Toronto Maple Leafs' Carl Gunnarsson (L), Tyler Bozak, captain Dion Phaneuf (C), Nazim Kadri and Phil Kessel celebrate Kadri's game-winning goal during the third period of their pre-season NHL hockey game against the Ottawa Senators in Ottawa September 29, 2010. REUTERS/Blair GableBLAIR GABLE/Reuters
We're still dealing with a really small sample size here, but this offers a comparison of where the Leafs are compared to last season in a variety of categories.
I'll try and revisit this table as the season goes along.
|
Season |
GF/G |
GA/G |
SF/G |
SA/G |
SV% |
PP% |
PK% |
|
|
|
2009-10 |
2.56 (T-25th) |
3.21 (29th) |
32.6 (5th) |
29.8 (T-13th) |
.892 (30th) |
14% (30th) |
74.6% (30th) |
||
|
2010-11 |
3.40 (T-3rd) |
2.20 (T-4th) |
28.8 (24th) |
23.0 (1st) |
.904 (22nd) |
17.4% (13th) |
88.9% (7th) |
The abbreviations are goals for, goals against, shots for, shots against, save percentage, power play and penalty kill.
The Leafs are way ahead in terms of the key numbers like goals for and against and have really limited the number of shots their netminders are facing. There's room for improvement there in a few categories, however, and it's unlikely pucks go in at that rate all season.
It was a fairly quiet day at Leafs practice Tuesday as Toronto has two days off before facing the Rangers at the ACC on Thursday. Coach Ron Wilson said his goaltenders will split the next two games, with JS Giguere and Jonas Gustavsson each playing. Whoever starts against New York will sit for Saturday night's tilt in Philadelphia.
Leafs centre Tyler Bozak, meanwhile, is still sporting an ear protector on his helmet after taking a Phil Kessel shot to the side of the head when he was standing in front of the net on a power play drill in Sunday's practice. Bozak had a few stitches in the side of the head and said his hearing has been affected by the injury.
"My eardrum got a little messed up so I don't have much hearing in my left side," he said. "It's not too bad. Everything's fine. It just kind of helps me not listen to Phil here when he's yapping in the room.
"I got X-rays and everything's fine, nothing broken, so it's just waiting for the ear to heal up. It wasn't fun for sure. Pretty painful."