Lightning Strikes Leafs

Tuesday night the Toronto Maple Leafs ended overtime tied with the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-2 and eventually lost in the shoot-out. Ed Belfour put together his second consecutive excellent performance turning aside 35 shots during regulation and overtime, but, it wasn't enough. Darcy Tucker also played very well for the Leafs scoring a goal and assisting on another to extend his goal scoring streak to three games since returning from injury.

Bryan McCabe returned to action and played well for his first game back, but, the rust was evident. McCabe was unable to contain Ryan Craig in front of the net in the third period which resulted in Craig scoring to tie the game at 2-2.

The worst defensive play was far more painful to watch. The play started with Tomas Kaberle clearing the puck from behind the net with a limp pass. Kaberle obviously did not realize how little time was left in the period. Cory Sarich intercepted the pass, Alexei Ponikorovsky failed to cover and Brad Richards knocked it past Belfour with 0.6 seconds left in the first period, a period the Leafs otherwise dominated.

Kaberle did redeem himself somewhat with a second period power play goal with a nice shot from the point that Darcy Tucker was later credited with deflecting. Overall the defence including the kiddie corps (Staffan Kronvall, Andy Wozniewski, Jay Harrison) did play quite well, although Belfour's stellar goaltending did cover up some sins.

The Shoot Out went poorly for the Leafs as they were clearly outclassed by World Class snipers. Mats Sundin had the first shot and had a poor attempt resulting in a shot right into the abdomen of Sean Burke and an easy save for Burke. I figured Pat Quinn would start with Sundin out of respect, but, Sundin just is not that good of a sniper at this point. Next up was Vincent Lecavalier who did a masterful deke on Belfour culminating with a back hand to the top shelf. Ponikovsky then had his turn for the Leafs and shot a laser wrist shot to the crossbar on what was a very nice attempt. Brad Richards capped the game off for the Lightning with a similar attempt to Poni's, but, with success.

I'm curious as to why Kyle Wellwood wasn't shooting for the Leafs. He has a fantastic pair of hands, is very creative and must be tough to defend against as he is very unpredictable. Wellwood is slowly blossoming for the Leafs and at times is extremely entertaining to watch.

If nothing else, the shoot out showcased the masterful skills of Lecavalier and Richards, two who I will be cheering on in the Olympics and who will be involved in capturing the Gold Medal for Canada.

Bits and Bites....There is a good article on Oshawa Generals 15 year old future super-star John Tavares ...I attend many Generals games and truth is Tavares is a joy to watch, a very good sniper and a good playmaker who is living up to his press clippings.

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