Game 10: Technical Difficulties

Anybody want to take over a Leafs fan blog? Just kidding! (Maybe.)

So the Leafs lost 2-0 to New York tonight. At least, I think that was the final score. Near the end, I curled up in the fetal position and closed my eyes for a bit.

Technical difficulties. This is the only explanation I can offer. The Leafs are experiencing technical difficulties and if someone doesn't quickly grab and twist the rabbit ears it could be a long season, one that's filled with test patterns and snowy reception.

I mean, holy hell.

The Leafs managed to direct 71 shots toward the opposition net. That's more than a shot per minute. Unfortunately, Ranger skaters blocked 35 of those shots. And then, well, Henrik Lundqvist stopped the other 36.

But in this barrage of vulcanized rubber, there were some notable exceptions:

• SHOTS ON GOAL BY PHIL KESSEL: 0
• SHOTS ON GOAL BY MIKHAIL GRABOVSKI: 0
• SHOTS ON GOAL BY CLARKE MACARTHUR: 1
• SHOTS ON GOAL BY NIKOLAI KULEMIN: 1

So there was lots of noise but the big guns were silent.

How many games can this team expect to win if Dion Phaneuf and Francois Beauchemin account for 33 per cent of all shots? How many games can this team expect to win if the guy in our net lets in one or two that should have been stopped and the guy in the other net stops one or two that should have scored?

Last question before I return to the fetal position: Is Don Cherry right? Is it time to bring up Nazem Kadri?

UPDATE 11:55 P.M.: Photographer Steve Russell, my friend and colleague, was shooting the game for The Star tonight. He uploaded some great pictures over here.

Game 9: The Leafs Beat Themselves (And 5 Reasons They Are In A Rut)

Everything is fine, right? Tell me everything is fine.

The Leafs still boast a 5-3-1 record. They are two points out of first in the Eastern Conference. They are getting chances. They are controlling territorial play. They are competing even when they lose, as they did last night in Boston.

So what's the problem? Why are they in a rut? Well, here are five reasons:

1. The Leafs Are Beating The Leafs These Days

They are passing when they should be shooting (see: Tomas Kaberle last night). They are shooting when they should be passing (see: Dion Phaneuf last night). They are accidentally blocking their own shots (see: Tim Brent last night). They are deflecting shots wide (see: Nikolai Kulemin last night).

2. The Leafs Are Getting No Help From The Hockey Gods

Here are a few things that happened last night you won't find in the box score:

* Luca Caputi hit a goal post in the first period.

* With Boston goalie Tim Thomas down and out, the whistle inexplicably sounded just as Phil Kessel was circling in the slot alone with the puck and about to pot the all-important first goal of the game.

* Kulemin's stick was lifted seconds before he could tap the puck into an empty net.

* Francois Beauchemin drilled the puck over the net on a goalmouth scramble in the dying seconds of the first.

3. The Leafs Are Making Opposition Goalies Look Great

It's a bit disconcerting, really. How many times have we already heard, "The Leafs ran into a hot goalie!" Or, "A hot goalie stole the game!"

We're only nine games into the season! This is a troubling trend, especially when the Leafs' goaltending duo, while solid, is not exactly robbing the opposition.

Now, look. I'm not taking anything away from Thomas, who is on fire with five straight wins. The guy's stats are insane. I mean, a .981 save percentage? What? He's now operating with a 0.60 GAA?

You could tip a grand piano on its side, place it in front of a net and it wouldn't get those kinds of numbers.

But let's get real.

Last night, while Thomas made a couple of spectacular saves in the third, most of the 20 shots he stopped were fired into his torso and pads. It's as if the Leafs thought they were venturing into the TD Garden to play a game of paintball.

4. The Leafs Are Not Burying Their Chances

Eventually, the Leafs are going to start scoring the way they did against Ottawa, right? Tell me the Leafs are going to start scoring again.

Right now, though, the team is not burying their chances. No, instead of burying, chances are getting buffed to a high gloss and placed on a pedestal to torment and haunt the next line.

And against defensive-minded teams (like Boston) or teams that are now prepared for the Leafs' speed and passing game (every team in the NHL), this inability to convert is proving lethal.

The word tossed around the room is "snakebitten." But last night, it seemed much worse than that.

