Game Day Preview – Leafs @ Blues, Feb 12,2010
The Leafs are in town, a team incredibly thin on talent up front and are 12 points back of the Blues in the NHL standings. Should be an easy 2 points…….
Sadly, the Blues don’t seem to like taking advantage of teams they actually should beat, and this game falls right into that category.
The Leafs are an interesting team, if anything. As a Canadian, I am forced by law to watch news stories on the Leafs ahead of all other sports stories, no matter the importance. No matter what’s going on in Leafland, something is always a story. And this team actually has a few legit stories of late.
New Additions :
The trades that brought in Dion Phaneuf and J-S Giguere have seemed to improve the Leafs (despite take a large chunk of goals out of their lineup. Phaneuf, according to Leafs announcers, has brought newfound energy and confidence to his teammates. He’s apparantly completely changed his game in the 24 hours after he was traded. With the Leafs, when he goes for a big hit and misses, he’s just being aggresive. With the Flames, he was out of position. In Toronto, when he runs around his own end, he’s a presence. In Calgary, he was lost. Funny how perspective, and announcers, can influence a player’s effectiveness.
The addition of Giguere actually seems to be a big improvement. An improvement over what was there was a given, but he’s actually played quite well in his 3 games. Giguere when good, can be very effective. He may be the best goalie ever at getting hit with pucks, not really making any moves to make the save, but he’s perfected the art of “being big” in his butterfly.
The Leafs do present a danger though. They consistently put forth the effort needed to do well in the NHL, they just severly lack the finish required to produce in the NHL (Sound familiar Blues fans?) If they get a few bounces on a given night they can put up some goals.
Enough about the Leafs though. A positive for the Blues of late has been their play at home. The last three home games, against three very good teams (CHI, SJ and DET), the Blues have taken the play to it’s opponent. They haven’t got the results, but they’ve shown they can play with that quality of team. They generated numerous chances against very smart, structured hockey teams. Against a team like Toronto, a team that plays without a lot of structure, chances should continue, assuming the Blues play like they have of late.
Expect to see Chris Mason in goal tonight after a strong game against Detroit. Coach Payne seems to want to run with Mason down the stretch, based on the last couple of games. Giguere will obviously be in Toronto’s net.
Players to watch
Blues – Paul Kariya
After finally breaking the goose egg at home on Tuesday, Kariya may be due to go on a bit of a tear. He also has had success against Toronto in the past. His play of late has been very good, and he’s been generating chances, for himself and others, at a very high rate.
Leafs – Phil Kesell
A streaky scorer, he’s starting to heat up again with 4 goals in his last 3 games. This after an extended period of low production. Young Tyler Bozak is playing well as his center, and may be giving Kessell a boost of energy. If you can play physical against Kessell, something that is hard to do for a player that plays the perimeter moreso, you can affect his game. Jackman and Polak will be expected to do this. Polak, with his speed, is an ideal defenceman to paly against Kessell.
Key to the Game
Don’t look past the Leafs. I don’t care if Ovechkin and an incredible hot Capitals team (although they’ve lost 2 straight) is coming to town tomorrow. These two points are huge tonight, if for no other reason, that tomorrow’s game will be tough.
