The Leafs are sporting the best defense in the league throughout the month of December. This is almost entirely due to the play of Toskala, who hasn’t let in more than 2 goals in 7 of 9 games so far this month. The Leafs defensive play needs some recognition here, but with this increased defense, decreased offense has followed. The Leafs are having some trouble scoring goals, and this game was no different.

The morning of this game, Kubina said he was switching back to a 2-piece stick. The one piece composite sticks are breaking way too much. Last game saw Kubina break a stick on a wide-open slap shot.

This game was pretty fast paced and saw a lot of shots. The Leafs out-shot the Panthers 31-30. Kyle Wellwood scored on the powerplay early in the first to put the Leafs on top. Toskala was once again fantastic, making some big saves to keep the score 1-0. The Panthers did get on the scoreboard though, with Olli Jokinen reciprocating the powerplay marker at 19:40 of the second.

The third was a tight played period. The Leafs got 2 powerplay chances, but could not capitalize as usual. The game goes to overtime.

And it did not take long to have our outcome. Richard Zednik took a slashing penalty at the end of the third that gave the Leafs a 45 second OT powerplay.

A pass came out to the point, where Pavel Kubina and his two-piece stick were waiting. He blasted a slapshot that sneaked through Vokoun to win the game.

I guess that two-piece stick will be staying around for a while. Maybe the rest of the team should take a lesson?