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Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger •
There was an air of nervous anticipation at the ACC last night, as Phil Kessel stepped on the ice as a Toronto Maple Leaf for the first time. The 22-year-old native of Madison, WI, acquired in a trade from the Boston Bruins for three premium draft picks has been rehabilitating since having off-season surgery to repair the rotator cuff in his right shoulder. With the team getting off to a rather putrid 1-7-4 start, the addition of an impact player like Kessel in the lineup was a necessity. There are concerns about Kessel’s rehabilitation being ahead of schedule and that his return to the lineup a couple weeks early would make him susceptible to being reinjured like Vancouver forward Pavel Demitra, who had the same surgical procedure during the off season. Those fears were put to the test midway through the first period when Lightning defenseman Mattias Ohlund drove Kessel to the ice with the clean open ice hit at the Tampa blue line. Kessel managed to get off the ice and was taken to the Leafs dressing room immediately. In that moment, the memory of Doug Gilmour crawling to the Leaf bench with a career ending knee injury in 2003 on one of his first shifts popped into my head. Thankfully, a few moments later Kessel returned to the Toronto bench and seemed unfazed by the hit for the rest of the game.
In nearly 24 minutes of ice time, Kessel impressed with his quickness, skating ability and offensive prowess, managing 10 shots at Tampa goaltender Antero Niittymaki and having other opportunities that missed the net. Unfortunately, none of his shots managed to beat Niittymaki, who played wonderfully in a 40 save performance. His counterpart, Jonas Gustavsson was nearly as impressive, making a number of excellent stops throughout the game. Although both teams had numerous scoring opportunities, the game remained scoreless until late in the second period when Vincent Lecavalier scored off a rebound. In the third, Ian White scored on the power play, which has been the only aspect of the Toronto offense that has been consistent, when his shot deflected off a Tampa defenseman. The 1-1 deadlock continued into overtime where both teams had chances, but a little over two minutes into the extra period, Tampa broke out on a two on two break after a turnover in the offensive zone by Matt Stajan. The Tampa forwards crossed at the blue line, where Lightning forward Alex Tanguay drew both Leaf defensemen and then feathered a pass to Ryan Malone, who managed to bat the puck past the Gustavsson for the victory.
On the positive side, the Maple Leafs have managed to earn points in their last five games, with a victory in Anaheim and four consecutive overtime losses to Dallas, Buffalo, Montréal and Tampa, but this can hardly be considered progress. The performance last night by Phil Kessel was impressive to say the least, but it was more a result of being amped up to make a good first impression than anything. It will likely take time for Kessel to shake off some of the rust and also find linemates that will complement his game. The most alarming concern right now about the Leafs is that their offense at even strength is pathetic. They are getting absolutely no production out of their third and fourth lines, Rickard Wallin and John Mitchell have no goals in 13 games and they are getting less than stellar production out of their top two units. The illustrious Jason Blake, who played on the top line with Kessel and Matt Stajan last night has one goal this season. The options are limited for Brian Burke because any changes that he could make would be from a position of weakness, since the Leafs are wallowing in last place in the NHL standings, but with every loss more pressure is placed on Burke to do something that would improve the fortunes of his club.
From the desk of Mike “In Buffalo" Augello
Listen to the next edition of Leaf Buzz tonight at 730, on talkshoe.com ID 20944. If you'd like to call in, the number is(724) 444-7444, ID 20944
In nearly 24 minutes of ice time, Kessel impressed with his quickness, skating ability and offensive prowess, managing 10 shots at Tampa goaltender Antero Niittymaki and having other opportunities that missed the net. Unfortunately, none of his shots managed to beat Niittymaki, who played wonderfully in a 40 save performance. His counterpart, Jonas Gustavsson was nearly as impressive, making a number of excellent stops throughout the game. Although both teams had numerous scoring opportunities, the game remained scoreless until late in the second period when Vincent Lecavalier scored off a rebound. In the third, Ian White scored on the power play, which has been the only aspect of the Toronto offense that has been consistent, when his shot deflected off a Tampa defenseman. The 1-1 deadlock continued into overtime where both teams had chances, but a little over two minutes into the extra period, Tampa broke out on a two on two break after a turnover in the offensive zone by Matt Stajan. The Tampa forwards crossed at the blue line, where Lightning forward Alex Tanguay drew both Leaf defensemen and then feathered a pass to Ryan Malone, who managed to bat the puck past the Gustavsson for the victory.
On the positive side, the Maple Leafs have managed to earn points in their last five games, with a victory in Anaheim and four consecutive overtime losses to Dallas, Buffalo, Montréal and Tampa, but this can hardly be considered progress. The performance last night by Phil Kessel was impressive to say the least, but it was more a result of being amped up to make a good first impression than anything. It will likely take time for Kessel to shake off some of the rust and also find linemates that will complement his game. The most alarming concern right now about the Leafs is that their offense at even strength is pathetic. They are getting absolutely no production out of their third and fourth lines, Rickard Wallin and John Mitchell have no goals in 13 games and they are getting less than stellar production out of their top two units. The illustrious Jason Blake, who played on the top line with Kessel and Matt Stajan last night has one goal this season. The options are limited for Brian Burke because any changes that he could make would be from a position of weakness, since the Leafs are wallowing in last place in the NHL standings, but with every loss more pressure is placed on Burke to do something that would improve the fortunes of his club.
From the desk of Mike “In Buffalo" Augello
Listen to the next edition of Leaf Buzz tonight at 730, on talkshoe.com ID 20944. If you'd like to call in, the number is(724) 444-7444, ID 20944
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