Grabovski seemed to have a reticulated python coiled around his neck whenever he got within five feet of the net. Was there a cobra hiding in Mike Brown’s helmet, one that threatened to sink its fangs into his Fu Manchu if he got alone in front? Oh, and does someone in Leafs Nation have a vial of antivenom we can proactively inject into Kris Versteeg when he returns from his back injury?

5. The Leafs Look Spooked

During the first four games this season, the neutral zone was like a particle accelerator. Whenever a Leaf passed through with the puck, they both sped up.

Pucks were not dumped into the opposition end and promptly turned over, as happened several times last night. The Leafs carried the puck as if it was tethered to their sticks with invisible string. They made crisp, beautiful passes. They buried their chances.

You know what else? The team looked so relaxed.

On the bench, nothing but smiles. After a goal, a five-man celebration huddle.

Now look at these poor bastards. They are grimacing even when the score is 0-0. They are squeezing their sticks. They look lost in queasy concentration, like college kids taking a 9 a.m. algebra exam after an all-night kegger.

They look spooked.

There is nothing worse than being told, "Relax!" when you're not relaxed. But guys, seriously, relax. Relax because you are making us nervous. Have some fun out there and the wins will return.

This is a much improved team. But it is a team that still needs to be convinced of this fact.

PHOTO: CJ GUNTHER/REUTERS

Game Day: When Phil meets Tyler

The Leafs are in Boston this evening and the locals are getting ready to boo.

It's been 1 year, 1 month and 9 days since Phil Kessel left Beantown for Hogtown. A first-round pick for the Bruins in 2006, Kessel spent three seasons in The Hub, racking up 66 goals and 60 assists in 222 games.

After the 2008-2009 season, in which the 21-year-old led the Bruins with a career-high 36 goals, Kessel was regarded as a cornerstone of the franchise. Unfortunately, as the summer bled into early fall, fate would turn this cornerstone into Gahden dust.

The Bruins, their visors pressed hard against the cap, could not see eye-to-eye with Kessel on a new contract. Ironically, Kessel had performed at a level his team could no longer afford in the new NHL. And set to become a free agent, in the midst of shoulder surgery, something soon became obvious: His days in Boston were over.

You know what happened next.

Brian Burke, who previously had tried to land the winger, opened the vault to the Leafs’ future and surrendered three draft picks. Two of those abstractions morphed into Tyler Seguin (first round) and Jared Knight (second round). The third will materialize next year, when the Bruins get another would-be Toronto first rounder.

The deal has been analyzed as much as the Zapruder film. Did the Leafs give up too much? Is Kessel worth two first-round picks? What prospect lurks on the grassy knoll this summer?

But at this precise moment in time, without knowing where the Leafs will finish and what the Bruins will get, a sensible observer might argue the trade is looking like the unlikeliest of NHL transactions: Everybody won.

Kessel is at the threshold of what could be an all-star campaign. He's currently tied for third in the league with 7 goals. He has 2 power play markers and 2 that gave his team a win, including one in overtime.

And as he demonstrated Tuesday against Florida, when he cranked up the engine and raced end-to-end with a highlight reel rush at the end of a shift, the guy is in remarkable shape, probably the best of his still blossoming career.

In Seguin, meanwhile, the Bruins have an 18-year-old who is widely regarded as a future star. While it's still too early to draw any direct Phil versus Tyler comparisons – the Bruins rookie may yet return to junior in the days ahead – fans for both teams have no reason to lose sleep over this trade.

As for tonight, the Leafs haven't won in Boston since October 23, 2008. If this is to change, they will need their high-priced sniper to overcome the gun-shy tendencies he's exhibited against his former team.

In short: It is time for Phil Kessel to silence the boo birds in Boston. It is time for him to fill Bruin hearts with regret.

In six games last season, Kessel picked up 1 assist. More troubling, he was -5, the worst +/- on the Leafs. But more than a year later, the psychological weight of the trade has lightened and Kessel is flanked with new teammates. (To fully appreciate just how much the Leafs have changed, check out the "Goalie Matchup" and "Scoring Leaders" on the right side of this preview. Obviously, old data was accidentally uploaded. Still, just seeing Toskala's mugshot made me panic and choke on my morning toast.)

