Leafs Postgame – Leafs Fall to Wild

No Nazem Kadri, Joffrey Lupul or Peter Holland. That’s not to make excuses for the Toronto Maple Leafs, who were defeated 3-1 this evening by the Minnesota Wild, but it certainly made things more difficult. Without them, the Leafs ran lines that played well enough but severely lacked an offensive spark.

Surprisingly, Toronto actually came out of the gate strong. While they weren’t able to capitalize, the Leafs controlled much of the play through the first period, getting a few quality chances thanks to an effective forecheck and solid cycling down low in the Wild zone.

And that’s about the best we’d see out of the Leafs this evening. Minnesota would open the scoring in the second period on a flukey deflection – Jonathan Bernier would make a nice toe save on a Charlie Coyle shot, only to bank the rebound of of Kyle Brodziak’s skate and into the back of the net. Toronto would outshoot Minnesota for the second straight period, but would remain goalless through two.

Cody Franson would briefly give the Leafs some life in the third, with a beauty shot from the high slot on the powerplay that found its way behind Wild netminder Darcy Kuemper. The 1-1 tie would hold for only a few minutes, with Minnesota pulling away for good on goals from Jared Spurgeon and Mikko Koivu. 

With the game winding down and the Wild holding a 3-1 lead, the real fun would begin. Phil Kessel, hero to the people, would take a two-handed slash on the wrists as he entered into the Minnesota zone, with no penalty called on the play. As the puck travelled back into the Leafs’ end, Kessel would skate back down the ice, on the way telling both referees and a linesmen how he felt about the non-call (probably with several expletives laced in). 

With five minutes to go in a 3-1 game, the second ref decided that kind of behaviour is unacceptable, and blew the play dead to give Kessel a minor penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct. 

I’m sure that Kessel abused the officials, but that’s some kind of bullcrap to make that call at that point in the game, especially when you factor in that Kessel was completely justified in being upset. It was a nasty slash, plain as day, and both referees missed it. 

While we can certainly admire Phil Kessel’s heart and compete, truth be told, he wasn’t very good tonight. Hell, the entire top line was bad, being dramatically outplayed and outpossessed. So, we have to give the Blue Warrior honours to someone else.

Let’s go with Cody Franson, who himself was a negative possession player, but ultimately scored the only Leafs goal. And hey, that’s what matters most. 

Franson’s goal was his sixth of the season, and his third point in four games. He’s got 24 points in 37 games, which leads the Leafs’ blueline. I think the Leafs should resign him, but hey I am just some dude who writes things on the internet. What do I know? (Enough to resign Cody Franson, that’s what).