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Matthews return leads to Maple Leafs domination

November 20, 2017, 10:35 AM ET [249 Comments]
Lucas Neilson
Blogger •Atlantic Division Writer • RSSArchiveCONTACT
When Matthews buried the sixth goal of the game and the camera zoomed in on him and he had a big smile on his face, that there was the story of the game.

The Leafs trampled the Canadiens on Saturday night, on home ice. A six to nothing slaughtering and a number of Montreal fans exiting the building early as Leafs fans enjoyed their early exit. It really was embarrassing for the Montreal team as they played a decent first period and then the wheels fell off.

Ron Hainsey scored his first goal in the Maple Leafs uniform and that really opened things up for Toronto as they proceeded to score 35 seconds later when Nazem Kadri potted his tenth of the season on a nice shot on a tricky angle.

Then the flood gates truthfully opened and the Leafs potted four more goals in the third period. Connor Brown shelfed a rebound to start the period, just 25 seconds in. After that it was JVR scoring his tenth of the season and big Auston thought he would join the party and netted two more and he regained his scoring lead for the Maple Leafs with twelve goals on the season.

Andersen was solid in the first period when the Leafs were getting peppered with shots, if he let in a goal in the early going of this game it could have had a different end result. Instead, he secured his second shutout in a row and is now 12-6 on the season. Andersen is feeling the flow and must have been working on a few things when the Leafs had their short break with only two games last week.

Watching Nazem Kadri get hit from behind by one of the league’s worst Captains in Max Pacioretty, you just knew there was going to be a reaction. Kadri gets hit in the numbers by Pacioretty and goes flying into the boards, it could have resulted in an injury as it was a dangerous hit. Of course Max ran to the bench after the hit, Kadri of course was looking for someone to hit. He found someone alright, and it was probley the last person on Montreal I would want to mess with, big Shea Weber.

Honestly was Weber in space there? Did he not see his Captain lay the dirty hit and knew Kadri would react? His head was down and he was looking at his skate laces and boom, Kadri leveled Weber with a big hit. Weber of course dropped his gloves and he and Jordie Benn jumped Nazem and gave him a few shots. I’m still not sure what the penalty is against Kadri, but it mattered not as this game was over. Weber looked a little sour if you ask me.

That’s six in a row for the Leafs as they prepare for a busy week beginning tonight. The Leafs will host the Arizona Coyotes tonight who have been horrible this season (pretty much every season). Arizona has been a bit better as of late so the Leafs will have to jump on them early and continue their first period dominance. The Coyotes are coming off 3-2 overtime victory against the Senators and have now won two in a row but are still (4-15-3) and their eleven points on the season is the league’s worst.

Toronto has four games this week (Monday-Arizona, Wednesday – Florida, Friday – Carolina, Saturday – Washington).

I’d have to say I like this weekly schedule and I feel the way the boys in blue and white are playing they have a very good chance to improve their already impressive record. Look for Andersen to get the nod tonight as he’s too hot not to start.

Thanks for reading, have a great week.

Go Leafs Go!
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