The Leafs May Not Have Eliminated the Sabres But That's Ok

The Leafs didn't eliminate the Sabres but they kept hope alive. With a loss Toronto is still not mathematically eliminated from the draft lottery. Yes! Hope!

Carolina has won nine straight games, and dreams have been shattered before in Raleigh (see: Game Seven, 2006 Eastern Conference finals). Plus, the folks in RBC Center aren't shy about tweaking the Sabres.

They usually pull little scoreboard tricks during the game. They show Bills legend Jim Kelly saying "Let's go, Canes," even though he's talking his alma mater, the Miami Hurricanes. Last time out, they wrote, "As part of President Obama's stimulus plan, America has offered Buffalo to Canada. Canada politely refused." It's certain to get worse. - Buffalo News

Wow, the media folks at the RBC Center are way ahead of us in terms of trolling Sabres fans. We might need to make a phone call. For the record, Buffalo is nicer than the South.

It was a game with numbers so big, you had to break out the calculator. But no matter what how you figured them, they added up to another Maple Leafs loss.

But it's pretty amazing that for a team with no playoff hopes, a 3-1 loss to Buffalo in Game 81 of an 82-game season ended up being so significant. It started off with forward Brad May being fêted for career game No.1,000, receiving a silver stick from Red Kelly and a video tribute prior to the game. - The Star

Why would I need a calculator? The largest number in that paragraph is one thousand. There are no mathematical operations taking place. Brad May played one thousand games. Oh wait, I better get a calculator to see what one thousand looks like.

1... 0... 0... 0. Whoa that's something.

It ended with Curtis Joseph – playing quite possibly his last game at the Air Canada Centre – losing career game No. 352, tying Gump Worsley for most losses in NHL history.

"There are too many good things in my life for me to even think about losses," said Joseph, who faced 29 shots, and who also sits fourth all-time in NHL wins with 454.

CuJo has so many good things going on with his life he also doesn't think about stopping the puck. For example:

Gross. Oh well, another loss, another step closer to the draft. At least Dominic Moore didn't do anything useful last night.

In honour of the Masters, Leafs coach Ron Wilson – an avid golfer – was thinking of offering a green jacket to the Leafs minus leader next season. Of course, said Wilson, no one would want to win this attire.

That's one way to get Taylor Hall I suppose. "Great work Oreskovic, you shot 5 under par tonight against Atlanta."

But a pair of defensive miscues in the third – including a puzzling cross-ice pass from Ian White midway through the third that led to Vanek's goal – cemented Joseph's place in sharing Worsley's ignoble place in history.

Defensive miscues or clever preparation for 2009-2010? You decide.