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Leafs-Devils Game 7 checklist
As the Zamboni warms up and the Garden State prepares for the notes of "O Canada" to waft from the Meadowlands, you may be wondering what the Devils and Maple Leafs have to do to win Game 7. CNNSI.com asked Sports Illustrated staff writer Brian Cazeneuve, who has followed the series in both cites, to break down the decisive game. Here's his take: What the Devils have to doStop thinking about Tie Domi Don't believe them when they tell you otherwise, but far too many Devils had revenge on their minds in the first period of Game 5, when they spent 20 minutes lining up any blue jersey in site and were ultimately outshot 8-2. Despite calls for restraint from coach Larry Robinson, the defending champs became unglued two nights after losing Scott Niedermayer, their most skilled defenseman, to Domi's gratuitous elbow. "For some reason we think we can win without discipline," New Jersey forward Bobby Holik said. "We cannot." Leafs superpest Darcy Tucker single-handedly goaded the Devils into three first-period penalties, including minors to Scott Gomez and Scott Stevens on the same play. Ken Daneyko, Niedermayer's road roommate, confessed that his team began the match with too much abandon. "Sure we did," he said. "Larry preached against it, but Scott's a teammate and a friend, and we were too fired up. I didn't think ours would be a team to let our emotions get the best of us, but they did." The Devils were more disciplined on the road for Game 6, but they're coming home now, where they tend to be overanxious. Youthful enthusiasts like Gomez need to avoid stupid penalties. Overcome the loss of Niedermayer (if he doesn't play) The absence of New Jersey's most adept puck carrier gave Toronto a decisive edge on the back line. Throughout Game 5 the Leafs' defensemen often joined the rush, producing all three goals in the 3-2 victory. In contrast, the Devils' defensemen were constantly aborting breakouts from their own zone, circling back and banging the puck randomly off the boards, leaving it up for grabs in center ice.
While the Devils' defense too often roamed in search of hits that weren't readily available, Toronto's stingiest pairing of Danny Markov and Dimitri Yushkevich frustrated New Jersey's forwards by blocking shots and forcing sharpshooters Alexander Mogilny and Patrik Elias to avoid the block and miss the net. Take advantage of the last change Memo to Robinson: You have home-ice advantage. Use it. Pat Quinn has never been a stickler for matchups, but he has generally had who he wanted on the ice in this series when he wanted them there. He religiously used Shayne Corson with Igor Korolev and Jonas Hoglund to shut down Ottawa's top offensive line of Alexei Yashin, Shawn McEachern and Daniel Alfredsson, limiting them to one goal in Toronto's stunning four-game sweep of the Senators. He then employed the Corson line against Elias, Jason Arnott and Petr Sykora for three games, holding the Devils' top line to a single goal over that stretch. After Gomez and Mogilny combined for 14 shots in Game 3, Quinn switched the assignments for Game 4, enabling the Corson line to shadow them and limit them to three shots. If Robinson has a hot line working for him in Game 7, he needs to keep that line away from Corson.
What the Leafs have to doGo Mats The Leafs need another big game from Mats Sundin. Toronto's captain is playing the best hockey of his career. He leads the Leafs with 11 points so far in the playoffs and doesn't look a lick like the Sundin who slumped out of last year's six-game series against New Jersey without a goal. This year the old softy has added a snarl to his play. Twice in Game 4 he beat his opposing check, Holik, up the ice by first massaging Holik's helmet off his head. The Leafs used to begin games at the Air Canada Centre with a scoreboard introduction in which Sundin appears at the pilot's seat of a fighter jet saying, "This is your captain speaking." After last year's spring no-show, the Leafs decided to bag the intro altogether. Sundin appeared lost in last year's clinching Game 6 when Toronto set an NHL record for futility with just six shots on goal. The Leafs took far more shots from reporters who subsequently dubbed them "Maple Loafs," "Maple Laughs," and "Six Shooters." Sundin took most of the heat. This year he is going to the net more and absorbing the bruises to get the scoring chances. The Leafs need a signature game from Sundin. Go Cujo Leafs goaltender Curtis Joseph is either the grittiest or the coyest Leaf. During the series, Joseph, perhaps masking an injury, has often practiced without a stick and has kept his right hand in his pocket during press conferences. When one curious reporter proposed a handshake, Joseph obliged with his left hand. Joseph plays so well at times, he can get in other teams' heads, in part because there is no clear book on how to beat him. Sometimes he scrambles; other times he resorts to a conservative butterfly style. Some nights he doesn't care to play the puck much; other nights he pounces on pucks behind his net and 15 feet in front of it the way Dominik Hasek does. New Jersey's Randy McKay pushed Joseph around at the end of Game 5 to send a message. Fine, but it doesn't mean anything if you don't get traffic in front of Joseph and get to him with at least one early goal. If Joseph is on his game, he protects a lead as well as any keeper in the league. Keep working Everywhere you looked in this year's playoffs, it seemed the Leafs had changed colors. Here was Corson, a free-agent acquisition, incessantly bumping and rerouting Devils centers Arnott and Gomez just as he'd done to Yashin. There was Gary Roberts, a fellow offseason signee, scrumming with Devils defenseman Stevens after another whistle. Even when they did something wrong, there was Tucker leaving his facial imprint on the Plexiglas after mistiming a check and then wobbling onto the ice for his next shift. If they were a tad yellow last spring against the Devils, these Leafs are now perfectly happy to be black and blue. "We're willing to pay the price," says Sundin. "That's why this year's team is different and better." This team is more battle-ready than its predecessor, especially with additions of Corson and Roberts, grizzled 34-year-olds with over 1,200 points and 4,000 penalty minutes between them. "It's more of a playoff team," says Quinn. "It's guys who fight through their checks and don't wait the puck to come to them." That can't change if the Leafs are to win Game 7. Sports Illustrated staff writer Brian Cazeneuve covers the NHL for the magazine and is a frequent contributor to CNNSI.com.
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