In the beginning....
Leafs 3 - Wings 2
The physical play in all three zones is what really surprised me. Finishing the forecheck, stopping the skater in the neutral zone and putting the winger on his seat in the d zone is exactly what you want to do. If we see that 80% of the time I'd be amazed. And all of this in your face play led to a rusty Red Wings squad give the puck up uncharacteristically often, all the way back to the d making a first pass in front of Osgood.
Kubina PPG unassisted. Pinching with the first period winding down was an excellent decision knowing that if the puck got by him the Wings wouldn't have enough time to do any damage. The tenacious puck pursuit down low was great to see while a man up. The Osgood pass had a little to do with it as well.
Leaf Lines
Poni-Antro-Blake
Moore-Steen-Kulemin
Mitchell-Stajan-Mayers
Tlusty-Grabovski-Hagman
Leaf Pairs
Carlo-Kubina
Kaberle-Schenn
Frogren-VanRyn
Toskala
The physical play in all three zones is what really surprised me. Finishing the forecheck, stopping the skater in the neutral zone and putting the winger on his seat in the d zone is exactly what you want to do. If we see that 80% of the time I'd be amazed. And all of this in your face play led to a rusty Red Wings squad give the puck up uncharacteristically often, all the way back to the d making a first pass in front of Osgood.
Kubina PPG unassisted. Pinching with the first period winding down was an excellent decision knowing that if the puck got by him the Wings wouldn't have enough time to do any damage. The tenacious puck pursuit down low was great to see while a man up. The Osgood pass had a little to do with it as well.
Moore roofing it over a sprawled Ozzie after another scramble on the edge of the crease. Kulemin made this goal with this pass back to Frogren, receiving from a linemate behind the goal just above the goal line in the corner and pivoting inside and going with the puck and dishing back to the line while eluding his defender who ended up in no man's land. Fantastic instinct.
Kulemin with a shimmy shake following a nice puck poach after Steen's pressure on the forecheck forced a ill-fated pass. Nice to see that kind of raw skill in a Leaf, let alone his NHL debut. No promises, but this kid might have the 1000 yard stare when given a scoring chance.
Toskala looked very sharp after getting fortunate with an early rush that ended with a twang off the post. Captain apparently for the game as well.
Antropov drew a pro's powerplay after taking a cross check to the base of his back. I wonder where he picked up that move?
Holmstrom pawned Carlo first, then Schenn on the crease for his two Tomas specials. Dude is like an Akido master or some sh!t, the way he transfers weight, maintains balance and composure while guiding a loss puck past a professional goal tender. Carlo and Schenn had respectable games beyond those two lost battles. Carlo looked rusty at times, and his tendency to get caught while changing direction appeared twice, but other than that not bad. Schenn was authoritative on the body but made a couple passing errors, which is to be expected.
Labels: leafs lines
posted by mike @ 7:41 PM
4 comments
