Many Positives In Loss To Vancouver

The Leafs played their best game but in the end found a way to lose.  The Leafs got the first goal of the game and scored a power play goal and were leading by two goals early.  To their credit, they effort was present all night and Giguere was very good.  Even after giving up three goals, they managed to tie the game up and make it interesting.  Vancouver took a  harmless looking shot that managed to squeak in for the game winning goal and with the empty net goal put the game away.  It would be easy to point to Giguere for the loss but that would inaccurate.   The goals by Vancouver were generated by shots from the point that managed to get past shot blocking forwards.  With better shot blocking, many of the scoring chances for Vancouver would have been eliminated and the outcome possibly very different.  Aside from the poor shot blocking, it was a very good game by Toronto against an excellent Vancouver team.  Aulie did not look out of place and could be an excellent shut down guy if he stays with the team.  Kadri seemed to inject lots of creativity that seemed lacking all year from Toronto.  With time, Kadri could take some of the pressure off Kessel who did managed a goal.  Lots of positives to take away from this loss, as it appears the Leafs are starting to turn the corner.  The lesson learned is that defensive mistakes need to be minimized to give this team a chance to win every night.  I would welcome a change on the penalty kill that employs the defenders taking away the point and rushing the puck carrier to make quicker decisions at the same time have active sticks that block passes and not shot attempts.