Beyond the Kessel-Seguin intrigue, there are other players who will be facing off against former teammates, including Kris Versteeg. The Bruins are pumped. The Leafs are ready. It promises to be a special night for all involved.

PHOTO: COLIN MCCONNELL/TORONTO STAR

 

Game 8: Colton Orr Interferes With The Losing Streak

Winning isn't always pretty.

Sometimes, it's as ugly as this. Or this. Or even this.

But winning is winning. So while last night's 3-1 victory over the livid Panthers was punctuated by unsightly playmaking and gruesome grinding, the Leafs now have 5 wins, 11 points and a share of top spot in the East, all of which looks very good.

I watched last night's game from Seat 8 in Row 5 of Section 107. My friend Angus Frame, vice-president of digital media at the Globe and Mail, was kind enough to let me ride shotgun with his job perk.

"How often do you get these damn seats?" I asked, staring with disbelief at the $226 price on my stub.

"Just a few times each year," Angus replied. "Not a bad view, huh?"

I'll say.

It's hard to appreciate how big, fast and strong professional hockey players are until they are flying past your chin and rattling the glass inches from your eardrums. The closer you are to the ice the smaller it seems. The fine details are amazing. (At short range, for example, Mike Brown's Fu Manchu looks like it’s... ALIVE!)

Anyway, as we bumped elbows with the Platinum high-rollers, the Leafs and Panthers spent most of the first period chasing after the puck the way paparazzi chase after Olsen twins at LAX.

The play was fast but jarring, fluid but disorienting. It was as if both teams took a blood oath before the national anthems to not create any real scoring chances. Outside the ACC, they were calling for a "weather bomb." Inside, there were no explosions.

Then at 19:19 of the first, finally, a reason to cheer.

On the power play, Tyler Bozak sailed through the slot, dropped to one knee like Steven Stamkos and flipped the puck into an unguarded net. This happened immediately after Nikolai Kulemin was sent in alone, courtesy of an up-the-middle, laser-beam pass from Dion Phaneuf.

The Panthers scored a power play goal to even matters in the second. And that's where things stood until The Controversy.

Now, to be fair, I don't know what Colton Orr was thinking at 11:02 of the third.

Was he trying to save Scott Clemmensen from a runaway Zamboni nobody else could see? Was he hoping to get a piggyback ride from the Florida goalie after a long shift? Was he suddenly overcome with the urge to re-enact scenes from WrestleMania?

Whatever his reasons, Orr wandered out from behind the net, snuck up behind Clemmensen like a practical joker and helpfully shoved him out of the way just as Tim Brent was firing the puck.

In a split second, the blindsided Clemmensen hit the ice like a sack of wet cement. Colton tumbled over him and was momentarily frozen in the air like that other Orr in this iconic image. Most important: The puck deflected off his skate and bulged the twine.

Sure, the goal was as illegal as a three-dollar bill. But it counted.

The Leafs added an insurance marker with a few minutes left after Phil Kessel gobbled up the puck, turned on the rocket thrusters and beat Clemmensen who, at that point, was probably just glad a banner hadn't cascaded down from the rafters and covered his mask.

It was a beautiful goal on a mostly ugly night. But winning is winning and now the Leafs head to Boston tomorrow without the angst of a losing streak.

PHOTO: LUCAS OLENIUK/TORONTO STAR

Game Day: Trying Not To Get Caged By Panthers

It feels like the entire city hit the reset button this morning.

The clouds have rolled in overhead. Traffic wasn't so bad. And we have a new mayor. (Congratulations to you, Rob Ford! You terrify about 90 per cent of my friends and 99 per cent of the people I follow on Twitter. If nothing else, the next four years should be memorable.)

As for the city's hockey squad, well, hopefully they will also hit the reset.

When the Panthers prowl into the ACC, they will bring a defensive focus, team discipline and captain Bryan McCabe who, depending on your perspective, was either a great Leaf defenceman or a symptom of blue-and-white disease.

Florida clogs the neutral zone the way one of these clogs human arteries. They trap and lull their opponents into extended on-ice naps. The team has given up a stingy 2 goals per game in their first half-dozen games, which is third best in the league.

Last season, Toronto and Florida split their 4 games. But in the Panther's two wins, the Leafs were shutout in one game (Jan. 23) and held to 1 goal in the other (March 23).

