Leafs 3 v. Predators 1: Beer For Belak

Toskala better be careful playing so well. The Leafs are going to expect him to do it every night and they'll be back to the Pat Quinn run and gun, defence optional days in no time. Actually, it only took two huge saves last night for the Leafs to start thinking about a return to those heady days when you knew that saves would get made regardless of the difficulty.

Despite being outshot 35-15 the Leafs did a pretty good job throughout the night of keeping shots to the perimeter. Looking at shots directed at the net paints a more even picture as the gap falls to 60-47 in favour of the Predators. However, after making two ridiculous saves on Arnott the Leafs started trying to make long bomb passes, they turned the puck over at their own blueline, and gave up odd man rushes with aplomb. But a funny thing happened on the Leafs' way to throwing away a 3-0 lead: saves were made. Oh and apparently history changed since the Toskala trade has gone from a mistake (He's never been a # 1, Bell is a drunk and a cancer in the dressing room!) to a coup for JFJ:

Toskala has played in eight straight games (once in relief of Andrew Raycroft, that embarrassing loss to Phoenix) and is finally showing the form from his San Jose days that made him one of the most sought-after goalies in the off-season.

Well, the trade was certainly a good one but let's make sure that the media keeps their eyes on the prize.

But the real news from last night was the Belak scored his first goal since before the lockout. Since he started doing interviews on LeafsTV so often I find that he is a lot harder to dislike. He's not the greatest fighter but he steps up when he has to for his teammates and they definitely appreciate his presence. He has a history of taking stupid penalties and he was foisted upon the Leafs as a defenceman for far too long under Pat Quinn. However, he works well as a fourth line grinder out to hit anything that moves and grouped with Kilger and Bell the Leafs get a trio of big bodies that can change the momentum of a game.

Wade's predictive powers were in full effect:

Two seconds before, Darcy Hordichuk wanted to (fight) in the corner, but I told him 'No thanks, I have to score now,'

If that's all it takes he should probably tell more people that he needs to score. For his efforts in banging home what turned out to be the insurance goal he was given the third star but he wasn't quite sure about the prize:

It was nice, first star [since] being here. What do I get for it? It's Molson right? A case of beer maybe?

Would that be enough to ensure a repeat performance? I think we can take a collection to get you a case of beer. Unfortunately, that goal likely killed his chance to enter the Leafs' record books:

The best part about last night was watching the Habs and sens fall to the Red Wings and Lightning respectively. That makes seven in a row for the sens and their fans are getting bitter but then again I would be bitter too if my team had been eliminated four times by its biggest rival. Ancient history? Yeah but they haven't gotten over it either.

In the SPG game I guess McCabe for the first penalty was just too easy for everyone to pass up so everyone picked up a point. Make sure to vote for your player of the game even though we know there can only be one winner.

Who was the Leafs' Player of the Game?