For the latest Leafs updates or Follow @mikeinbuffalo on Twitter The acquisition of John Tavares continues to excite Toronto Maple Leafs fans nearly three months after the Mississauga, ON native signed a seven-year, $77 Million contract, as the club’s new center scored a pair of goals in a 5-3 victory over the Buffalo Sabres. Tavares tallied in the first period after feeding Mitch Marner on a breakout and converting on Linus Ullmark’s rebound of a Timothy Liljegren shot and iced the game with an empty netter in the final minutes of regulation. Ron Hainsey, Pierre Engvall and Chris Mueller also scored and Garret Sparks and Curtis McElhinney split duties for Toronto, who are a perfect 3-0 in the exhibition schedule and face the Sabres in the second of their home-and-home series at Key Bank Center on Saturday.
.@91Tavares gets his first in front of the fans in Toronto. pic.twitter.com/NyPYhFbQut
— NHL GIFs (@NHLGIFs) September 21, 2018
Plus / Minus for Game 3 Minus - Although there are five games and over a week to go before the final roster cutdown to 23 players, goalie Garret Sparks may look at his performance on Saturday as the reason he will not unseat Curtis McElhinney. Sparks allowed three goals on 12 shots against Buffalo, including a juicy rebound that Andrew Oglevie converted 30 seconds into the game and a CJ Smith goal later in the first where he was down and at the Sabre forward’s mercy.
Plus - McElhinney was solid in relief of Sparks, keeping Buffalo off the scoreboard, who had 20 shots and three power plays in the second half of the game. Barring a significant drop off this week, I cannot see how the Leafs choose to keep Sparks as the backup over the 35-year-old veteran if the decision is purely on who is performing better.
Putting pen to paper. #LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/VzoHSeR3Um
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) September 22, 2018
Minus - Ron Hainsey surprised many with his performance on the top pairing with Morgan Rielly early last season, but the veteran’s performance dropped off considerably with head coach Mike Babcock’s overuse as a 20+ minute blueliner and using him more than any NHL defenseman in short-handed situations. The 37-year-old has not looked sharp in his two outings, which could be simply that he is conserving himself for a long and difficult season ahead, but it could be a concern if his struggles extend into the regular season.
Plus - The pairing of 2017 first rounder Timothy Liljegren and 2018 top pick Rasmus Sandin had another impressive performance on Friday. Liljegren had an assist on Tavares’ first goal and appeared more confident carrying the puck and getting involved offensively, while Sandin led the Leafs 4 hits on the evening and showed an ability to make quick decisions with the puck that impressed his head coach. “(Sandin) is a good player. Guys that are smarter than everyone else look like they are fearless, because it is no big deal, it is just hockey for them.… Babcock said. “He knows how to play, he knows what to do, he doesn’t force things (and) plays simple.…
Minus - Martin Marincin…...need I say anything more. The lanky blueliner was chiefly responsible for Tage Thompson’s tying goal due to his turnover just inside the Sabres blueline. If it was possible to just play Marincin as a penalty killing specialist, he could be an effective role player, but as a regular defenseman he makes too many mistakes to ever be trusted with significant ice time.
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A trip down memory lane, five years ago tonight was the now infamous John Scott - Phil Kessel incident at Air Canada Centre in which David Clarkson jumped off the bench to defend his teammate and was suspended 10 games. Time flies…..
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