Not much more you can say about Phil Kessel other than he is a world class goal scorer who the Leafs have not had on the wing since Lanny McDonald. Hopefully this puts to bed the nonsense about Kessel's off season work habits. The bottom line is that Kessel is their best player whether he skates 10 times in the summer or 100 times in the summer. The chemistry of the first line is outstanding and one of the most dangerous in the NHL.
But the line that seems to be the biggest surprise and is giving an identity to this Leaf team is the Mike Santorelli, Peter Holland, Leo Komorov line. When the Leafs brought back Komorov many were critical of the team for the contract given to the hard-hitting Finn. But so far this season, it is clear that it has been money well spent as Komorov has continued his aggressive fore-checking style, killing penalties and chipping in offensively. Mike Santorelli was brought in to do exactly what he is doing: taking the body, being defensively responsible, taking face-offs when needed and providing some offense. Peter Holland has shown so far that if given the opportunity he can be a solid all-around player. The additional ice time has given the former first rounder a chance to show his offensive ability and he has proven to be a good penalty killer. It seems pretty clear that these three have developed a great chemistry.
What really impressed me last night was how well the Leafs played inside their own zone. Their breakouts were very efficient and they weren't running around chasing the Bruins. The forwards did a nice job in back checking and Jonathan Bernier came up with big saves when he needed to. I thought last night Stephane Robidas played his best game as a Maple Leaf and the two youngsters, Jake Gardiner and Morgan Reilly, looked very comfortable and used their skating ability to move the puck out of their zone and set up offensive chances. Both of them have been taken to task for their play but if last night is any indication they have gotten the message.
I have been critical of Randy Carlyle but I give him credit for giving the fourth liners more ice time in the third period, including power play time, when the game was in hand. Josh Leivo seems to be fitting in well with Richard Panik and Trevor Smith and Carlyle needs to continue to give this unit reasonable ice time.
The score was indicative of the complete domination by the Leafs. Their special teams out-performed the Bruins as the Leafs were 3 for 3 on the power play and they killed all three Bruin power plays. Without a doubt, this was their best game of the season. The key is to continue this type of play. It doesn't mean that they will continue to win games by five goals. But what it does mean is that they will be a tough team to play against which would be a far cry from last year's team.
Next up is Pittsburgh on Friday night at the ACC and the way I see it, the Leafs have another score to settle with one of the other Eastern Conference powers.
But the line that seems to be the biggest surprise and is giving an identity to this Leaf team is the Mike Santorelli, Peter Holland, Leo Komorov line. When the Leafs brought back Komorov many were critical of the team for the contract given to the hard-hitting Finn. But so far this season, it is clear that it has been money well spent as Komorov has continued his aggressive fore-checking style, killing penalties and chipping in offensively. Mike Santorelli was brought in to do exactly what he is doing: taking the body, being defensively responsible, taking face-offs when needed and providing some offense. Peter Holland has shown so far that if given the opportunity he can be a solid all-around player. The additional ice time has given the former first rounder a chance to show his offensive ability and he has proven to be a good penalty killer. It seems pretty clear that these three have developed a great chemistry.
What really impressed me last night was how well the Leafs played inside their own zone. Their breakouts were very efficient and they weren't running around chasing the Bruins. The forwards did a nice job in back checking and Jonathan Bernier came up with big saves when he needed to. I thought last night Stephane Robidas played his best game as a Maple Leaf and the two youngsters, Jake Gardiner and Morgan Reilly, looked very comfortable and used their skating ability to move the puck out of their zone and set up offensive chances. Both of them have been taken to task for their play but if last night is any indication they have gotten the message.
I have been critical of Randy Carlyle but I give him credit for giving the fourth liners more ice time in the third period, including power play time, when the game was in hand. Josh Leivo seems to be fitting in well with Richard Panik and Trevor Smith and Carlyle needs to continue to give this unit reasonable ice time.
The score was indicative of the complete domination by the Leafs. Their special teams out-performed the Bruins as the Leafs were 3 for 3 on the power play and they killed all three Bruin power plays. Without a doubt, this was their best game of the season. The key is to continue this type of play. It doesn't mean that they will continue to win games by five goals. But what it does mean is that they will be a tough team to play against which would be a far cry from last year's team.
Next up is Pittsburgh on Friday night at the ACC and the way I see it, the Leafs have another score to settle with one of the other Eastern Conference powers.
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