Fit to be tied...then came the shootout

First the obvious. The Toronto Maple Leafs deserved to win the shootout last night. John Mitchell and Nikolai Kulemin's goals were wonderful and Phil Kessel had Jaroslav Halak beat if not for the crossbar. Jonas Gustavsson stoned Scott Gomez while Brian Gionta seemed to think that it was a good idea to shoot right at Fat Gustavsson, er sorry, The Monster. All of this is true.

But it's not an indication at all of last nights game. For two periods (to quote the great Rasheed Wallace) "Both teams played hard man, both teams played hard." It was excited, fast, back and forth hockey. The scored netted a one apiece. And then, Kessel scored. And the Leafs killed off the a double minor (and all of the previous power-plays). Toronto had the momentum. But couldn't put Montreal away. Take a look at nhl.com's Play By Play description of the third period.

I'll wait.

Okay let's review:
2:56 FAC TOR won Def. Zone - MTL #94 PYATT vs TOR #42 BOZAK
3:02 MISS MTL #44 HAMRLIK, Wrist, Over Net, Off. Zone, 52 ft.
3:18 BLOCK MTL #6 SPACEK BLOCKED BY TOR #41 KULEMIN, Wrist, Def. Zone
3:55 HIT TOR #2 SCHENN HIT MTL #42 MOORE, Def. Zone
4:03 TAKE TOR TAKEAWAY - #84 GRABOVSKI, Off. Zone 
4:03 MISS TOR #84 GRABOVSKI, Slap, Wide of Net, Off. Zone, 38 ft.
4:09 BLOCK TOR #2 SCHENN BLOCKED BY MTL #26 GORGES, Slap, Def. Zone
4:13 FAC MTL won Neu. Zone - MTL #91 GOMEZ vs TOR #51 WALLIN
4:35 BLOCK TOR #3 PHANEUF BLOCKED BY MTL #57 POULIOT, Slap, Def. Zone
4:40 FAC TOR won Neu. Zone - MTL #14 PLEKANEC vs TOR #42 BOZAK
5:09  GIVE MTL GIVEAWAY - #41 HALAK, Def. Zone
5:35 HIT MTL #52 DARCHE HIT TOR #2 SCHENN, Off. Zone

So far a pretty dominant period by the Leafs but with a number of shots blocked and flat out missed. Now comes the deluge:

5:59 HIT TOR #11 SJOSTROM HIT MTL #40 LAPIERRE, Off. Zone
6:14 SHOT TOR ONGOAL - #11 SJOSTROM, Wrist, Off. Zone, 35 ft.
6:21 SHOT TOR ONGOAL - #45 STALBERG, Snap, Off. Zone, 13 ft.
6:28 HIT TOR #45 STALBERG HIT MTL #40 LAPIERRE, Off. Zone
6:32 MISS TOR #22 BEAUCHEMIN, Snap, Over Net, Off. Zone, 33 ft.
7:28 SHOT TOR ONGOAL - #15 KABERLE, Wrist, Off. Zone, 48 ft. - GOALIE STOPPED,TV TIMEOUT
7:28 FAC TOR won Off. Zone - MTL #91 GOMEZ vs TOR #39 MITCHELL
7:35 BLOCK TOR #20 HANSON BLOCKED BY MTL #6 SPACEK, Snap, Def. Zone

7:52 HIT TOR #22 BEAUCHEMIN HIT MTL #6 SPACEK, Off. Zone
8:01 SHOT TOR ONGOAL - #20 HANSON, Slap, Off. Zone, 44 ft.
8:09 MISS MTL #91 GOMEZ, Wrist, Wide of Net, Off. Zone, 41 ft.
8:27 STOP OFFSIDE

Just over two minutes completely dominated by the Leafs. Four shots on goal, one over the net and one blocked at the point until the Habs clear the zone. A very well played period so far for the Maple Leafs but they're unable to score. We continue.

