I gotta say that despite the outcome, this was a great game played by the Leafs. It took two deflections and a wacky bounce off a skate for the Sharks to find the back of the net. Without those, the Sharks leave with a loss. The Leafs out skated, out hustled, and out bullied (save for Colton Orr) the opposition. Pretty damned impressive when you consider that half of the Toronto Marlies were on the ice along with an OHL player in Nazem Kadri, and that they were up against the second best team in the league with a healthy roster.
Evgeni Nabokov won this game for the Sharks, no question. He stopped 32 of 34 shots and came up big when he needed too; especially at the end. Could there have been a penalty shot for Dany Heatley covering the puck with his glove? Sure, but it's a non-reviewable play so it's not the replay officials fault and it would have been hard to see with that huge scrum in the crease. And the Leafs had many other opportunities they couldn't capitalize on thanks to the stellar play of Nabokov.
I can't say enough about how these New Look Leafs continue to impress me. If you have this team back in October, then it's a whole different ball game. What do you think?
Corsi and Fenwick | Head-to-Head TOI | EV Face-Offs | Shift Charts
Game Summary | Event Summary | Fear The Fin Recap
