Let me tell you something about the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Even when they are good, they suck. They may find ways to win hockey games. Lots of them even. But when it comes to the Leafs, they always find a way to disappoint. That suck always rises to the top.
After watching the way they’ve played for the last month or so, it has become abundantly clear that their yearly unravelling isn’t far off. In fact, it’s happening as we speak. We know it. They know it. The Boston Bruins know it too.
For Sens fans, the pain has been a gradual one. Theirs will be sudden. Although deep down, they’ve probably seen it coming for some time.
Saturday night. Leafs vs. Senators at the CTC.
Sadly, things are looking pretty grim for Operation Don’t Finish Last and the mission may end up being Hope For Mercy From Those Stupid Ping Pong Balls.
Unfortunately, the Senators still trail the Los Angeles Kings by five points and accumulating that many points down the stretch seems basically impossible. Of course there’s the two they’ll pick up for tonight’s shit-kicking of the Leafs but it’s those other three that will be tricky.
Crawford spoke to the media yesterday and seemed to suggest they’ll likely go with a similar line up for this one.
Kind of sounds like Ben Harpur will return to the blueline but it wasn’t entirely clear who would come out to make room. A best guess at the line up for now.
Tkachuk-Pageau-Duclair
Boedker-Tierney-Ryan
Balcers-White-Veronneau
Gibbons-Lindberg-Paajarvi
Chabot-DeMelo
Wolanin-Ceci
Borowiecki/Harpur-Jaros
Craig Anderson gets the start for Ottawa. Puck drop is scheduled for just after 7:00 PM.
The game is available on Hockey Night in Canada or you can head down to the game and pay inflated prices to be surrounded by obnoxious Leaf fans. Like I said, the game IS televised.
Uh oh. Only 300 words. Hmm.
Leafs suck. Leafs suck. Leafs suck. Leafs suck. Leafs suck. Leafs suck. Leafs suck. Leafs suck. Leafs suck. Leafs suck. Leafs suck. Leafs suck. Leafs suck. Leafs suck. Leafs suck. Leafs suck. Leafs suck. Leafs suck. Leafs suck. Leafs suck. Leafs suck. Leafs suck. Leafs suck. Leafs suck. Leafs suck. Leafs suck. Leafs suck. Leafs suck. Leafs suck. Leafs suck. Leafs suck. Leafs suck. Leafs suck. Leafs suck. Leafs suck. Leafs suck. Leafs suck. Leafs suck. Leafs suck. Leafs suck. Leafs suck. Leafs suck.
Ah there we go.
Here’s a table. Actually, here’s THE table.
| HEAD2HEAD |  |
 |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 45-25-7 (97 pts) | 27-44-6 (60 pts) |
| Goals For | 3.57 (2nd) | 2.96 (16th) |
| Goals Against | 3.01 (17th) | 3.66 (31st) |
| Power Play | 22.0% (8th) | 20.1% (16th) |
| Penalty Kill | 80.9% (12th) | 79.5% (20th) |
| Shots For | 33.1 (5th) | 29.9 (24th) |
| Shots Against | 33.1 (24th) | 35.9 (31st) |
| Leading Scorers | Marner- 90 pts Tavares- 86 pts Matthews-71 pts |
Chabot- 53 pts Tierney- 46 pts Tkachuk- 40 pts |
| Starting Goalie | Garret Sparks 8-7-1 3.16 GAA, .903 sv% |
Craig Anderson 16-25-4 3.46 GAA, .904 sv% |
