TMLRI: October 26th - 6-3 Win @ Anaheim Ducks

The Leafs finally won their first game of the season. After going down 1-0 early in the game, rookie goaltender Jonas Gustavsson made some key saves to keep the game within reach. The team began to build momentum with strong puck pursuit and recovery in the Ducks zone, leading to the Ducks taking several undisciplined penalties. The Leafs powerplay cashed in with 5 goals, including multi-point nights for Matt Stajan, Tomas Kaberle, Lee Stempniak and a hat trick for Niklas Hagman.

Toronto Maple Leafs 6 at Anaheim 3

Goaltender
Gustavsson (7) - Made several key saves to keep the Leafs in the game early on, which clearly had effect on the team’s confidence level throughout the game.

Defensemen
Kaberle (8) - He was on his game, with lots off PP time he was able to manage the point well and distributed the puck like few players can leading to 5 PP goals.
Beauchemin (6) - Played a simple but effective game with few mistakes. Was able to counter the Ducks physical forwards without going overboard.
White (6) - Another solid effort from White. Steady play in both ends with no mistakes. Risked his body to make plays others are not willing to make.
Schenn (5) Did not play as much as usual due to a lot of powerplay for the Leafs,when he did he was unspectacular.
Komisarek (5) - A few careless plays with the puck, but he was physical and did not take any costly penalties.
Exelby (4) - For the most part, he was unnoticeable. A few times, he was running around and getting caught out of position.

Forwards
Hagman (8) - Provided the finishing the team has been lacking even in their best games this year. Accurate shooting picked Hiller apart on the powerplay.
Stempniak (7) - As he has all season, Stempniak continues to generate scoring chances, but he was able to score this time and was an offensive catalyst all night, while playing the point on the powerplay. His second period hit caused a big momentum swing.
Stajan (7) - Set up 3 goals with some very good offensive zone vision. Finished his checks and competed all night.
Grabovski (6) - He competed all night with the Ducks and his determination was clearly visible.
Mitchell (6) - Got limited powerplay time, but did maage an assist, Strong puck pursuit all night kept the Ducks on their heels.
Ponikarovsky (5) - Not a bad effort, but was not one of the more effective forwards.
Stalberg (5) - Displayed his speed and finished his checks but did not accomplish much on the offensive end.
Kulemin (5) - Good effort on with 4th line minutes, but still not the dangerous player he’s shown flashes of.
Orr (5) - Faired reasonably well, in his first period tussle with George Parros, but did not see much icetime for the rest of the game.
Primeau (5) - Saw limited action and played his role effectively.
Wallin (5) - Very efficient game, but did not see much action as the Lefas did most of their damage on the powerplay.
Blake (5) - He got a few chances, but did not make anything of them. Chased the puck well.

Comments

Leave a comment