After watching the Leafs play a quality game against Nashville on Monday night, I’m confident the boys needed the rest. Having Muzzin back in the lineup certainly didn’t hurt the Leafs defense, but the play of Rasmus Sandin is what shined from the Leafs back end.
Sandin scored his first National Hockey League goal and also picked up an assist in the big win. The Leafs upper management has decided to burn a year of Sandin’s contract as that was his tenth game played of the season. I’m a big fan of the move as I’m a big fan of the youngster defenseman. Now it’s time to put together a quality winning record from here until the end of regular season. A healthy Rielly and perhaps a move at the deadline could really put the Leafs in the driver’s seat as we make our way to the home stretch.
William Nylander. Isn’t it amazing what playing in pre-season and the first thirty games of regular season can do? Let’s hope the rest of the players and prospects coming up the pipeline see what holding out can do. It’s a good thing Willy got his act together or things would have got ugly quick as the rabid Toronto fan base would have had their ways. There shouldn’t be too many complaints now that Nylander is crushing it and has been on a scoring rampage as of late. Willy has scored in four straight games but has a beautiful twelve goals in fifteen games and nine helpers to go with it. I’d say he’s worth his 6.9 million cap hit right now!
Another offensive/defensive player that has been excellent since returning to the Leafs lineup is Zach Hyman. He’s not only been great for the Leafs penalty kill, chipping in with a short hander to boot, but he’s been dialing in offensively with 23 points in 31 games. He’s continuing to impress the Leafs brass as he has since the day he joined the Leafs. Hyman is an underrated depth player and will be huge for the Buds come playoffs.
Tonight’s game against the Dallas Stars will not be an easy one. The Stars are 7-3 in their last ten and it seems as if Jamie Benn has come to life after starting the season in the garbage chute. Dallas finally has some quality goaltending, and a tandem that has been effective all season.
Ben Bishop and Frederik Andersen will likely be the starters in tonight’s battle royal. The Leafs are still out of a playoff spot where the Stars are sitting pretty at third place in the Central division just two points back of the Avalanche. The blue and white will have to keep an eye on the Stars top line that has been reunited (Benn-Seguin-Radulov), but also youngsters Gurianov and Hintz if healthy.
So it looks like Eddy “the Eagle… Belfour has got himself into some trouble again. It’s unfortunate to see and I hope Eddy can get himself back on track at some point. He was a Dallas goaltender before joining the Maple Leafs back in 2002. The Eagle played in Dallas for five seasons before coming to Toronto, and he was phenomenal in the Dallas days. With five all star games, seven awards earned, four honors and a Stanley Cup Champion in the 98-99 season, Eddy found himself in the hall of fame in 2011.
We’re routing for you Eddy!
Tonight’s game starts at 7:30 PM EST. Let’s get that streak started. Enjoy!
Thanks for reading.
Go Leafs Go!