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The Toronto Maple Leafs recovered from a slow start against the Ottawa Senators, as Auston Matthews continued his dominance in season openers with a pair of goals in a 5-3 victory at Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday.
Matthews, who opened his career three years ago with a four-goal performance against the Sens, broke a 2-2 tie after Ron Hainsey’s goal midway through the second period was waved off with an even strength goal on a setup from William Nylander and converted on the man advantage with a one-timer on a pass from Mitch Marner.
Frederik Gauthier, Trevor Moore, and rookie Ilya Mikheyev scored for Toronto and Frederik Andersen made 23 saves for his first victory of the season.
“I thought it was a perfect start for them. You know, you come out, we're nervous, bang it in our net and then we get three power plays in a row and we're borderline dysfunctional, tense, couldn't move. We didn't skate. But I thought once we got through that down 1-0, I thought we played.… Leafs head coach Mike Babcock said after the game. “I was really impressed with the Kerfoot line tonight – Mikheyev and Moore and those guys look good. The more depth you have – everyone knows Matthews is good, I know that too – but it's those other guys that create depth that allow you to be better I think are important for us.…
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Game 1 – Thumbs Up and Thumbs Down
Up
Soup for you, Ilya
KHL import Ilya Mikheyev made quite an impression in his NHL debut, playing over 15 minutes, killing penalties, assisting on Trevor Moore’s goal in the second period and scoring his first goal on a one-timer past Craig Anderson.
The 24-year-old was in good spirits after the game and took a crack at talking to the media in English about the challenges of moving to Canada and his favorite food.
“The language…because I'm learning English with my teacher in Russia at home.… Mikheyev said. “What's important for me, I don't know why – I like soup, I don't know why you don't eat soup. My girlfriend is cooking and I'm very happy when I eat.…
Meet Toronto’s new Souperman! Which companies want to bring soup to Canada? #WhoIsWithGoldStar? pic.twitter.com/o545iCqHw9
— Dan Milstein-Hockey (@HockeyAgent1) October 3, 2019
Barrie Good
Tyson Barrie played things close to the vest during the preseason, but showed how much of a difference maker he could be this season in the opener, finishing second to Matthews with six shots on goal, assisting on Gauthier’s tying goal and setting up Mikheyev with a nice cross-ice pass in just under 20 minutes ice time.
Jake Who???
Johnny T with the “C…
The decision to choose John Tavares as the next captain of the Maple Leafs was a sound one, but making a choice was long overdue. GM Kyle Dubas indicated that the decision was made before last week’s revelation involving Auston Matthews and had nothing to do with the fact that Tavares had served as a team captain with the New York Islanders.
If that was the case, naming Tavares should have occurred during the summer or at the beginning of training camp and not minutes before the start of the regular season. That being said, the introduction before the game and the reveal was appreciated by the Scotiabank Arena crowd, and thankfully the debate and concern over who wears the C is over with.
Down
Shaming Spezza
This is now well covered territory, but the scratching of veteran Jason Spezza for the home opener in favor of Nick Shore was an unnecessary distraction created by Mike Babcock and likely done because he wanted to show who was still boss when it comes to the lineup.
GM Kyle Dubas had to answer just as many questions about Spezza during a press availability on Wednesday than about the choice of Tavares as captain.
Shore played a team-low 8:33 on the evening centering Dmytro Timashov and Gauthier and Spezza will draw in against Columbus on Friday, so why was it so important to scratch the veteran and not play Shore against the Blue Jackets.
Spoon-feeding Sandin
Rookie Rasmus Sandin notched his first NHL point on Moore’s goal in the second period, but the 19-year-old played less than nine minutes in his NHL debut. While it is understandable to lean more heavily on the veterans early on and protect a rookie from certain matchups, the Leafs were playing the Senators, who are expected to be one of the worst teams in the NHL this season.
Perhaps Babcock will give Sandin more time as the month progresses, but how can a proper evaluation be made on whether he should stay up with the Leafs if he does not get a chance to play more.
You make my nightmares come true
The Hall and Oates tune “You Make My Dreams (Come True)… is back as the Leafs goal song for another year. While the club displayed a new pre-game light show and team introduction for the home opener, the 80’s pop song returned for a second season.
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The Pod on Pod. Have a listen on @ApplePodcasts.
— Norman James (@IamNormanJames) October 3, 2019
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