I give up. I give up. I give up.  The Jets fans, they’re just too loud to try to give you an intro paragraph. I mean, I know they just got a team back in town this year and all, but can you at least be litt- TRUE NORTH! Oh, come on. It wasn’t even the national anthe- BOOOOOO. Guys. For one seco- REIIIIIMERRRRRR. Screw it.

The first period didn’t get off to the best of starts. Just three and a half minutes in, Keith Aulie headed to the box for hooking. Amazingly, the Leafs survived it. Astonishing, I know, a penalty killed off by this team. Trust me when I say there was plenty of the left in this game. Keeping with the penalty theme, Andrew Ladd earned himself a high sticking minor on Cody Franson with about six minutes to go in the period. Toronto had their first attempt at the powerplay, and just ten seconds in, Clarke MacArthur took a gorgeous pass from Carl Gunnarsson, turned it into a one-timer, and gave the Leafs the 1-0 lead that they would take into the second period.

Lets move on to the third period. There wouldn’t be any scoring, and just one penalty giving the Leafs the 1-0 win and James Reimer the shutout!

Apparently, we can’t do the selective memory thing for recaps, and as such, I have to tell you the real story. Oh well, I liked mine better. Dion Phaneuf went to the box for hooking just a minute in, leading to a Zach Bogosian powerplay goal. To continue everybody’s fears, Cody Franson was next to go in the box 30 seconds later, but the Leafs killed that off. By kill that off, I mean that Franson skated on the ice for about 3 seconds as Jets captain Andrew Ladd scored the goal ahead goal for the Jets. To ease the pain, Phil Kessel tied the game a minute and a half later with his 21st of the season, but the MTS centre crowd decided that Joey Crabb was deserving of a penalty, which the referees were happy to make happen, and Blake Wheeler was happy to celebrate the benefits of shortly after. Nazem Kadri was called for a hook, and Alexander Burmistrov for a hold, but neither would lead to anything and the period ended at 3-2 Jets.

By the way, I wasn’t kidding about the third, making this paragraph really awkward. Nothing really happened other than everyone cringing every time Phil Kessel limped off the ice, still feeling an accidental shot block on his foot.

Other Notes

James Reimer was way better than the Jets fans were giving him credit for (if you haven’t figured it out, they chirp every goalie and boo one or two star players a game. Apparently, they also think the Leafs suck. Also, that their ownership group is the greatest thing to exist on this planet). 31 saves on 34 shots is pretty solid, don’t let yourself get fooled. Some people I’ve seen have blamed him for this game. Don’t be one of them.

The powerplay was a solid 1/3, and lets not talk about the penalty kill. It’s too depressing, and I don’t want to give a team that’s 85th in the NHL in the penalty kill percentage anymore discussion.

The team as a whole looked relatively solid in the third period, after what may have been the worst second period in recent memory.

The Leafs are now out of a playoff spot. No comment either way, they’re still higher than I thought they’d be, but I’m just throwing that out there.

I really hope Phil Kessel is okay. He was clearly playing through the pain in the third.

The referees really let the crowd get to them this game, in that it was extremely biased. I hate criticizing the refs, I’m notorious for defending them at their worst, but in brutal honesty, there were calls that were because of how loud the crowd booed, and there’s no denying that.

Speaking of the crowd, I’m hearing a lot of “why can’t the ACC be more like that?”. I have a response article to this coming next year. In other words, tomorrow or Monday.

(By the way, the Marlies also lost today, to the Jets affiliate in St. John’s. Check out MarliesHQ for a bit on that)

On one hand, this move reeks of abosolute confusion and stupidity. I mean, your goalie has been gone for the majority of the season so far due to an injury you’ve continuously played down as not serious, but in reality, was as close to a concussion as you can get without actually having one. In theory, you ease in a goalie in a situation like this, giving him a game or two to back up, followed by a start against a weak team that won’t shoot a lot. Wilson logic? The team we’re facing is 12-0-1 in their past 13 games. They score 6 or 7 a game when they face the Leafs. And as Milan Lucic taught Ryan Miller, they’re not afraid of messing with the goaltender. Lets start him.

On the other hand, this could prove geniu. What if Reimer puls a Crosby and stuns the bruins? What if he’s actually been 100% for longer than we thought, and he felt this was the best way of bringing him out, by surprise? What if he’s the solution to the Boston problem? There’s so many factors here.

Argh.

You know what? All I have to say is this – don’t expect much tonight. He’s just coming back and this is a situation so heaviliy against him that you’d be stupid to make a judgement call if it goes bad. If he gets shellshocked, don’t go declaring this the end times of James’ career just yet. If he looks a little lost out there 40 shots into the night, don’t start dropping him in your pools. If the Leafs lose this game, don’t start making trade proposals. Now, if he takes at 386 mph shot from Zdeno Chara to the mask and is out for another month, I’ll allow you to pull out the pitchforks.

At the same time, if he has an amazing night, don’t go declaring him the greatest ever just yet. It could be pure adreniline and problems can arise the next. If after a bit games he’s still at his top form? I’m not oppoed to the James Reimer Centre as an arena name.

It’s an odd situation. Just don’t make too much out of tonight for him, is all I’m asking.

Game Notes

The Bruins come into tonight as the hottest team in the NHL right now – 12-0-1 in November. Not a typo – they played nearly once every two days last month and still managed to go without losing in regulation. I can’t even stress how insane that is. I understand that they’re the defending champions, but wow.

Tyler Seguin, who is just some guy who has no association with the past, present, or future history of the Toronto Maple Leafs, leads the team in scoring with 24 points in 23 games. To compliment this, he’s first on the team in goals (12) and second in assists (also 12). As well, he’s first in plus minus at a plus 19. Zdeno Chara has the lead in assists with 13, and Shawn Thornton leads the team in penalty minutes. Tim Thomas will likely start, but I’m going to spare you your innocence and not tell you his stats. They’re too good and will merely make you nervous.

The Leafs are going to have to play a strong physical game, pour shots on from everywhere (seriously, Thomas doesn’t let many by AT ALL), and hope that Reimer is ready. I can easily see this being another loss. If it is? Not the end of the world, but a win would be idea, you know?

Puck drop for this Saturday night game is at 7, as always, on CBC, also as always.