In other words: Not ideal opponents when you're suddenly firing blanks and the coach is tinkering with lines like a (reluctantly) mad scientist.

If Toronto is hoping to get its power play on track, they may not get many chances tonight. After six games, the Panthers are the NHL's least penalized team with a measly 33 minutes. (To put this in perspective: Colton Orr and Mike Brown have combined for more penalty minutes than the entire Florida team.)

As mentioned yesterday, it's early. There's no reason to panic. But this is one of those games the Leafs really need to win. If they do, their record improves to 5-2-1, which translates into a .688 winning percentage. If they lose, as commenter Moe Green noted a while back, we are suddenly cheering for a .500 team.

So what are the keys to victory tonight?

Keeping The Faith When Reality Starts Throwing Punches

It's been a rough couple of days here inside ALF B headquarters: Gloomy faces. Panicky thoughts. Free-floating anxiety.

After Saturday's loss in Philadelphia – the third straight game without a win – I sat in the video room with an old friend and we analyzed tape. I was looking for moments upon which I might "cast an optimistic eye."

There were none.

By about 3 a.m., after hundreds of pauses and rewinds, my retinas conspired with my long-term memory to play tricks on me. Was that Dion Phaneuf mishandling the puck or... Gary Nylund? Was that Tyler Bozak floating around the neutral zone in a comatose state or… Marian Stastny?

After winning their first four games and launching expectations into the stratosphere, the Leafs returned to Planet Earth last week and burned up on re-entry. It was like the movie Awakenings, the part where the experimental drugs stop working and Robert De Niro regresses to baseline.

If you missed Game 6 against New York or Game 7 in Philly – maybe you were lucky enough to be in a hostage situation or trapped under heavy machinery – I can now recap both with pictures:

 

GAME 6: THE SLOPPY JOE

 

 

 

 

 

 

GAME 7: THE GLAZED TURNOVER

 

 

 

 

 

 

So is it over before it started? Did we overestimate this team based on their first four games? Or are we overreacting to the last three?

With less than 10 per cent of the season done, the answer is probably "both." But here's the thing: The team is not freaking out so neither should we.

Being a Leafs fan can be so exhausting.

The bandwagon is like a rush hour bus. People are always pushing to jump on and off at every stop. When things are good, you can't get a seat. When they're bad, your arrival time is delayed and you find yourself sitting next to someone who is crunching loudly on carrots while muttering about Aki Berg.

Me, I refuse to be a part of this bipolar hysteria!

If the Leafs win tomorrow night against Florida, they will have a 5-2-1 record. Compare this to last season's 0-7-1 start. It is a dramatic improvement.

Yes, there are reasons to be concerned. No, this concern should not be unreasonable.

It's Monday morning, people. A new week is upon us. Let's forget the last one. Let's keep perspective and remember we are in this for the long haul and not the short bursts of reactionary emotion, good or bad.

Here are 10 Affirmations to get you through the day. Stand in front of a mirror, place your hand over your chest and repeat these words:

1. The Leafs are tied for first in the Northeast Division.

2. The Leafs are four points out of first place overall.

3. Phil Kessel has as many goals as Sidney Crosby... and so does Clarke MacArthur!

4. The Leafs have winning records at home and on the road.

5. The Leafs have the NHL’s second-best record when they outshoot their opponents

6. Mikhail Grabovski is tied for 15th place in +/- leaders.

7. The Leafs will start scoring on the power play.

8. The Leafs have the eight best penalty killing in the league.

9. The Leafs want to win.

10. And if nothing else... the Leafs have some cap room.

 PHOTO: H. RUMPH JR/ASSOCIATED PRESS 

Game Day: An 8-Step Plan For Beating The Rangers

The circus rolls into town this evening.

The Rangers are off to a disappointing 1-2-1 start. They are surrendering an average of 4 goals and 35 shots per game. They are craving victory the way Rick Rypien now craves two Advils and a warm bed.

The Leafs, meanwhile, have picked up 9 of a possible 10 points in their first five games. But their 4-game winning streak ended Monday. And they have scored zero even-strength goals over their last 4 periods of regulation play. (A bit troubling.)

