Burke And Co. Gone Duck Hunting in Anaheim

Leafs face off tonight in a late niter against the Ducks of Anaheim in the hunt for their first win of the season. After a hard-fought loss in Vancouver where the team proved to themselves, its fans, and the opposition that it can compete by giving first star Roberto Luongo a run for his money , expect to see an amped up, hungrier Leafs squad, still stinging from the loss.

Although Joey MacDonald played his best 60 minutes since donning the Blue and White on Saturday last, Jonas Gustavsson gets the nod in his long-awaited repeat performance between the pipes after rehabbing a nagging groin, and a slightly wonky ticker.

The Monster assured coaches and reporters that he’s 100 percent, and tonight may very well represent the night that the Leafs’ fate begins to change.

Will the Monster emerge as the Leafs starter after tonight?

Tonight denotes the return to Anaheim for Burke, Beauchemin, and goalie super-guru Francois Allaire. While the trio may be greeted warmly, the team itself will run into an equally desperate Ducks team looking to salvage a lackluster month of October. A Leafs return to respectability is in sight if they can manage a favourable decision against a win-challenged Ducks team.

Tonight could also mark the night that Gustavsson unofficially supplants struggling incumbent Vesa Toskala as the top dog in Toronto. Suffice to say, if Gustavsson performs well tonight, a legion of Leaf fans turning over stones in search of any shred of hope will be campaigning for his immediate promotion to the starter’s gig.

Vesa will get a chance to make a case for himself, likely against Dallas, but we can expect Gustavsson to make a case for back-to-back starts. If he puts on a clinic, and gives his team some momentum , Wilson will be hard pressed to deny him a chance to build on his, as well as the team’s confidence.

It isn’t about fairness to either Gustavsson or Toskala. Its about changing the team’s fate. And the change of fate starts with a shift in momentum.
Will Gustavsson’s play prove to be the catalyst?

Let’s look for a big game from him, as well as struggling blueliners Komisarek, Schenn, and Beauchemin, as well as a big effort from Jason Blake, who unfortunately remains mis-cast as a scoring forward. Why he has not been relegated to a role he plays better than anyone else on the team, being that of a shift-disturbing, hard-forechecking secondary scorer, remains a mystery.

Whatever Coach Wilson’s lines are comprised of, they key to success will be in staying clear of the sin-bin, creating heat around the blue paint and converting on rebound opportunities. Forget pretty. Let’s get the greasy, grimy goals, the by-products of out-working your opponent.

One or two of these and the grip on the sticks will loosen up. And I’ll wager that if the boys can come away from the Western road swing with 3 or 4 points, they’ll come home with a little more swagger than they left with…