Game In 10: Game 5, Jets at Leafs

by Mislav Jantoljak on October 19, 2011 in Uncategorized - 214 Comments

One of many future games against the Jets, even if they move to the West. Having the Jets back is good for the game and it showed tonight in a very entertaining hockey game. Which the Leafs won. That makes it more entertaining. Welcome back and thanks for coming, but the two points stay in the ACC.

1 – The Leafs are 4-0-1 and Matt Frattin is clutch.

2 – The Jets were 0 for 13 on the powerplay until tonight. Not only did it look great tonight – the cycle, the movement, etc. – but they scored two goals. Now, why can’t we improve like that? Wait, we can!? Oh my.

3 – Armstrong remained out of the game when he went down early in the first with what is being called a lower body injury. Clarke MacArthur left the game in the third period.

4 – Phil Kessel is a one dimensional player. Some people are blind. Two statements that most certainly have a correlation. He hits the blueline with speed, breaks inside and dishes a fantastic feed to Lupul who destroys the in goal camera. Take that NHL property! The Kessel, Bozak, Lupul line has over 26% of all the shots fired by the Leafs this season. Not sure how I feel about that. Also, Kessel dished great passes all night long.

5 – Komisarek looked like the vintage Leaf Komisarek, we don’t like to see that version. Luke Schenn looked out of gas, slow and was caught flat footed on more than a couple of occasions. He isn’t having a good season so far. So far.

6 – We know Gardiner has speed to burn and can skate like a demon (if demons existed and wanted to skate), but what I wanted to see and liked about this game tonight is he was solid and extremely poised defensively, which is the main thing that can contribute to him being sent down (if not done satisfactorily). Komi sits? Komi sits.

7 – Reimer had absolutely no chance on either of the first two goals. On first one, James had four players screening him (three of them Leafs) and the second one was a textbook defensive breakdown with no one taking Burmistrov in front of the net. Just clear the net. Hockey bodies are usually big and aren’t that difficult to notice when around the crease. He again bailed them out late in the third and then was perfect in the SO. A goalie making saves when they’re needed most, that’s what we’ve been missing since the lockout and that’s what Reimer continues to provide.

8 – Phil Kessel used the one timer on the PP. Something I strongly advocated in one of my earlier Game In 10s. Glad he listened. Lupul was amazing as well. The chemistry on that line is something encouraging, especially when Mac in the USSR gets going.

9 – As far as this season goes, I liked the Frattin in the USSR more than Mac in the USSR. Also, nice to see Steckel getting rewarded by the coach for all his hard work. Wilson faces flak at times for his line shuffling but the tweaks he made in the third worked out for the better.

10 – If this ended in a Leafs loss evil tongues would undoubtedly start drawing a parallel to last season, but I’ll tell you this much – most of last season, we don’t come back from that.

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