8:27 FAC MTL won Neu. Zone - MTL #14 PLEKANEC vs TOR #42 BOZAK
8:48 BLOCK MTL #26 GORGES BLOCKED BY TOR #41 KULEMIN, Snap, Def. Zone
8:57 HIT TOR #42 BOZAK HIT MTL #14 PLEKANEC, Neu. Zone
9:23 BLOCK TOR #84 GRABOVSKI BLOCKED BY MTL #20 O'BYRNE, Wrist, Def. Zone
9:39 MTL #40 LAPIERRE HIT TOR #11 SJOSTROM, Def. Zone
9:51 HIT TOR #3 PHANEUF HIT MTL #40 LAPIERRE, Def. Zone
9:58 STOP OFFSIDE
9:58  FAC TOR won Neu. Zone - MTL #91 GOMEZ vs TOR #20 HANSON
10:27 MISS MTL #57 POULIOT, Wrist, Wide of Net, Off. Zone, 43 ft.
10:51 TAKE TOR TAKEAWAY - #42 BOZAK, Neu. Zone
10:59 TAKE MTL TAKEAWAY - #74 KOSTITSYN, Def. Zone
11:10 BLOCK MTL #20 O'BYRNE BLOCKED BY TOR #41 KULEMIN, Wrist, Def. Zone
11:10 STOP PUCK IN CROWD
11:10 TOR won Def. Zone - MTL #14 PLEKANEC vs TOR #42 BOZAK
11:42 BLOCK MTL #74 KOSTITSYN BLOCKED BY TOR #2 SCHENN, Backhand, Def. Zone
12:16 BLOCK MTL #52 DARCHE BLOCKED BY TOR #36 GUNNARSSON, Backhand, Def. Zone
12:25 MISS TOR #45 STALBERG, Wrist, Wide of Net, Off. Zone, 26 ft.
12:31 PENL TOR #11 SJOSTROM Tripping(2 min), Off. Zone Drawn By: MTL #26 GORGES

No shots on goal but the Leafs have had to block four Canadiens' blasts, while Toronto have managed one shot (blocked) and a missed shot. Less back-and-forth. with the now Canadiens controlling play by a silm majority. And then, Fredrick Sjostrom committs a stupid penalty. His team is beginning to tire. Beauchmin and Phaneuf stay on the ice, having been on for at least 15 seconds. And then this happens:

12:31 FAC TOR won Def. Zone - MTL #14 PLEKANEC vs TOR #39 MITCHELL
13:01 MISS MTL #6 SPACEK, Slap, Wide of Net, Off. Zone, 52 ft.
13:10 SHOT MTL ONGOAL - #57 POULIOT, Wrist, Off. Zone, 25 ft
13:13 SHOT MTL ONGOAL - #57 POULIOT, Snap, Off. Zone, 21 ft.
13:26 TAKE TOR TAKEAWAY - #22 BEAUCHEMIN, Def. Zone
13:54 MTL #21 GIONTA(23), Tip-In, Off. Zone, 22 ft. Assists: #91 GOMEZ(41); #6 SPACEK(18)

The Maple Leafs' penalty kill, which has been so great up unitl this point, is fried. Previously it was challenging the Canadiens in the neutral zone and at the blue line, allowing no goals and just six shots in the previous five goes. Now, it backs off and allows the Montrealers to set up. Rather then zero or one shot, the Habs now muster up three shots including Gionta's equalizer.

The rest of the game is more of the same. Neither team is dominant and both defenses/goaltenders are unwilling to let in a game winner. Just five more shots for the Leafs and three for the Habs. Both team account for another seven blocked shots. Thoroughly enjoyable from this neutral fan's persceptive. The home team has wavered and is losing momentum but wouldn't given up the game winning goal. The road side has overcome the deficit but can't find their way to the back of the net. From my point of view, this is how it should end. A two-all draw, no one happy but both sides knowing that they earned the point. Instead, individualism triumphs over team. One-on-one becomes the story of a well played game of five-on-five. The Toronto faithful steal a point and while the visitors can't help to wonder "What if?"

This isn't the game I love. This is a farce. A side-show created so that "supposed" hockey fan can have a result. A winner. The problem is that sometimes, there isn't one. The two teams have played each other so evenly that a shared result is best one.

"For the good of the game," they said when the shootout was added. Not mine. Not mine.