Wilson can't beat his old team, lose 5-2

Last night the Leafs got dominated against Ron Wilson's former team - the mighty San Jose Sharks.  The Leafs' top center Antropov is clearly not the answer to the Sharks' top center Joe Thorton, who had 1 goal and 3 assists (compared to Antropov's 1 assist)

In a puzzling move, the Carolina Hurricanes hired fired Leaf coach Paul Maurice for the second time.  It seems like they are playing back to the future like the Leafs - who also have a tendency to re-acquire personnel after they pass their prime (Joseph, Gilmour, Fletcher)

Finally - a shoot out victory

The Leafs won in a shootout yesterday against the New Jersey Devils, their first shoot out win of the season. Coach Ron Wilson did not pull Toskala for Joseph for the shootout, despite Toskala playing a sloppy game in which he let in 5 goals during regulation time. The shootout winner was on an unorthodox play by Hagman in which he skated down the ice on his backhand and managed to shovel the puck under Brodeur. Had he missed, it would go down in history as one of the worst shoot out attempts ever, on par with when Robert Reichel took a slap shot on a penalty shot during a third period tie in the playoffs. Brodeur's reaction to the play "I thought it was funny more than anything".

Stajan seemed to have gotten coach Wilson's message about going to the net potting 2 goals. Schenn got his first NHL point, an assist.

Leafs make gutsy last minute comeback vs Anahiem

Although they lost on the scoreboard, the Leafs managed dominated the opposing Ducks. The Leafs managed to tie the game to force overtime with less than a minute left in the 3rd. Savaging the 1 point, the Leafs now have 5 points in 6 games, on pace to miss the playoffs by worse than last year's 83 point effort.

In an unorthodox coaching move, Ron Wilson yanked the goalie Toskala (who had played all 65 minutes of the game) before the shootout, inserting backup goalie and throwback player Curtis Joseph. The argument - Toskala's dismal shootout record. This begs the question - based on the Leaf's lack of success in the shootout both this season (0-3) and last, is it time to dress a shootout scoring specialist and leave him on the bench for most of the game? Or would any shootout specialist also be an offence specialist which the Leafs surely need during regular time?

Joseph to start in goal Saturday

Toskala will start in goal tonight against the Rangers. Flashback Saturdays will have Joseph in goal vs. the Penguins. Take the over on that game. No word on whether Doug Gilmour will be in the lineup