The Toronto Maple Leafs and St.Louis Blues battled it out on Thursday night in what can only be called a steal of a win for the Maple Leafs. Despite being out shot 13-5 in the second period and 17-3 in the third (40-22 overall), the Maple Leafs held on for a 3-2 shootout victory over the Blues. If not for the heroics of rookie goaltender Ben Scrivens, who stopped 38 of 40 shots and made all three saves in the shootout, this game could have easily been an 8-2 disaster for the Buds. Scrivens earned a well-deserved first star selection for his efforts—the first of his career. Sloppy defensive coverage led to a number of odd man rushes for the Blues, while Toronto’s inability to contain the Blues offensive attack down low, both five-on-five and on the penalty kill, led

The Toronto Maple Leafs and St. Louis Blues faceoff tonight for what should be an entertaining game. Both teams enter tonight’s tilt with a 5-5-0 record in their past ten games and both teams have a number of question marks. For Toronto, the goaltending situation has gone from good with James Reimer between the pipes to the unknown with the likes of Jonas “nobody is calling me the Monster anymore” Gustavsson and Ben Scrivens (who will get the start tonight) playing in relief of Reimer. A potent offense covered up a number of flaws from the Maple Leafs, including a poor transition game and a penchant for getting caught flat footed—two areas of their game that have killed them in their first consecutive loses of the season to the Boston Bruins  and Florida Panthers, respectively, getting outscored 12-1 in the

Fresh off an embarrassing 5-1 loss to the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night, the Toronto Maple Leafs goaltending picture is murkier than ever. Maple Leafs starting goaltender James Reimer has been out with concussion-like symptoms since October 22nd, while both Jonas Gustavsson (4-4-0, 3.78 goals against average, .878 save percentage) and Ben Scrivens (1-1-0, 4.07 goals against average, .867 save percentage) have been inadequate in relief. Reimer’s absence from the lineup, combined with the struggles of both Gustavsson and Scrivens has the Leafs Nation nervous about the Maple Leafs goaltending, both now and for the foreseeable future. First, nobody knows when Reimer will return. One thing we have learned from concussions (or concussion-like) symptoms is that they are relatively unpredictable, especially where setting a return date for players is concerned- just ask Sidney Crosby! Second, if both Gustavsson and Scrivens continue

Heading into Thursday nights action the Toronto Maple Leafs sit in eleventh place in the Eastern Conference, a mere six points out of the eighth and final playoff spot. With a record of 25-27-6 the Maple Leafs don’t really look like a playoff team, but as the rise of the New Jersey Devils (8-1-1 in their past ten) and close to unbeatable for the better part of a month now, anything can happen. The question is, with three teams to pass, can the Maple Leafs get hot enough to capture the final playoff spot in the East? The obvious answer is, probably not, but as the saying goes, “stranger things have happened.” Last season the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference earned a total of 88 points (both the Philadelphia Flyers and Montreal Canadiens hit the 88 point mark), the

Net Gains: With about a dozen games in the book in the 2010-11 NHL season there are a ton of surprises out there, none more prevalent than the number of goaltenders that are succeeding early on. Boston Bruins netminder Tim Thomas (one season after losing his starter’s role) is putting up some pretty unbelievable numbers, going an incredible 7-0-0 to start the season to go along with his mind blowing .977 save percentage and minuscule 0.72 goals against average. As good as Thomas has been, there are a number of goalies out there that have been lights out. St. Louis Blues goaltender Jaroslav Halak is putting to rest any debate over which goaltender (Carey Price or Halak) is the better goalie, posting a 7-1-1 record, 1.53 GAA, .940 save percentage and three shutouts. The biggest surprise would be the play

While it is still very early in the 2010-11 NHL season there are already more than a few surprises in the overall standings. Teams that were supposed to be world beaters are sitting in the basement, while other teams that were supposed to struggle have come out flying right out of the gate and sit amongst the NHL’s best. Let’s take a look at the Ten Most Surprising NHL Teams Thus Far, for better, or for worse. New Jersey Devils: Ok, so not everybody thought the New Jersey Devils would be world beaters this season, but there sure were a fair amount of experts out there that were suggesting the Devils would be a contender for the Atlantic Division title and/or the Eastern Conference’s top team. Through 13 games the Devils sit dead last in the NHL standings with a