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The Toronto Maple Leafs have successfully ousted the Calgary Flames 4-1 last night in what was an exciting and fast paced game. Expected to be much closer than a three goal deficit given how both teams have been playing of late, the Maple Leafs must have done their homework on the Flames as they came out with the right amount of energy and firepower to walk away with two points in regulation.
Calgary is now widely accepted to be a strong team to play against given the effort and speed which they offer on most nights, but I don't feel like I saw a perfect effort from the visiting team last night. Truth be told, I started to wonder whether Toronto was effectively shutting them down, or if they didn't have their legs. Throughout most of the first period, it would seem that Calgary was pushing hard for that first goal as they were provided with a few too many scoring chances. That said, I must commend Jon Bernier's effort as he kept his team in the game with several clutch saves early in the game.
Outshot 13-8 in the first period, Bernier stood tall during the first period and the Leafs would be rewarded with a goal after Lupul would essentially go end to end and shovel the puck over to Peter Holland who seemingly ever so gingerly guided the puck into the net with his skate. Goal stood and the Leafs were up by one.
"Bernier came up with big saves at the right time," Calgary coach Bob Hartley said. "We knew what to expect because he's been real hot in (recent) games."
And if I may, I know it's been digested quite a bit by the media already, but I have to comment about the Bernier/Mandela fiasco. The first time I hear it my jaw literally dropped and my beer just about hit the floor. I have to say I found it quite humerous, but at the same time wondered - What the F&*% was he thinking? I mulled it over a bit and have come to the conclusion that he MUST have been thinking about Jean Béliveau who recently passed. Given Bernier's background I would only assume that the Béliveau story was still fresh on his mind and...well...that's what came out? Either way...yikes. I mean, that's one for the books!
Here's the video for anyone who didn't catch it.
I digress.
Despite his hiccup with the Mandela interview, Bernier had a very solid game and the Leafs seemingly turned things up after the first period, outshooting the Flames 13-4 in the 2nd and maintaining the lead. Their overall numbers were rather good, too, as their areas of concerns were seemingly addressed given that they blocked 29 shots, only managed to cough up the puck 17 times, and would steal it back a respectable 19 times.
Outside of these, however, taking in the whole game, the Flames outhit, outshot, out chanced them at the faceoff dot, and managed less penalties. As I've noted many times before the Flames play a strong team defensive game and the numbers would offer just that. While they didn't walk away with any points for their efforts, Calgary continues to offer some entertaining hockey and last night was no different. Had it not been for Bernier's play, this one could have ended much differently.
"I'm feeling pretty confident, pretty comfortable out there," Bernier said. "I think we have some pretty good chemistry with my D as well."
And that's a solid point, actually as I too noticed this. There haven't been too many times that I've been able to say this, but Toronto's defense actually played well for the most part. I can actually start to see an improvement in their man to man coverage and how they transition the puck out of their own end as a team, rather than one single skater trying to stickhandle his way out. In terms of individual play, I really liked Holzer's game. It was simple, effective, and physical at times. He did his job well and I hope to see more of this in upcoming games. Heck, maybe it will even rub off onto others around him!
To sum things up, the Leafs play a good strong team game, managed to come out of the gates with energy, got the lead and kept it. A very strong second period where they shut down the Flames allowed the game to end in a three goal deficit and they received scoring from their top and bottom lines. Goaltending was strong, and the defense was calm (is this turning into a poem!?). Good overall game and how they do tonight will be a true indication as to whether or not they're actually moving in the right direction!
That's all for today folks, thanks for reading!