Listless is a word that will get thrown around a lot in tomorrow's game recaps and that's not fair. Not because the Leafs played with any sort of emotion or effort because 17 shots in a game and only four in a third period that started out 0-0 is pathetic. No, it's not fair because there are stoners with mono that show more energy than the Leafs did tonight.
Over the first 20-odd games the Leafs were bringing A-class effort almost every game which made their losing much more palatable. It did almost enough to make us wonder whether it was right to toss in Pogge in order to get goaltending that might get the Leafs into the playoffs. However, over the last few weeks they have played listless more often than not except during games where there has been some sort of friction. No one hates the Predators so of course the Leafs cannot be bothered to show up in front of over 19,000 fans who were rightly booing towards the end of the third.
As for the summary of the game in four lines or less? MF37 almost had it perfect until it turned out that they were stealing Steve Sullivan's goal only to give it to 3rd overall draft pick Radek Bonk:
Ex-leaf? Check
First goal of the season? Check
Milestone of sorts (first game back after longest layoff due to injury)? Check
Opportunity for media to bring up decade old bad waiver wire move? CheckThe goal might ultimately be stripped from him if the official scorer's heart doesn't grow three sizes over night but the fact remains that on the two scoring plays the former Leaf played an integral role. On the first, his shot was going in before Bonk stuck his pants in its path to steal the goal. On the second, he was the excuse for Vesa Toskala to miss a routine save as he wondered if the puck would be passed to Sullivan.
Oh, and the headline? Sorry Cox, MF37 said I could have it first!
So which Leaf impres...sucked the least tonight? Tough call eh? I'll go with Jiri Tlusty who almost scored twice in five seconds and did a decent job along the boards. Coincidentally those two chances comprised 40% of the Leafs' scoring chances. Have at it folks!
