Tomorrow night, the Toronto Maple Leafs attempt to succeed where all else have failed.
The Leafs look to deliver to the Sens a very rare tally in the loss column as they travel to Scotiabank Place tomorrow evening, when the teams will renew the Battle of Ontario.
What's entitled a "battle" has been typically more of a Sens massacre in recent times. Typically in the Sens' house, goals can come fast and furious and games can get out of hand in short order.
Health plays into the Leafs favour tomorrow night. Both Kyle Wellwood and Mark Bell return to the line-up, albeit likely in limited roles, and the Ottawa Senators will be without a key offensive figure in Jason Spezza.
The Leafs must do the following to succeed in Ottawa. Mind you, only 1 out of 13 game plans have actually worked against this side...
1) Use the boards. The Ottawa Senators clog the neutral zone and force center-ice errors, ready to pounce on lazy or forced passes and fly up ice on the counter-attack. To this point, the Leafs have shown a frightening propensity to play pucks right through the zone. They are going to have to re-acquaint themselves with the safer play along the boards to gain the opposition's zone.
2) Starting goaltender Vesa Toskala, now going on his 7th consecutive start, will have to stand tall against these potent offensive weapons in the Sens dressing room. As we saw against Ottawa in the season-opener, the likes of Daniel Alfredsson and Dany Heatley will pick top corners if made available by a flopping VeTo.
3) Run the show down low. The Ottawa Senators boast great puck-moving defensive unit, but it's not a particularly large group. The Leafs must be quick and aggressive on the fore-check, finishing their checks before the Sens D can turn and thread an outlet pass. Recover the puck and run a successful cycle game.
4) Avoid Stick Infractions. The Senators have pace, and the Leafs will fall into a trap if they use their sticks instead of their feet. The Sens take their chances when they're given.
5) Crowd Gerber's vision. Gerber will take them all day if his vision is not hampered by big, blue buttocks.
This Ottawa Senators team is very opportunistic. The Leafs will have to execute an almost perfect game plan to even stick around for a full 60 minutes.
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