Red Wings 4 – Leafs 2: …and that’s that
A team riding a hot streak fell far short, in an effort reminiscent of that against Florida just some nights ago.
Detroit peppered Reimer early on, as the motown team outshot TO 15-9 in the first period. Reimer was ok but clearly not on his top form, as he gave up a weak winning goal, even if the Leafs were sloppy all night long with countless costly turnovers, and an ineffective powerplay.
The only thing the Leafs did appear to be good at was banging up the Red Wings – Rafalski and goalie Howard both sustained injuries that had them leave the game. Phaneufs slap shot to break the glass near the end of the 2nd proved perhaps to be the highlight for at times energetic, at times listless, but seemingly always disorganized Leafs team.
Its hard to imagine Toronto NOT out of the playoff picture. With 6 games in hand, the Leafs need at least 8 points – thats 4 wins (or 3 and 2OTLs, or etc) just to pass Buffalo as it stands, which has not only a 7pt lead but a game in hand. Good luck is pretty much the only words I have at this point.