Tonight's game unfolds six days after the Leafs spoiled the Rangers' home opener with a 4-3 overtime win. The two teams meet again October 30.

So what must the Leafs do to win tonight? Here now, an 8-Step Plan:

 

STEP 1: Start The Monster

Ron Wilson has said J.S. Giguere and Jonas Gustavsson will split the next two games. Hopefully, this means The Monster plays tonight and Jiggy suits up against the Flyers on Saturday.

Here's why: Gustavsson hasn't played at home yet. He needs to get some mask time in front of the ACC crowd before Halloween. More important, Giguere looked wobbly and a tad myopic last week in New York, despite getting the win. He should have stopped the Rangers' second goal and possibly even the third.

So by starting The Monster, Wilson can remove any residual psychological advantage for the Rangers. He can make it harder for them to prepare.

Gustavsson's idol, the workhorse Henrik Lundqvist, will undoubtedly may or may not be at the other end of the ice. In the Leafs' only win against New York last season, this was the goaltending match-up.

 

STEP 2: Crank Up The Transition Game

The Rangers have a number of big forwards who aren't going to win many skill competitions in the speed skating category. And their defencemen can be pushed into panic.

The Leafs need to get the puck out of their end quickly and then turn on the afterburners. Last week against the Rangers, the Leafs put on a "How To Control The Play" clinic in the second period. They did so by repeatedly head-manning the puck and then relying upon tic-tac-toe passes and team speed to disorient the Blueshirts.

 

STEP 3: Exterminate The Pest

As the most hated man in the NHL, Sean Avery has a knack for aggravating his opponents. He yaps like a skittish poodle. He takes cheap shots. He wears a perpetual smirk that just cries out for a backhanded slap across the face.

But once you get past all of this, playing against Avery is actually pretty simple.

First: Hit him. For a guy who invites such contempt, Avery leaves himself open to big hits every game. Don't run him or go out of your way to line him up. But when there's a chance – and there will be – hit him hard and hit him cleanly. This throws Avery off his game and his default reaction is to take a boneheaded penalty.

Second: Do not engage Avery between whistles. When he taunts, when he says horrible things about your mother, when he pretends his stick is a samurai sword, just roll your eyes and skate away.

Fashion, music, film, night life – Avery's interests extend well beyond the rink. But Sean Avery's biggest interest is Sean Avery. The best way to exterminate this pest is to spray him with a big can of ignore.

 

STEP 4: Force Lundqvist To Play With Traffic

The guy is acrobatic. The guy plays a butterfly style. The guy stops most of the pucks he sees.

Translation: The Leafs need to stall some vehicles in front of his net.

 

STEP 5: Do Not Fight The Boogie Man

To many Ranger fans, the biggest statistical shock at this point may be the "0" that follows "Derek Boogaard" under penalty minutes. When the winger the size of a Cessna signed his 4-year, $6.5 million contract this summer, there were many whispers that hinged on one question: Is an enforcer worth that kind of cap hit?

Now that he's not enforcing, well, the second-guessing has started.

Boogaard is not going to score four goals tonight. He is not going to make any end-to-end rushes that bring comparisons to this guy. If he wants to give his team a boost, there is only one thing he can do: Drop his gloves and find a skull to crack.

But for the Leafs – specifically, Colton Orr – there is no upside in fighting Boogaard.

Not tonight, anyway.

Let another guy on another team have the dubious honour of being the first to tangle with The Boogie Man in 2010. Let another guy on another team soak up Boogaard's pent-up fist rage.

It all boils down to a simple formula: A) The Rangers are desperate for inspiration. B) Boogaard is desperate to show he's worth the money. So if the Leafs are smart and, C) want to win, they won't do anything to let B) influence A).

 

STEP 6: Let Ryan Callahan Shoot As Much As He Wants

His 15 shots lead the Rangers. His 0 goals do not.

 

STEP 7: Defend Targeted Teammates

After this hit on Marian Gaborik last week, which has sidelined the Ranger 2-4 weeks with a separated shoulder, the visitors may be looking to exact some revenge on Colby Armstrong.

The official word is, no, winning is the only priority. But if the Leafs go up by a couple, Armstrong may very well find himself on the receiving end of seething rage and dirty tactics.

He's a gritty guy. He can handle himself.

