Ron Wilson gambled, and came up snake eyes. Everyone who saw the game knows what I am talking about. The shootout. Toskala has a history of being sub-par at the shootout, while Joseph was 5-3 overall. Wilson decided to play the odds, and pulled Toskala in favour of Joseph for the shootout only. Kulemin and Kaberle both missed their shots, while Selanne and Perry both scored on Joseph. So at the end of the day, the trick didn’t work, and the Leafs lost again. All in all, I thought it was a good idea, thinking outside the box if you will.

The game itself was good. This young Leafs team look weak at times, but they sure play hard. Most of their games (forget about the Montreal game) have been 1 goal contests, or at least very close. The first period looked dreadful though, as tough guy George Parros scored on a breakaway to cap off a 2 goal period by the Ducks.

But the Maple Leafs kept pressing the entire game, even their historically dreadful third period. There was no way the Ducks were scoring in this frame though. They actually had ZERO shots on net in the third. The last half of the third period was as exciting as I can remember a regular season game to be. The Leafs were pressing hard, had excellent puck control and recovery, and were rewarded with Antropov’s second goal of the night and the tying goal with 53 seconds left to go in the game.

The overtime was played close as well, but the Leafs did not manage to get a single shot on net; retribution for the third period I suppose. Then came the aforementioned and ill-fated shootout switcheroo, and the rest is now history.

All in all, I like what I continue to see from this year’s team. This is how you start to build a team, and I continue to be excited to see how the young guys develop. On to Boston.