I don't get why people think we played poorly last night..I understand we got outshot but up until the PP in the 3rd the game was pretty much even. Reimer made more saves in the game but those were the kind of saves we expect him to make.
He saved the Leafs 3-4 times on the PP and one glorious chance SH. I never had doubts about last nights game. We just had to stay patient and take advantage of an opportunity, which we did.
NJ was far more desperate and tried to jump on every loose puck but couldn't do much with the puck..
Strangely, neither did I. For the amount of time the leafs spent in their own zone, it's astounding to think they only gave up 32 shots. That speaks to how good a job the defenders were doing keeping the Devils to the outside, blocking shots and laying the body when they could. All things considered, I think it's fair to say the defense played well in their own zone under the circumstances.
That being said, the leafs play in the neutral zone was non-existent and most of the blame should fall on the D-corps whom I just praised. They made bad passes in transition, took no risks and iced the puck as if they were taking Reimer's goaltending for granted. The Leafs can't expect to play that way tonight against Washington and come out with a win. The defense need to support the attack and the forwards need to be more engaged. I hope they will be tonight against this Washington team which doesn't seem to mind trading chances, so I'm cautiously predicting a 3-2 Leafs win.