TMLRI: October 6th - 2-1 Loss vs Ottawa Senators

Ottawa 2 at Toronto 1

The Leafs returned home, but didn’t exactly get the result they were looking for. The forward group seemed unable to generate chances through forecheck or on the rush until it was too late. Although not as bad as on Saturday, the defense corps were still visibly struggling to find a comfort level. Goaltending was much better and kept the game close. The overall play of the team was still very sub-par.

Goaltending
Gustavsson (6) Could not be blamed for goals. He played well and made some solid saves, but was not spectacular.

Defense
Kaberle (6) Decent game. Seemed comfortable compared to the other Leafs defensemen. Nice pass on the powerplay to create Stajan’s goal.
White (5) Steady, but not spectacular. Few if any giveaways.
Komisarek (5) Although he was not wreckless as he had been in the previous game, he seemed to be running around a little on the defensive end. Nearly tied the game with a big shot that hit both posts.

Beauchemin (4) Effort is there, but confident play is not. Errant passes and bad reads continue to plague him.
Schenn (4) Struggling to find his game with bad giveaways and getting caught out of position leading to chances and goals the other way.
Exelby (3) After getting caught out of position a couple of times, he made a terrible mistake leading to the first goal against. After that, his icetime was cut back significantly.

Forwards
Stajan (6) Played solidly. His efforts created a couple of early chances. Scored a nice powerplay goal to cut the lead in the third.
Stempniak (6) Another good effort on the third line, winning battles and puck races, leading to the odd chance in transition. Still erratic with the puck at times.
Wallin (6) Another consistent effort. Strong defensive hockey and improved physicality.
Ponikarovsky (5) Worked hard as usual, but not much of a factor. Needs to be more assertive.
Rosehill (5) Decent forechecking in limited action. Not much else.
Stalberg (5) Out after a decent first period due to what looked to be a possible concussion.
Grabovski (5) He skated well, but failed to generate chances and continued to struggle in the faceoff circle.
Hagman (5) Other than one good chance in the second period, he didn’t accomplish much.
Kulemin (5) Not much in the way of offensive chances, but backchecked hard and finished his checks strong.

Mitchell (5) The effort was there, but not a particularly strong game.
Orr (4) A non-factor.
Blake (4) Fairly invisible throughout the game. He couldn’t get anything going.

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