Leafs Postgame: Outclassed

I can’t even be mad about this loss because the Detroit Red Wings played such a classy, underrated game. Wait. Maybe I don’t know what underrated means… does it mean you got outplayed but still won? No? Oh, ok. Nevermind. 

Not classy. Not underrated.

As they have on more than a few occasions this season, the Leafs jumped out to a pretty strong start. In fact, they carried that momentum throughout the entire game. Toronto outshot Detroit 12-9 in the first, 8-3 in the second, and 13-9 in the third. 

It would be Henrik Zetterberg that would put Detroit on the board first, though. Crossing the Leafs blueline, Zetterberg half shot, half dumped the puck in on James Reimer, who promptly bobbled the puck and pretty much put it in his own net.

To make matters worse, the goalie at the other end of the ice wasn’t helping the Leafs’ efforts either. Petr Mrazek stood on his head tonight and was a minute and two seconds away from his first shutout of the season before Dion Phaneuf managed to squeak the puck by him.

Tied at ones, this game would head to three-on-three overtime. Losing the opening draw, Toronto wouldn’t ever really gain the opportunity to attack and would eventually give up the game-winning goal on a wideout play from Jakub… wait, Jakub Kindl? Haha, oh my. That’s embarassing.

No doubt it’s Nazem Kadri, who lead Leafs forwards with 20:04 in ice time and five shots on net. Even more impressive, Kadri drew three (three!) penalties all by himself tonight. 

Toronto is back at it again tomorrow night when they travel to Washington to take on Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals. Could it be Antoine Bibeau’s first career NHL start? Probably not, but it would be kinda cool!