Maple Leafs Fail to Continue Their Momentum in Carolina

After a wild last couple of games which saw the Toronto Maple Leafs beat Marty Brodeur in a shootout, and score 5 goals in 5 minutes against the Rangers, the momentum finally worked against the surging Leafs. They were in Carolina tonight for an early game against the Hurricanes. Though it looked like the Leafs would cruise to a victory against an injured and un-inspired looking Hurricanes team, Toronto would be the ones who would suffer the collapse this time around.

The Maple Leafs jumped out to an early lead in the 1st period. Ian White put the Leafs on the board with a perfect shot after being left undefended in front of the Carolina net. White got his first start of the year for the Maple Leafs up front. Given how crowded the Leafs are on the blue-line, Ron Wilson seems to be continuing his pre-season experiment with playing Ian White as a forward. The good news is, he seems to be well suited for playing this position-much more so than on defence. In the spirit of his new role, White seems to be trying a new look as well. He was sporting a porn star like mustache, one that is rivalled only by George Parros of the Anaheim Ducks. Though the porn star look might not be working for Ian White, making the switch from the blue-line is. He looked fast, and handled the puck very well in the attacking zone. His efforts were rewarded with a goal, and personally I would like to see Ian White be given a permanent roster position. Lets face it: White is a horrible defenceman. However, as a forward he is a completely different player, as he gets to use his offensive talents to their full capabilites. Playing as a defenceman seems to hold back these talents, and I think the Maple Leafs offense would receive a boost if they played him more regularly there.

The Toronto Maple Leafs also found a way to finally wake up their 2nd line of Hagman-Grabovski-Kulemin. Mikhail Grabovski scored twice in the 2nd period, the first of which came off a beautiful pass from Niklas Hagman behind the net. This line was impressive tonight, and they finally showed that they can finish off their plays. They led the Maple Leafs to a 3-1 lead in the 2nd, and the Leafs appeared to be taking control of the game for good. However, by the end of the period the entire team would completely fall apart, and the Hurricanes managed to score 3 quick goals in the closing minutes after the Leafs took some costly penalties. The first of these goals came when the Leafs were trying to kill off a 5-on-3, but the next two came on even strength and I have to say, Curtis Joseph looked his age tonight. He got the start in goal for Toronto in order to give Toskala some rest. Though he did make some impressive saves in the game, his overall performance was poor. If only Vesa Toskala could never get tired. I have a bad feeling that the Maple Leafs are going to be in for a long night every time they start Joseph in net.

Another player starting for the Maple Leafs tonight that probably didn't derserve too was Carlo Colaiacovo. Tonight was his chance to prove to Ron Wilson that he could play at the same level as the other Leafs defencemen, but he came up short and solidified his role as nothing more than an injury back-up. Jonas Frogren and Anton Stralman have outplayed him by a longshot, and tonight left no doubt in my mind about that. Though this collapse can't be blamed on Joseph and Colaiacovo alone, those two guys failed miserably to do their parts.

So after letting in 3 unanswered goals in the 2nd, the Maple Leafs would go on to lose the game 6-4. Niklas Hagman had Toronto's only goal in the 3rd period, so that makes 3 total goals for their 2nd line. They were awesome tonight, and it was good to see those guys come alive. Unfortunately for them, the rest of the team fell flat. If the Toronto Maple Leafs can take any positives away from the game though, it would be the great play of Ian White at forward, and the renewed confindence of Mikhail Grabovski and Niklas Hagman as they finally turned their dominance with the puck into goals on the scoreboard. The Toronto Maple Leafs will face the Hurricanes again on Tuesday, this time at the ACC. So they will have their chance for revenge, but hopefully with Toskala in net and Colaiacovo on the bench.