While I was away

The Maple Leafs played 6 games while I was away and won 4 of them.  Three wins were in overtime or shootout which reverses a trend from earlier in the season.  The Leafs used to always lose games that were tied at the end of regulation time. Phil Kessel scored 6 goals in those 6 games and now has taken over the team scoring leadership from Tomas Kaberle. Jonas Gustavsson won all 4 of his starts with GAA of 1.92  SAV% of .925 in those games.  This has to be his best stretch of hockey this season and I hope suggests that he will be more consistent next season.

This stretch of good hockey continues a pattern from previous years where the Leafs finish the season strong in meaningless games to create optimism for the following season. I have found the pattern to be annoying and frustrating.  Will it be different next season? Who knows.  In the past management has looked to strong finishes to suggest that the team's nucleus is still strong and only injuries, bad karma,etc. kept them out of the playoffs.

I don't expect Brian Burke to suggest this team is ready to contend. They still need to strip some salary in order to make room for some missing pieces. Right now 50% of salaries is tied up in the defense which has created offensive problems.  Look for defensemen to be moved out and it won't be Francois Beauchemin or Dion Phaneuf - both got over 26 minutes of ice time last night.  However, Tomas Kaberle's minutes are down considerably and Garnet Exelby is playing ahead of Jeff Finger who is a scratch most nights.  There are going to be more changes in the offseason.