Quick recap of the games:
1. Vs. Habs: First period we were exchanging chances with the Habs and they managed to capitalize on some great plays and rushes. From the 2nd period onwards, we basically carried the play for rest of the game.
2. Vs. Flyers: Tired Leafs team looked very sluggish in the first period and were lucky to have only been trailing by one. Flyers incompetent offense couldn't get anything going after their first goal. They had a few chances here and there but the Leafs pretty much burried every high quality scoring chance they had. Flyers are still **** to this day.
3. Vs. Sens: Leafs come out on fire and Franson/ Rielly manage to single handily tie up the game. Sens get another flukey goal where Reimer was out of the net and the whiff on Jason Spezza's harmless shot which again should've been a save but instead sent Reimer packing early. Bernier came in and made 3 stellar saves, Leafs offense got their **** together in the 3rd and dominated the Sens. The Leafs carried the play in the 3rd and OT and eventually won it in the SO.
4. Vs. Col: Sarich goal was a terrible goal allowed by Bernier, he got beat high because he was trying to cheat the play. Sarich also made one hell of a shot. Leafs scrambled to tie up the game with an ugly goal and the game as a whole was just a cluster**** of confusion for both teams. Neither teams had anything quality going. GWG off the foot of Parenteau on a questionable goal but one that Bernier had no chance on. Leafs seemed to have no urgency in their offense and once again it was just a WTF game. Neither team was impressive.
5. Vs. Nas: Leafs got dominated mostly thanks to some PP opportunities in the first period. Bernier saved their ass in the first. 2nd and 3rd period though, it was all Leaf domination. Leafs basically toyed with the Preds. Preds did still get a ton of chances on the PP but once again Bernier was stellar.
6. Vs. EDM: The game where no one knew what defense or goaltending looked like. Classic game of exchanging scoring chances. Leafs got burned late on one of the many turnovers that ended up into a pretty Ryan Smith goal set up by Eberle. Bernier made a game saving stop (in hindsight) by robbing Arcobello on a shot that he whiffed on. Lupul tied the game late and the Leafs literally knocked over the Oilers to claim victory.
7. Vs. Min: Minny was on the tail end of a back to back and was playing their 10 year old goalie Kuemper. The kid was hung out to dry in the first period when he let in 2 softies. Wild made it a close game just before the end of the first on the PP. Wild then threw the everything on net in hopes of getting something by Reimer but to no avail. Their shots were all perimeter with hardly any dangerous opportunities. Leafs basically let the wild expend their energy trying to put useless shots on net while they capitalized on a couple of their chances including the JVR like goal by MayRay that put the 10 year old to bed early.
8. Vs. Car: Carolina's D looked atrocious against the Maple Leafs forecheck. Semin and the Staal brother were all invisible through the first 2 periods and the only noticeable player offensively was Jeff Skinner. Skinner was constantly getting knocked on his ass but had some good scoring chances where he completely whiffed on the plays. J Staal whiffed on a breakaway too. Leafs got the lead thanks to Lupes, Leivo padded the lead with a beautiful 2 on 1 rush with Jay Mac and fluttered a beauty top cheese. Then we got the regular mind**** by the Canes. Canes have had our # for years now. We just can't seem to finish them off. They didn't particularity outplay the Leafs in the 3rd but did capitalize on chances. 1st goal was a blast from the point by Murphy that went off of Bolland's stick top cheese. 2nd goal was a total dumbass play by gunnar who tried to block a weak fluttering shot from the point while falling to the ice. It was a completely pointless block since the shot wasn't even going on net. But the blocked shot resulted in the puck sitting in the slot and Eric Staal winding up for a clapper going top cheese. 3rd goal was just stupidity from the referees to Bernier being nonchalant with the play. That said the same dump-in a 100 times probably won't go in again. It was the perfect scenario. Either way Leafs dominated the period out of desperation from that point on but you know how it is vs the Canes.
9. Vs. Chi: Fairly even game after the first period and the penalty issues started. Leafs lost their legs and there were a ton of open chances for blackhawks players standing in front of the net. Kostka goal was a weak shot and the pirri goal as insurance was greasy but still a good shot for the kids first goal. This game we started off even but ended up flat on our faces. We played like ****. Hawks weren't that impressive but got the job done.
