The Leafs just eliminated the Canadiens from the playoffs. The Leafs themselves haven’t clinched a playoff spot; the Islanders could still take 8th with a win tomorrow.
The game itself, while tense, was terrible from a skill standpoint. 3 of Toronto’s first 4 goals were flukey, retarded bounces that just found their way in. Montreal couldn’t clear their own zone for shit in either the first or the third period, and couldn’t muster any offence when it mattered.
Really and truthfully, what this game came down to was one guy: Kyle Wellwood.With the Leafs trailing 5-4 late in the second, with Mike Johnson in the penalty box and 0:00 on the clock, Wellwood had the presence of mind to skate face-first into Steve Begin’s stick. The referees called that a double-minor, and Toronto scored on a 5-on-3. Wellwood then had the smarts to fall down when Saku Koivu’s stick neared his legs, resulting in another 5-on-3, and on that power play Wellwood tipped in the go-ahead goal on a point shot. Montreal never recovered from having their legs taken out like that, or from a late-game injury to their best offensive defenseman, and sputtered for the final 18 minutes. Two shitty teams played a horrible game, Toronto got back-to-back 5-on-3s in the third period and Montreal grasped defeat from the jaws of victory. Now the Leafs are forced to wait for the results of tomorrow’s game to see if it’s they or the Islanders who’ll finish eighth.
I have never, and will never again, cheer so hard for the fucking New York Islanders.
P.S.: Anyone wanting to chat with me about the game should think twice. In fact, anyone wanting to talk to me about anything at all for the next couple of days should probably just keep their distance. Unless you’re in my immediate family or sign my paycheck, I’m likely to be unpleasant for a while.
[tags]montreal canadiens, toronto maple leafs, new york islanders, nhl playoffs[/tags]
Skirl | Dan Dickinson 
leafs suck and the refs gave them the game more than likely mandated to do so by nhl
C’mon. Those two calls were mildly questionable, but the Canadiens played like a junior squad for 2 of the 3 periods. How many times did they fail to clear the puck? How many times did they let Tucker stand in front untouched? The officiating may not have gone the Habs’ way last night, but on the list of reasons why they lost the game it’s pretty far down.
You expected a good game from two shitty hockey teams? Neither of these two teams have shown that they deserve to play in the post-season.
Make yourself feel better, and go listen to the stream of the new NIN album.
I’ve already (cough, cough) found myself a copy of the album. There’ll be a post later in the day in which I whine about not having enough time to listen to the music piling up on my hard drive.
Isn’t that post an annual event? It seems a little early this year.
Dude, I do that monthly.