2010 Compuware NHL Premiere Series – Toronto Maple Leafs win 3-1 against the Florida Panthers
The 117th game saw the Toronto Maple Leafs play host to the Florida Panthers. The game took place at the Air Canada Centre this past Tuesday. There were around 20,000 fans that came to see the match as the Florida Panthers were playing their 7th
game and the Toronto Maple Leafs were playing the 8th game of the campaign thus far. The game remained a tight battle from the very start of the match as the home team took off slowly but in the end won the match with the score on 3-1.
1st Period
The 1st period started slowly for the home team as they couldn’t combine together and the goal attempts they made went flying past the goal. However, the Florida Panthers attacked as well but there attacks were dangerous and they almost scored
in the 10th minute but the puck hit the goal post.
The Toronto Maple Leafs settled after these attacks and with the backing of the crowd started to gain confidence. They grouped together and took out the flaws in their game. From then onwards, not only did they dominate in the offence but the comprehensively
outplayed the Florida Panthers in defence.
The confidence at the back was so much that the backline was also involved while the team was on the offence. The Toronto Maple Leafs tried their level best to score a goal but just couldn’t find the opening in the shaky opposing defence that managed to
come up with a good tackle at the end. However, the hard work was rewarded with a goal in favour of the Toronto Maple in the last minute of the 1st period. The goal was scored by Tyler Bozak through a powerful shot that was hit from a distance of
25 feet.
The period ended with no further goals and the Toronto Maple Leafs in the lead with the score on 1-0. During the period, the Toronto Maple Leafs made 8 goal attempts and scored once, whereas the Florida Panthers didn’t score any goal out of the only 4 goal
attempts they made.
2nd Period
The Florida Panthers were strong out off the blocks once again and they came up with splendid pieces of play. Not only did they fire shots on the opposing goal but they kept possession which frustrated the opposition. The Toronto Maple Leafs started to get
into a flow but firing shots from long range.
The Florida Panthers seemed a different unit from the 1st period as they maintained a very tight defence that restrict the opposing team to long range shooting only. On the other hand, their offence got the boost they need with 4 shot made in
a single minute. This time it was the Florida Panthers who scored in the 15th minute through a venomous strike that went flying into the goal. The goal was scored by Dennis Wideman from 55 feet. The scores were level and with nothing to lose, both
teams approached the game with an attacking mentality.
However, there were no more goals and the period ended with score all level at 1-1. During the period, the Florida Panthers scored once out of the 10 goal attempts they made and the Toronto Maple Leafs didn’t score out of the 8 goal attempts they made.
3rd Period
When the 3rd period started, the very first play of the period was an 89 feet strike by the Florida Panthers that went just wide. They sent the home team a message that they were here to win and determined to score.
The home team like the previous 2 period started off slow but when they got into the flow of the game, they displayed some excellent skills on field combining together. With the plays and the formidable combination, the Toronto Maple Leafs took the lead
when they scored in the 12th minute. The goal was scored by Colton Orr. The Toronto Maple Leafs continued with the attacks and sealed the win when the scored for the 3rd time in the period.
This time the goal was scored by Phil Kessel from 55 feet in the 18th minute. The period and the match ended with the score 3-1 in favour of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
After the win, Ron Wilson Coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs said, "Colton took the goalie out and there should have been a penalty ... but they didn't see it so you take what you can get," Wilson said.
"The goalie stepped way out of the net and Colton was just trying to get to the front, but he kind of ran over him and I guess the puck must have hit his rear end or something and went in ... his foot ... but it was going in anyway, so whatever."
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