On Tuesday night in Toronto, the Maple Leafs erased three one-goal leads held by the opposing Bruins. When the Leafs finally jumped ahead on the scoreboard for the first time, their lead was safer than any the B's had held throughout the entirety of the affair. Why, you ask? Well, Nikolai Kulemin's go-ahead goal came with 50 seconds left in the overtime period. They don't call it sudden death for nothin'.

The tilt was very reminiscent of the one played between these two squads just a few days ago. The B's blew both a 1-0 and 2-1 advantage before eeking out the "W" in the shootout.

On the positive side...

*Shy of an iffy 5-hole strike from Wayne Primeau, Tim Thomas turned in yet another solid performance.

*Mark Recchi put his cold-streak to bed emphatically, picking up a goal and two assists. The winger's tip-feed from atop the crease to an open Marco Sturm was a thing of beauty.

*Patrice Bergeron also had a strong outing, chipping in a goal and an assist. Bergy's strong efforts along the boards led to what was, at the time, the go-ahead goal in the third period.

*Jeff Penner had an unspectacular but solid NHL debut on the B's blueline. The rookie d-man logged a little over 9:00 of ice time on the night, finishing with an even +/- rating.

*It's a consolation point, a loser's point as they say, but a point nevertheless. The Bruins, in an absolute dog fight to remain afloat in the top eight, will gladly take it over going home empty-handed.

And of course the negatives...

*Three blown leads. Simply unacceptable, especially against a lowly Leaf squad averaging less than 1.50 goals per game in their last eight outings.

*In Zdeno Chara's absence, Dennis Wideman logged over 29 minutes of ice time. Wides finished with a -2 rating and struggled mightily throughout the night, repeatedly coughing up the puck, taking poor angles and letting forwards (i.e. Phil Kessel) consistently shake him in the neutral zone. Did he think Phil was back there helping out by playing a little D?

*Michael Ryder remains pointless since the Olympic break. But, the Newf picked up some major style points when his failed back-check in OT wiped out Thomas, leaving the B's crease wide open.

*At this very moment, Matt Cooke has still yet to be suspended. Any minute now....

JC

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