd hair tools in the market and 100% Quality Guarantee.