After enjoying their first victory of the season against Anaheim the other night, the table was set for the star of something against Dallas, but the Stars had other ideas and the Buds would have to settle for 1 point in a 4-3 overtime loss.
The Leafs were 2nd in the NHL on the Power play coming into tonight's action, thanks mostly to a five PPG outburst against the Ducks on Monday.
Dallas would not be as obliging in regard to taking penalties, in fact, they only took 2 the whole game. For their part, the Leafs did score a power play goal on one of only 2 chances and only took 3 penalties themselves. Unfortunately, their penalty kill is as bad, as their power play is good and they allowed Dallas to score on one of their chances as well.
Nikolai Kulemin beat Dallas Goaltender Marty Turco twice for his 1st and 2nd goals of the season and showed a little grit tonight that we haven't seen yet this year. His second of the game gave the Leafs the lead more than halfway through the third but they couldn't hold on and the Stars tied it up with a little over 2 minutes left to go in regulation.
"With 5 minutes left in [regulation] and up a goal, you have to find ways to close those games out," Blake said. "It's a tough one to take, giving up a late goal, but you learn from that and move forward."
Lee Stepniak also scored tonight, and is on a mini 2 game goal streak.
My favorite Leaf Jason Blake also chipped in with 3 assist tonight to bring his point total to 6 on the season. ( I don't know why he's my favorite, he just is!)
Jonas " The Monster " Gustavsoon stopped 32 of 36 shots tonight, and was obviously upset when Dallas scored in OT to win the game. Almost halfway through the O T, with Dallas buzzing in the Leafs one, Kulemin was late in covering his man and Neal was able to put the backhand past Gustavsson for the win.
Look for the Leafs to hit the win column again on Friday as they face the Buffalo
Sabres. As always, you can hear the action live right here on Bench Brawl!
Until next time, you kids play safe!
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2 comments:
Why is the media ignoring the fact that the leafs got railroaded by the refs in this one?
Mostly because it is a common occurrence, as a Leaf fan, I quite often notice non calls for example the game in Vancouver when there was a hand placed over the puck in the Canucks net. Unfortunately, because I also present a public opinion, I try to watch both sides of the ice at the same time. Having said that, I can say this, if you are a fan of either team that is playing, you will notice non calls on a slope. I'm certainly not saying you are wrong, but, if you watch the Leafs closely as well, you'll notice that they get away with a few as well, it isn't always even, but it ALWAYS happens to both teams. Thanks for taking the time to post your comment, I appreciate it!!
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