Vesa Toskala Superb : Prepare For New York Rangers

In the night the Leafs played the western conference Nashville Predators, there was one shining light of hope throughout the night. It was none other then the man I was defending a couple of weeks back. Vesa Toskala was nothing short of sensational last night, he was shutting down the Preds all night and drove Jason Arnott to a severe headache, who told Toskala during the game '' How the hell do I get one by you?'' Vesa replied with a smile. And that smile transferred to the fans, who were cheering as loud as I've heard them for the Finnish net minder. Chants of '' We love Vesa!'' were echoing throughout the ACC... until Kaberle tipped one past Toskala to spoil the shut-out about 5 seconds later. Figures. Either way, we got the 2 points and are now on a run with 3 wins in a row. But Thursday night will be a huge test for not only Toskala, but T-Dot's team, and more specifically defense. The core has clearly bought in to Paul Maurice's defense first approach and it's working beautifully so far. Vesa Toskala has not let in more than 3 goals in his last 11 full starts. He has had six 2 goals against games, three 3 goals against, one goal against twice, and 1 shut-out. He's been superb.

In come the New York Rangers, a team who's now second in the east making the Ottawa Senators actually look back in fear. Lundqvist has been nothing short of superb with 4 shutouts so far this season. Shanahan has woken from slumber and provided the Rangers with some offensive help. Jaromir Jagr, another sleeping beast, has awoken as well and is one of the main primers for the Rangers recent success. It appears the gears are now in motion and the Rangers mean business. I pick them to the win the cup in the East Conference. I pick the Vancouver Canucks for the West. Would be a good Stanley Cup Final.

The Leafs will have to tighten up on D and force Rangers to take shots from the perimeter. Do not worry about Vesa Toskala and just play your game, do not take chances. Play a simple, defensive, boring game and the W is in reach. 4 in a row would be a huge statement for a comeback and would raise the spirits of many.

Keep on truckin'!