Flames @ Leafs Gamethread

I'm doing double duty today, so most of my material was used up in the pregame thread. Some things I purposely skipped in order to have something to talk about here:

– It's been brought my attention that I'm probably being unfair to Olli Jokinen, who has become my #1 punching bag this year. It's probably true because, like all humans, I tend to look for evidence that confirms my preconceptions. As such, I propose a new Olli Jokinen drinking game: drink whenever he actually makes a good play.

– Sarich was abysmal again last night. In the long term, more performances like that could lead to a ticket out of town. In the short term, however, one wonders how long Sutter will put up with the Sarich/Bouwmeester pairing since there are obviously other options.

– One of those options is Mark Giordano, who I thought was outstanding last night. His reads on the PK led to the Bourque break-away and OT two-on-one chances were first class.

– Dustin Boyd hasn't made the scoresheet in awhile, but he continues to look like a better player to my eye. He made a number of notable plays at both ends of the ice and is getting better and better at winning the puck during board battles. David Moss, on the other hand, is still struggling to find his stride.

– Phil Kessel has played 5 games and already has 4 goals. Safe to say, whatever line he's on is the first line. I'm sure he'll see a lot of Bourque/Langkow tonight. The other Leaf forward to watch tonight is Alex Ponikarovsky. A 61 point getter last season, Ponkarovsky is a guy the math really likes.

– Let HNIC begin…

by Kent Wilson