Game Preview: Maple Leafs v. Rangers

  

The Leafs meet the New York Rangers for the second time in a week. This time the stage is the Air Canada Centre. Last Friday, the Leafs emerged with a 4-3 win over the Blueshirts. A strong second period saw the buds build a 3-1 lead but a couple of goals from Brian Boyle of all people sent the game to overtime. Jean-Sebastien Giguere‘s last second save set the stage for Phil Kessel‘s overtime winner. The two teams have swapped places from last year’s start. Hopefully, the Leafs can extend their stay at the top of the standings.

A key flashpoint in the game came courtesy of noted POS Sean Avery who somehow escaped any discipline from the league despite having a long rap sheet and making a blatant attempt to injure:

 

Of course, the team is saying all of the right things about not focusing on a single player and focusing on winning the game. Having said that, if the Leafs manage a decent enough lead then I wouldn’t mind seeing someone on the Leafs grabbing Avery and extracting a pound of flesh for his Derek Jeter impression. I wonder if Howard Berger will try to slander Avery again. More likely though is that Derek Boogaard will have his first fight of the year against Colton Orr. That’s if they have finally figured out how to use the Boogey Man.

Some quick hits about the game: