Rangers Embarrass Leafs with 7-2 Win at MSG

24 goals against in 5 games! Let me say that again, 24 goals against in 5 games!!


Wow, on a night that saw the Leafs get pretty much dominated in the first, although they did manage to score late in the period, I thought, well, here we go again.

The Buds went into the second period with a full head of steam despite being out shot by a Rangers team who are so far undefeated at home this year and have suffered only one loss overall.

After Ponikarovsky scored with 45 secs to go in the opening period, there was a ray of hope in Leafs land. That ray was carried into the second , even after Girardi scored for the Rangers only 26 seconds in to restore a 2 goal Leafs deficit, the Buds seemed to have new life and were taking to the Rangers.

Jason Blake added to the frenzy with a late period goal at 17:21 of the 2nd, and it looked like the makings of a comeback going into the third!


Then, the aforementioned Blake took a stupid damned penalty with 25 seconds to go in the period......and the wheels just fell off.


After out shooting the Rangers in the second, the Leafs just couldn't seem to find the handle in the third. They surrendered 4 unanswered goals in the period including 2 by Sean Avery of all people, who now has 10 points in 9 games against the Leafs and seven goals!

The Leafs ended the game being beaten soundly by a score of 7-2. Despite having played what was probably their best game all around of the season, except for the Montreal game.


Several players played well for the Leafs tonight, Grabovski, Kulemin, Ponikarovsky, Hagman, Finger and Komiserik all had decent games for the most part. Even much maligned goal tender Vesa Toskala played a solid 2 periods and then seemed to forget how to play in the third. Among the issues that are plaguing Toskala, is his in-ability to control rebounds. Although I don't think that more than one of the goals tonight was a direct result of a rebound, it makes it more difficult for his own team when they don't know where the puck is going to wind up after a shot.

Tomas Kaberle looked horrible, on a play that resulted in a goal, when he went for the puck behind the left shoulder of Toskala and was tracked down by a Ranger forward, instead of protecting the puck and taking the hit, he literally jumped back out of the way and allowed the Ranger player to take the puck!!??!?? He is supposed to be a SKILLED, and seasoned player. I haven't ever shared that opinion. In my opinion, he has NEVER been more than an average player that was made to look good because of his supporting cast!

That however is only one of the issues that face the Leafs going into play with the Avalanche tomorrow night. Some of which I'm certain will be addressed by Coach Ron Wilson, and some of which will only be addressed in time.

I also feel that as much as I'm the first one to say that the players are supposed to be pros, and shouldn't look like a bunch of house league players, EVER! There has to come a time when people stop asking questions of the players and start asking them of the coach.

Until next time, you kids play safe!