But he shouldn't have to.

Good teams scrum when they must. Great teams rally around each other, defend each other and are hyper-sensitive to any pre-meditated aggression. Team toughness starts and ends with a refusal to be intimidated, especially at home.

 

STEP 8: Get The Crowd Into It Early

Thanks to Toronto's strong start, the ACC has been more boisterous than usual. Still, it can be a maddening place to watch hockey.

Too many seat holders, especially the ones holding the good seats, arrive at the gates without their own reasons to cheer. They need the Leafs to provide those reasons and, hopefully, every three minutes.

Otherwise: Crickets.

The Leafs won their first two home games this season. In both, they scored the first goal, delivered some glass-shaking hits and didn't let the opposition get in a groove.

The Rangers are a more fragile team right now than they'd care to admit. Blitzing them for the first 10 minutes could trigger a three-period implosion. It would also ratchet up the decibel-level on Bay Street.

UPDATE (11:40 a.m.): Word is Martin Biron will get the start in net for New York. If that's the case, I guess this becomes a 7-Step Plan. Even easier!

 PHOTO: CHRISTOPHER PASATIERI/NEWSDAY

What is wrong with Kris Versteeg?

Sorry for the late start today.

As I mentioned in the comments yesterday, I'm buried under an avalanche of non-Leafs work. The Star is trying to kill me – kill me! We need a column! Type, type, type. We need a feature! Type, type, type. We need another column! Type, type, type.

Hurry up, boy, type faster!

So today I need to apologize for a second time. And I also need to borrow a stamp from someone because this post is getting mailed in.

The big news today, apparently, is Kris Versteeg.

* As in, he is on a learning curve.

* As in, he is in a slump.

* As in, he is snake-bitten.

Versteeg has 1 assist and 1 goal in five games. And that goal came after he accidentally deflected Tomas Kaberle's point shot during a two-man advantage against Ottawa. So in a way, he has no goals.

Here are five sleep-deprived questions for you to answer, please and thank you:

1. Is something wrong with Versteeg?

2. Why isn't he shooting more?

3. Is he trying too hard to set-up Phil Kessel?

4. Would he be more productive on a different line?

5. Is he getting played in the right situations?

Type, type, type...

PHOTO: PAUL HUNTER/TORONTO STAR

Game 5: Celebrating the value of entertainment

You can look at last night's result in two ways: 1. The Leafs winning streak ended. 2. The Leafs point streak continued.

Me, I'm going with No. 2.

Hockey can be a game of lucky breaks. And last night, the Leafs didn't get any. They outshot the Islanders 30-20. They controlled the play for much of the game, especially the second half. They had more scoring chances, better scoring chances. They had a goal in the second that was waved off. And they celebrated a phantom goal in the third that, upon video review, never crossed the line.

Did they deserve to win? Yes. But as Ron Wilson observed: "What are you going to do?"

Well, for starters, the coach may want to notify Canadian border officials and tell them to be on the lookout for 41-year-old Dwayne Roloson.

The Islander goalie keeps smuggling precious points out of the country. He's also running an illegal shot-stopping sweatshop in the ACC.

Last season in 3 games against Toronto, Roloson stopped 116 of 123 shots. Last night, several of his 29 stops were of the spectacular variety. So thanks to Roloson and some unlucky breaks, the Leafs lost 2-1 in overtime when they could have won 4-1 in regulation time.

But let's not dwell on the game.

It's a long season and Leaf fans, understandably prone to gloom and microscopic analysis, deserve a break from the perennial soul-searching that follows a loss or non-win.

Instead, let's salute the Leafs for returning a precious commodity to this market after it vanished without a trace years ago: Entertainment value.

There was a time, an extended and depressing time, in which it was possible to watch an entire Leafs game while flipping through magazines or catching up on your email. For interminable stretches, the play was choppy. There was a lot of dumping and even more pointless chasing.

No more.

This team skates, passes and hits with authentic conviction. They are not only making plays, they are making beautiful plays. To watch the Leafs, at long last, is to watch a team that competes and fights for every inch of the ice, consequences be damned.

One morning, as we sat in his office, Brian Burke explained it this way:

"We are fun to watch, even when we lose. We provide entertainment value. It's part of the plan. It's one of my pillars. We're not going to win every game, we know that. But we want to justify the price of the ticket."