10. Vs. Ana: Great goal on the 2 on 1 rush by Bonino and a bar down snipe by Perreault. Either way the Leafs were sleepwalking through the first 25 or so minutes of that game. We got a pp i believe and got the momentum back in our favor and scored a goal. Then 2 minutes later a nice rush by Bolland turned into the game tying goal by Phaneuf. After that goal, the Leafs dominated for rest of the game. Phil Kessel looked like he could score on every opportunity and he pretty much did getting a hatty with a couple of nice goals including a bar down pointblank snipe.
11. Vs. Clb: Columbus came out with a ton of energy and effort. They pounced on us early with a ppg from Murray but other then that goal they didn't generate much in terms of high quality chances. Mind you the Leafs didn't do anything either. 2nd period, I think 1 minute in or less we tie it up on the Kessel goal. After that the game was going very evenly till Gaborik roofed one on Bernier and then BJs went into defense mode. Leafs pressured them but they didn't give us anything. Leafs had a pp midway through the 3rd and it looked extremely lackluster and resulted in a SHG which basically took us out of the game completely. Bolland scored a goal late to make it a one goal game again and the urgency returned. But we couldn't solve the BJs defense. They get 2 empty net goals and a Nick Foligno goal with 8 secs left which I did not watch because I was too pissed off by that point.
12. Vs. Pit: We shutdown Crosby and Malkin. We hit them every chance we had and pretty much gave them 0 space all game long. The first period was slow even after Letang scored but the Leafs took off right after the SHG by Bolland. We didn't look back after that goal. We pretty much dominated Pittsburgh possession wise, They didn't get many quality chances and the ones they did get, they either ****ed up or Reimer was robbing them point blank. Reimer made 3-4 really good saves to steal the show.
13. Vs. Edm: We jumped on them early. Then we sat back like lazy *****es. We probably could've potted 3-4 goals in the first if we weren't so damn lazy and Lupul didn't keep getting robbed. 2nd and 3rd periods were basically Oilers willing to exchange shot for shot. Justin Schultz felt like playing russian roulette with Phil Kessel and he paid the price 3 times. Oilers got close and hit the post a few times but overall they weren't all that dangerous. Reimer made 2 point blank saves when the idiotic Oilers players shot the puck into his chest but other then that he was very calm and solid.
14. Vs. Cgy: Much like the bluejackets, flames came out with a ton of energy and speed. Our D didn't skate all game long (except 44 and 51). Our forwards were slow. We got on the board on a set play with the shot off the boards and Lupes banging away the rebound out front. Calgary had a flurry of shots early and throughout the first period with many of them being great chances but overall Bernier was stellar and up to the task. Before the end of the first JVR scored a beauty SHG to put us up 2. Cgy got one back in the second thanks to Kadri running around and Carlyle having too much faith in him putting him out for a D-zone faceoff. Long story short the second period was slow and not overly eventful. Lots of back and forth hockey but not a whole lot of high quality chances from either teams. 3rd period we sit back and play D. Clarkson picks the Dman trying to go 5hole on him, toe drags the puck shoots on to Raymond who scores. Leafs physicality took over in the 3rd and they were really grinding it out. Kessel didn't see much icetime in the 3rd. Flames get a fluke goal on a point shot that goes off a CGY players skate and then CGY cranks up the pressure. Clarkson's dumb penalty gives them a 6 on 4 which they couldn't execute properly because they couldn't make 3 consecutive tape to tape passes. Ranger bowls over Hudler and snaps it into the EN for a SHG. Leafs played with fire (pun intended) but Bernier kept them safe. Calgary could've taken it to the Leafs if they had finishers or even competent passers.
All in all, Leafs were dominated in stretches during almost every game this year but they also dominated for stretches of the same game. Only games where the Leafs gave no effort through and through was the CLB and Chi games. Every other game was at worst evenly matched with the Leafs converting on their chances and either the other team was incompetent in burying their own chances or our goaltending and defense shut them down. If anything, if there was any consistency on this ****ing team, we should be atleast 11-2-1 right now. With the Avs game going to OT and the Canes game being a win.
Unsustainable performance would be something like scoring 2 goals a game and only giving up one and winning each game by a 1 goal margin. We're not squeaking out wins here. 7 of our wins are by 2+ goals and 3 wins by 1 goal. On the other hand, 2 of our losses were by 2+ and the other 2 were only by 1 goal.
SO...
In 2 goal games we're 7-2, which means that we either destroy the other team or get destroyed.
In 1 goal games we're 3-2, which is quite average.
If we were barely squeaking out wins (which is what most of these posters and experts/ analysts seem to be implying) we shouldn't be winning by on average 2.10 goals/win.
