Game In 10: Game 33, Leafs vs. Kings

by Mislav Jantoljak on December 19, 2011 in Uncategorized - 1,308 Comments

Well, this was an interesting game. Interesting as in even if the Kings got two goals that really shouldn’t have happened, you still get the feeling they were the better team tonight. Still sucks losing that point, especially after an improved third period and overtime in which we dominated play.

1 – The Leafs are 16-13-4.

2 – Our team started well, creating havoc in front of Quick and getting a ton of shots early. Jonathan Quick was kind enough to pick up Lupul’s stick for him.

3 – An extremely bad bounce off the wall created a perfect opportunity for Justin Williams, who makes no mistake as he buries it top shelf. Unlucky.

4 – Rosehill and Clifford went at it right after the goal which resulted in a solid bout with many punches thrown.

5 – Some excellent work by Matt Frattin creates a turnover by Jonathan Quick and JM Liles gets his fourth of the season by blasting one past Quick. Liles has been quite solid for us this year. Frattin made a great play beating his man to the net to bury a great pass from Grabovski to tie the game. Say what you will about him, but he’s a very useful cog. That was his 4^th goal of the season. Good young player.

6 – Big block by Timmy C on the Kings 4 on 3 powerplay, that’s the kind of commitment you want to see from every player, let a lone from one of your top point producers. He also managed to get the puck out of the zone on that play. Kessel made a beautiful play when we made a little pivot on the blueline, and flicked the sweetest pass you’ll ever see to Lupul who misses on the shot.

7 – The refs deserved two minutes in the penalty box for littering and calling everything on the Leafs. You can’t stick gum on the glass. We give up another PP goal after it seemed Doughty went outside the Leafs zone when handling the puck. The puck was out. We got burned but we also got outplayed for the vast majority of the second period, getting the puck out of the zone was a major problem.

8 – James Reimer played a really solid game. Cool, composed and made some stellar stops to keep the game close. A better 3^rd period for our team as we created more chances and put the puck on net.

9 – Penalty kill worked hard but again, too many calls, some dumb plays on our part, some justified calls, but all in all too many penalties. The powerplay didn’t produce. One more game where the special teams were the decider.

10 – We have trouble getting the puck out, especially against teams with a stronger forecheck and teams that like to get physical on the forecheck. I really loved our effort in overtime. It’s not often you see Kessel and Lupul completely miss out on getting on the scoresheet. They played well though.

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