Reimer, Burke, and the leadership Phaneuf's been showing has helped us tremendously.
Dion was talking in here, trying to get the boys fired up,? said goalie James Reimer. ?Mike Komisarek, all the veterans (followed), saying what we need to do. As a team we just kind of settled in here and took some time to realize what we each had to do out there to be better, and it worked.? The Maple Leafs pulled off a 4-3 come-from-behind regulation win over Buffalo on Saturday night to keep the heat on the Sabres and New York Rangers, who are holding down the last two playoff spots in the Eastern Conference.
?Didn?t have to say much,? said Phaneuf. ?We knew what was on the line. We played a pretty good second but we let them back into it. The only thing that was said was, ?We?ve got 20 minutes to make this our game.? We did that. It feels great.
?It?s the biggest win of the year for our team, but now we move forward to a bigger game on Monday.?
Phaneuf played a team-high 28 minutes 20 seconds, the third straight game in which he?s played at least 28 minutes. He also led the team with six hits. He hasn?t played less than 25 minutes in a game in a month, as coach Ron Wilson has relied on him even more since the departures of Francois Beauchemin and Tomas Kaberle.
Phaneuf might have been at his team-leading best when the Sabres ? with the net empty ? called a timeout. Phaneuf yapped and chatted at all his teammates, skating to Reimer, then player to player, offering encouragement.
His post-game demeanor in front of cameras may be staid, but on ice he?s the emotional polar opposite of Mats Sundin.
?We?ve got great leadership here,? said Reimer.
If Dion could play like this all season and be healthy, then the Dion from Calgary is back. I'm even more excited for the Capitals vs Leafs game on April 5th because they're playing great, and it's a real good enviroment. I'll be wearing my Grabovski jersey with pride.
Topic: Hockey Talk (Read 224957 times)