Point Taken? Or Point Missed...you decide

Hey Peeps and anyone else checking in. A special “Hey” goes out to Hazel Mae if she is checking in from Florida.

It could only happen in Toronto – the Maple Leafs staged a huge third period rally to come back from a 3-0 deficit and beat the hated Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 in overtime; the point gained by the Flyers prompted the media to call a priest to administer last rights to the boys in blue and white. Granted, yesterday’s result wasn’t the optimal one – especially with Alexei Ponikarovsky blowing a chance to end it late in the third period – but on a much more important note, it brings another team into the picture. Yes, I’m talking about YOUR Boston Bruins, assuming of course that most of you check in from New England.

The Bruins are officially in free fall after dropping a 4-1 decision last night to the SenaTards – playing without Zdeno Chara (“Upper body injury” cough cough bad shoulder ) and turning to Alex Auld to replace floundering Tim Thomas, the Bruins rolled over at Scotiabank Place; perhaps most telling was that the game was a good indication of what the Bruins are (and have been all season long), a below average hockey team that relies on the power play to win games – limit their opportunities and shut them out when they have the PP and make them rely on their relatively non-existent offence and you can beat them rather easily.

For the most part, the Bruins loss last night was largely ignored by Leaf Nation and the Toronto media . Tat is a huge mistake, as the Leafs should be focusing on catching the Bruins. The Bruins have been awful over the last couple of weeks and show no signs of getting their game back, especially if Chara is out for any length of time – factor in three games with the Bruins and you have the team Toronto is most likely to catch if they are going to make the playoffs.

The Leafs go into Philadelphia tonight riding the momentum of dominating the Flyers last night – a win tonight, even in overtime, really brings the Bruins back into play as the team to be caught…the team that will be caught. You read it here first, the Bruins are going to follow in the footsteps of Claude Julien’s Montreal Canadiens teams who packed it in during stretch runs to the playoffs. The Bruins have an easy game coming up against the Lightning, but it gets considerably tougher after that; Toronto or Washington will overtake them, the Panthers will hang around for a while, but would you trust a team coached by former SenaTards bench boss Jacques Martin?

As things unfold between Toronto and Boston, there may have to be a song of the day dedicated to Hazel – I Walk The Line by Johnny Cash; it is a stretch, but the song title works.

MONDAY’S THREE STARS
Toronto Maple Leafs D Pavel Kubina scores two lucky goals, including the O/T winner against the Flyers last night. Thanks for the memories Pav, Leaf Nation is going to miss you next year (not really).

Tampa Bay Lightning C Vincent Lecavalier had three goals in a 8-4 win over the Islanders, allowing the Leafs to leapfrog the Isles.

Edmonton Oilers C Andrew Cogliano scored his third consecutive O/T winner in a 4-3 win over St. Louis last night – good for the kid, good for the Three Play.


MONDAY’S DONKEYS
New Jersey Devils G Martin Brodeur celebrated his second star of the week by stinking the joint out at the Bell Centre – four goals on 29 shots…thanks for coming out Marty, go do another Delissio pizza commercial you donkey.

Seattle Seahawks grand poohbah Mike Holmgren did Dallas Cowboys fans a big favour, while simultaneously showing how dumb he really is, when he signed Cowboys free-agent RB Julius Jones to a multi-year deal. Jones’ time in Dallas can be summed up in one word – disappointing; he regressed a little more each season after a good rookie year.


TUESDAY’S THREE PLAY
Before posting, and after having heard that Chara was out and Auld was in for Boston, I took them out of Three Play and put in Edmonton instead – 2-1 last night meaning the week starts off on a good note – the good times keep rolling tonight.

Pittsburgh over Buffalo – on the surface, this looks like a bit of a trap game – but the reality is that Buffalo has been ordinary to bad after the Brian Campbell trade, Pens win even without Crosby. Lay $100 on the Pens - $160.

Anaheim over Vancouver – still hating Ryan Kessler and the Canucks, the fact that Anaheim blew a third period lead and lost to Phoenix in a shootout should have them in a bad mood as they take on Hockey God’s former team. The Ducks get it done tonight by overpowering the soft Canucks. Lay $100 on the Ducks - $160.

Leaving it at that for today. Thanks for taking the time to check in - have a great one peeps.

Hazel, here’s hoping things are groovy in your world – Go Leafs Go!

I’m Out! .