For this alone, the man deserves a standing ovation.

Bring on the Rangers.

PHOTO: FRANK GUNN/CANADIAN PRESS

Things are fantastic so let's...worry about what might go wrong?

In the interest of ALF B balance – or maybe just in the interest of mixing things up on Monday – I wanted to jot down a few points of pre-emptive caution, a few observations gleaned from the Leafs' dazzling start that might hint at future problems.

But it's really hard to find fault with a team that could be 5-0 in a few hours. Honestly, it's like glancing at Megan Fox or Minka Kelly and saying, "I don't know, why don't you try something different with your hair."

The Leafs are on fire. They are flying. They are flying while on fire and that's not easy.

Nevertheless, in advance of tonight's home game against the Islanders, let's take a momentary break from all this euphoria in Leafs Nation and simply ask three questions:

1. How can the power play become more powerful?

The Leafs, despite being tied for first place, are 17th with the man advantage. In their first four games, they have scored 3 times on 20 chances. Now, granted, this makes the PP far superior to where it was last season, when it finished last. And, yes, it has certainly looked dangerous thus far.

And this is where I start to worry.

Why isn't the team shooting more? Why isn't puck possession on the PP, which is off-the-charts great, translating into more goals? As the team executes crisp passes, circling the puck around the opposition box with the precision of a Swiss watch, why is nobody parking in front of the net to create a screen or cause some havoc?

2. What kind of scoring can Clarke MacArthur realistically provide over the remaining 78 games?

Let's say an old, bearded time traveler from the future visited you this summer and said, "On the morning of October 18, 2010, a Leaf will be tied for the league lead with 5 goals." Here's the conversation that would follow:

You: "Phil Kessel?"

Time traveler: "No."

You: "Nikolai Kulemin?"

Time traveler: "No."

You: "Nazem Kadri?"

Time traveler: "Who?"

You: “Oh, for crying out loud, tell me already!"

Time traveler: "Clarke MacArthur."

At this point, you would've assumed the time traveler was actually a delusional hobo and chased him off your property with a hockey stick.

But here we are and MacArthur is finding openings with such frequency, it's as if his jersey is a cloaking device. He's finishing pretty, 1-2 plays with the confidence of Mario Lemieux. He's one-timing the puck as if his stick is a part of his body. And he's shooting with lethal proficiency.

MacArthur, who now holds the franchise record after scoring goals in his first four games, is responsible for 32 per cent of the Leafs' 16 goals this season. Thirty-two per cent!

And this is where I start to worry.

With 5 goals on 12 shots, his shooting percentage is 41.7. There's no way this can hold. So what kind of shooting percentage should we expect? Well, in the combined 208 games he played with Buffalo and Atlanta, his shooting percentage was 14.7.

If the Leafs are to continue winning, they better start getting some goals from people other than Kessel and MacArthur. I'm not naming names. (But here's a random picture.)

3. Can J.S. Giguere lead this team to the promised land?

I know, right? Am I totally and completely insane? How could I possibly include Jiggy in a list of concerns when the guy is 3-0? Even my wife says he's a great "goal stopper" and she still can't wrap her head around "icing."

In the season opener against Montreal, Giguere prevented the game from going into overtime with two heroic saves in the dying seconds. He didn't have much to do in his next start, a 5-1 win over Ottawa, in which he faced only 18 shots.

And this is where I start to worry.

On Friday against the Rangers, Giguere looked very shaky in the third period. The two goals he surrendered in that frame, which erased a 3-1 Leafs lead, were inexplicable, as if he suddenly lost his vision when the puck was within 5 feet of his mask.

His save percentage is .914, which sounds good. But right now it ranks 23 in the league. More telling: It is the worst among the Top 10 goalies with the most wins.

Whatever? Stats are misleading? We're only four games into the season? This guy is a proven winner? He's a leader in the room?

I don't disagree with any of that. But if Giguere is going to get the bulk of starts, as Ron Wilson has said, the team simply can't afford any late-game lapses, especially when The Monster is sitting on the bench and thinking, "Hey, I could have stopped that."

What are you concerned about?

PHOTO: CHRISOPHER PASATiIERI/NEWSDAY