<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="600" height="399" alt="" src="https://theleafsnation.com/wp-content/uploads/Image/TML at TB.jpg" /></p>
<p>James Reimer almost had a shutout on his 24th birthday, showing us the goalie we all remember from last season&#8217;s&nbsp;miracle run to 10th place. He was positionally sound and made a few huge stops to keep the Lightning off the scoreboard for most of the game, ultimately letting in a late goal forcing the Leafs to only win 3-1.</p>
<div>The Leafs showed that they are making some progress under new coach Carlyle, even though the Lightning didn&#8217;t have a good game it is&nbsp;definitely&nbsp;nice to see some positive progress. Our Maple Leafs actually played the trap system in the third period when up by three, something I personally have never seen (or just don&#8217;t remember). They also showed that they can indeed perform a proper breakout and they didn&#8217;t get crushed by the usual score effects they suffer from, finishing with a plus 3 team Corsi while leading for 59 minutes.</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>Carlyle chose to match the line of Connolly/Steckel/Crabb against 50 goal scorer Steven Stamkos and the line did a very nice job. They frequently set up a cycle in the offensive zone and finished with a -1 Corsi, very impressive against the star Stamkos.</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>Mike Komisarek did not impress again: he was on the ice for nine shots against and only two for through 8:30 of even strength ice time.&nbsp;It would be the easy thing to do to blame Komisarek on Tampa&#8217;s lone goal &#8211; it wasn&#8217;t completely his fault, but you have to be able to clear the puck from your zone late in the game.&nbsp;Here&#8217;s the video of the late goal against Reimer:</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
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<div>&nbsp;</div>
<h1><span style="color: rgb(128, 128, 128); "><strong>Leaf of the Night</strong></span></h1>
<h3><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 128); ">James Reimer</span></h3>
<h4>.971 34/35</h4>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>Two Leafs are deserving of the Leaf of the Night honours, the first being James Reimer. Reimer was able to rebound from a tough loss in Florida, where I thought he played pretty well,&nbsp;and came within 30 seconds of his fourth shutout of the season. This save is something that we&#8217;ve been yearning for since Brian Gionta concussed (or didn&#8217;t) Reims in October:</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
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<div>&nbsp;</div>
<h3><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 128); ">Jake Gardiner</span></h3>
<h4>1 G 23:29 TOI</h4>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>The second Leaf of the Night (as you probably already guessed) is Jake Gardiner. Jake played as good of a game as I&#8217;ve seen him play all year and is really shaping up to be a nice surprise. Jake played strong defensively, co-leading the team in Corsi for the night while playing 23:29. I&#8217;d put money on this goal winning TSN&#8217;s Highlight of the Night:</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
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<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>The Leafs played a very strong game and while the Fail for Nail types may not like this result I think its critical that the players learn they can win with Carlyle&#8217;s systems and (as we say all too much) build some some confidence and momentum for next Fall.</div>

<p><img width="600" height="399" alt="" src="https://theleafsnation.com/wp-content/uploads/Image/TML at TB.jpg" /></p>
<p>James Reimer almost had a shutout on his 24th birthday, showing us the goalie we all remember from last season's&nbsp;miracle run to 10th place. He was positionally sound and made a few huge stops to keep the Lightning off the scoreboard for most of the game, ultimately letting in a late goal forcing the Leafs to only win 3-1.</p>
<div>The Leafs showed that they are making some progress under new coach Carlyle, even though the Lightning didn't have a good game it is&nbsp;definitely&nbsp;nice to see some positive progress. Our Maple Leafs actually played the trap system in the third period when up by three, something I personally have never seen (or just don't remember). They also showed that they can indeed perform a proper breakout and they didn't get crushed by the usual score effects they suffer from, finishing with a plus 3 team Corsi while leading for 59 minutes.</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>Carlyle chose to match the line of Connolly/Steckel/Crabb against 50 goal scorer Steven Stamkos and the line did a very nice job. They frequently set up a cycle in the offensive zone and finished with a -1 Corsi, very impressive against the star Stamkos.</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>Mike Komisarek did not impress again: he was on the ice for nine shots against and only two for through 8:30 of even strength ice time.&nbsp;It would be the easy thing to do to blame Komisarek on Tampa's lone goal - it wasn't completely his fault, but you have to be able to clear the puck from your zone late in the game.&nbsp;Here's the video of the late goal against Reimer:</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
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<div>&nbsp;</div>
<h1><span style="color: rgb(128, 128, 128); "><strong>Leaf of the Night</strong></span></h1>
<h3><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 128); ">James Reimer</span></h3>
<h4>.971 34/35</h4>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>Two Leafs are deserving of the Leaf of the Night honours, the first being James Reimer. Reimer was able to rebound from a tough loss in Florida, where I thought he played pretty well,&nbsp;and came within 30 seconds of his fourth shutout of the season. This save is something that we've been yearning for since Brian Gionta concussed (or didn't) Reims in October:</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
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<div>&nbsp;</div>
<h3><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 128); ">Jake Gardiner</span></h3>
<h4>1 G 23:29 TOI</h4>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>The second Leaf of the Night (as you probably already guessed) is Jake Gardiner. Jake played as good of a game as I've seen him play all year and is really shaping up to be a nice surprise. Jake played strong defensively, co-leading the team in Corsi for the night while playing 23:29. I'd put money on this goal winning TSN's Highlight of the Night:</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
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<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>The Leafs played a very strong game and while the Fail for Nail types may not like this result I think its critical that the players learn they can win with Carlyle's systems and (as we say all too much) build some some confidence and momentum for next Fall.</div>

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