As soon as Toskala bobbled Lydman’s “shot” and allowed the second goal to trickle in, you knew the game was over. The Leafs (who had been completely dominating the play up to that point) visibly deflated, and the Sabres took complete control of the game.
If Ryan Miller had let in that same fluky goal, everyone in the arena would have simply rolled their wonky eyes and been all, “That was weird, Crunchy”. Then the Sabres would have been right back to business. The Leafs, on the other hand, totally folded up because they knew no matter how well they played after that, they had no chance of winning.
Heh.
Ryan Miller is rad. I’m glad he’s on our team.
Harry Neale is always good for one “Harry-ism” per game. Today’s was this play. To paraphrase Harry, Toskala cou;d be heard snoring on that play!
Ha! you never know that this guy is going to say!
Grier has an awesome game too. He was everywhere!
Funny thing is, if Crunchy had let that in, yea we’d all have said “That was weird, Cruncy”, but he’d be all sassy and just dust his shoulders off. Like a pimp.
Ryan Miller is rad. I’m glad he’s on our team.
Pretty much sums it up!
Serious point: some people are saying it was a “lucky” win because Miller held us in the game during the first and then Toskala gave up a softie.
That’s not luck. That’s having a better goalie.
Totally agree, Kevin. That game was a pretty stark example of a good goalie giving his team a chance to win vs. a bad goalie ruining his team’s chances. It’s an obvious point, but it’s not luck.
Tonight watching the Leafs I kept thinking, “Man, the Sabres are never dead in the water like that with Crunchy at the helm. Sweet.”
Oh, and Phil, SO TRUE.
And here I thought the Sabres didn’t play second periods…..
Having Crunchy is so fun. He’s like the Sabres get out of jail free card.
I think if Ryan let in a goal like that, I would be one of the only people who would freak out about it, even though he’s been playing great otherwise.