Leafs 4 Panthers 2

By The Meatriarchy

9 games later this miserable losing patch finally comes to an end. And with Bryan McCabe returning tonight to face the Lightning one hopes that a win streak is possible before the break.

Ed Belfour finally turns in a vintage performance. Perhaps playing on the same sheet of ice 200 feet away from the man that is rumored to be coming to Toronto to replace him was a motivator?

Defenseman Jay Harrison (recently called up from the Leafs farm team, The Toronto Marlies) had an outstanding game. He not only recorded his first NHL point but saw penalty killing duty as well. Particularly surprising was when Quinn played him during a crucial 2-man disadvantage in the second period.

Say what you like about Quinn, he is not afraid to play the rookies, unlike a certain other Pat who coached here previously.

The Leafs played most of this game a man short as Khavanov went down with an injury that turned out to be a cracked bone in his foot. Scratch him for a while. This resulted in the Leafs playing with only 5 d-man, three of whom are American League call-ups. Perhaps it says much about the Panthers that they couldn't beat a struggling Leafs squad with a minor league defense core?

And perhaps this will stop AM640's Bill Watters from his curiously upbeat assessment of this Florida team. All year he has been touting them as world beaters. I have yet to fathom why. The only players of star caliber they have are Ollie Jokkinen and Roberto Luongo. And Watters hates Luongo.

To add to the fun of breaking the streak last night: The Bruins flattened the Senators 5-0. Boy that Emery kid sure has come back to earth. Better hope Dom doesn't pull a muscle opening the liquor cabinet.

One last thing: the fire sale in St. Louis has obviously set the market for high priced talent. Weight was obtained by the Hurricanes for a first round draft pick and some spare parts. This means that the Leafs should be able to acquire Jackman (whom they have coveted all year) for something less than a roster player. It also means that Allison and Belfour aren’t' going to fetch near as much as optimistic fans had hoped (if indeed they are on the block).