Celebrate because we got two points and have continued our fifth straight run of great play after we're mathematically eliminated.

Gustavsson didn't have the best night and all in all it's not very encouraging that we gave up four goals to the Oilers. Sure we're not much better than Edmonton but we'd hoped that our recent moves would change things.

The Phil Kessel - Tyler Bozak - Nikolai Kulemin line is a bright spot though. Good to see them play their game tonight. I thought John Mitchell played well from what I saw. We're all off to Long Island tomorrow to face the Islanders. Here's hoping I lose some money.

ps. I don't know what's up with SBN and I'm having some family stuff so sorry about the sparse work on the front page here.

Corsi and Fenwick | Head-to-Head TOI | EV Face-Offs | Shift Charts
Game Summary | Event Summary | Copper & Blue Recap

PPP Update:

Dear God the Edmonton Oilers are pathetic. They are a horrendous team and if you were to ask about any hope for the future your answer would include three players that have never played in the NHL. Judging by the players that will still be on the team in the next two years, Oilers' managements inability to develop players, and the fact that those kids will be thrown to the wolves because of Katz's attempts to screw local taxpayers for a new arena and you have an environment ripe to ruin Magnus Svensson-Parjaavi, Jordan Eberle, and Taylor Hall.

Some observations on the game from the links:

  • Corsi and Fenwick feature a couple of hilariously high numbers including Luke Schenn's + 23 and Tomas Kaberle's +19. The Leafs simply dominated at evens.
  • The worst Oiler was a former junior whiz kid that seems to be stuck in low gear, Sam Gagner with a -21.
  • You can play around with the head-to-head ice time but I am not sure how helpful it would be considering the opposition. There aren't exactly any players that Ron Wilson was likely worried about especially with Ales Hemsky (a solid reason for hope for Oilers fans) out.
  • Ok, here's one thing: Pat Quinn tried to match Andrew Cogliano - Dustin Penner - Gilbert Brule against the Leafs' top line of Tyler Bozak - Phil Kessel - Nikolai Kulemin. The Leafs' trio was a combined + 3 (hrmm) with eight points (hooray!)
  • Luke Schenn and Carl Gunnarsson were both + 2.
  • John Mitchell played 15 minutes, picked up a goal, and gave us all flashbacks to last year's play with a couple of vintage dangles. Games like that are why he's worth a 5% raise and a spot on the fourth line.
  • Good News: The Leafs' powerplay was 3-for-8 after going over 30 opportunities without a goal.
  • Bad News: Fredrik Sjostrom might have been important for the penalty kill. They allowed two goals on six chances albeit one was a 5-on-3.
  • As already mentioned, the refs stunk. I don't know why they were so afraid that the game might develop some...intensity.
  • God I love Tessa Virtue. She looked great alongside some fellow Olympic Gold Medallists. It was quite the stirring rendition of O Canada as well.

The Leafs are now five points back of the New York Islanders and only eight points out of the sixth draft spot.

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