Game 2 : Win 3-2
Gerber Is Almost A Goalie
I don’t know if I like that the boys let Gerber get peppered with 43 shots, but on the other hand he only let two in. Despite leaving the net wide open on two seperate occasions, we were lucky that both shots by the Leafs were mis-handled appropriately.
However the outcome I’ll be much happier when he’s a bit better in keeping the gaping holes to a minimum. We can’t expect everyone in the league to be as inept as Toronto.
I can only see him getting better. My worry now is that if Emery’s problem is all in his head, what happens when he’s playing backup to Gerber?
Scoring Pace
Daniel Alfredsson is showing why he led all scorers last post-season and it appears that he didn’t forget anything over the summer. Both he and Dany Heatley have three goals on two games played. Granted it will be hard to keep that pace up seeing as we don’t play the Leafs 80 more times this season. At least not until the board of govenors meets next (Vote ‘yes’ on Prop 64!).
Seriously you can’t leave a sniper like Alfie alone that close to the net. You can’t leave Heatley alone anywhere in the offensive zone. You might be able to leave Spezza alone two out of three times as he is likely to blindly pass it to the opposing team…
Chippy Wade Redden
Wade Redden continued his ‘mountain man’ I’ll speak with my fists persona. He didn’t acutally fight with anyone (that I saw) but he was pretty chippy and chirpy all game. Someone put forth that perhaps he’s done ’stealing his paycheck’ and actually wants to play this year.
Blake’s Net Crash
Leaf fans everywhere are cursing the refs today after the allowed Ottawa goal that followed the disallowed goal that came after Blake ran Gerber. While I can’t fault the CBC announcers’ loyalty to the Leafs (well, I could…) but Gerber was clearly still turning to his right as Blake’s body travelled across him as the puck was poked through his legs. The call was correct. Get over it!
NHL Broadcast Schedule
And now boys and girls we enter the NHL regular season proper. And like every other year that means there aren’t really any Sens games on the tube in Toronto. Why, Thanksgiving Monday has an Ottawa game that we won’t see. Toronto isn’t even playing! What gives? It’s on Sportsnet East but not in Ontario (’cept Ottawa region…)! Gah!
Thank Al Gore for the internet and it’s streaming capabilities…