Connolly Lifts Leafs Past Hurricanes

Tim Connolly scored 2 goals last night to help the Toronto Maple Leafs defeat the Carolina Hurricanes in a 2-1 victory in overtime.  One of the Leafs best performance in recent games was hindered by Hurricanes' goaltender, Cam Ward.  Toronto outshot Carolina by 38-19 in 4 periods of play and beat them in all areas of the game.

The scoring did not start until late in the third period but there was excitement throughout the whole game.  Tim Connolly was able to deflect Clarke MacArthur's shot to finally fool Cam Ward to give the Leafs a 1-0 lead.  Few minutes later, Joffrey Lupul was called on a highsticking penalty which allowed Carolina to tie the game at 1-1 resulting in the game going to overtime.  Although the Hurricanes game a bit of momentum by scoring the late tying goal, the Leafs was still the better team as Connolly notched his second goal of the night as he pushed the puck which had trickled behind Ward after Lupul's shot.  James Reimer got the win for the Leafs and was solid even though he only faced 19 shots.

There wasn't a lot of negative points in the Leafs game.  Although they allowed another powerplay goal, their previous penalty kills were done well.  Even on the goal, they did well, except Jake Gardiner forgot to tie up the stick of this opponent.  All in all, it was a good game and a well deserved win.

The Leafs don't play until Friday against the Buffalo Sabres, a team Toronto has yet to find a way to defeat in a convincing manner.  They'll have time to figure it out in the two days before the game, as well utilize Connolly's knowledge of his previous team.

The Rest of the Hockey World
1. Canada's WJC team complete: Canada's roster for the World Juniors Championship tournament has been officially released with notable players such as Mark Scheifele (Winnipeg Jets), Brett Connolly (Tampa Bay Lightning), Dougie Hamilton (Boston Bruins), and Ryan Strome (New York Islanders).  Let's go Canada!
2. Another concussion: Ottawa Senator's, and league leading goal scorer, Milan Mickalek suffered a concussion after a collision with teammate Erik Karlsson in yesterday's game.
3. Timonen crushed...by a ref?: Kimmo Timonen was fallened by a referee last night as the ref tried to jump out of the way but ended checking the defenceman to the ground.
4. NHL 36 & 24/7: The two shows will premiere today on VERSUS and HBO respectively.  Can't wait!