Stars-Maple Leafs thoughts

This was no Picasso, but it was a win and since there are no bonus points for style, it counts the same as any other win in the standings.

That said, they weren’t sharp. In fact, they were pretty sluggish in the first period, had some ups and downs after that and then finished strong.

Maybe it was returning home after a lot of road play. It’s been known to happen. Maybe they were a little rusty after a few days off. It’s been know to happen. Maybe they missed the energy of Steve Ott radiating throughout the lineup. Seen that happen before. Maybe it was a combination of all of them or none of them.

Maybe the Maple Leafs deserve some credit for playing a some good, simple road hockey. Despite the lousy record to start the season, the Leafs have played well in the first three games of their five-game road trip and have gotten three of six points. A break here or there and they could have more.

There are two teams playing out there every night, not just one. It’s usually a combination of what both teams are doing. 

And what ever it was or wasn’t, there are going to be games like this.

Marty Turco was excellent early to keep them around it when the Leafs were all over it at times. That was key.

The Leafs didn’t like the high sticking call on Mike Komisarek that put the Stars on the five-on-three early in the third period, and they probably have a legitimate beef. But once the call is made it still comes down to who executes in the resulting situation and the Stars did.

The Stars got a couple of good bounces to tie and win the game, but they created those bounces by getting pucks to the net. Jamie Benn fires a puck towards the goal and Ribeiro makes a great deflection into the top corner of the net. James Neal at the right place at the right time on the rebound of a Stephane Robidas shot. That’s creating your own bounces.

In the grand scheme of things, it’s a win. Give them credit for not playing particularly well, but finding a way get two points. Over the course of a season a good team, a playoff team is going to have to do that now and then.

On Jonas Gustavsson, I thought he was OK. He made some good saves, but he gave up some big rebounds too. He had that playing the puck gaffe that led to a penalty, but that’s just instinct taking over and not being quite used to that strange NHL rule. He’s had the heart issue and the groin injury, which has limited his playing time, so he’s still on a big time learning curve. He’ll continue to improve with time.

Bottom line it wasn’t pretty, but it was two points for the Stars. They’ve got 16 of 24 possible points so far this season. Those are important points in the bank, doesn’t matter whether they are pretty points or ugly points. Plus, they finally won consecutive games and they won one that went beyond regulation. 

Commenting is not available in this weblog entry.