It certainly wasn’t the outcome I expected to see on Saturday night after the Leafs scored their fourth goal of the night giving them a 4-1 lead. They blew it, simple as that. It wasn’t anyone’s fault in particular although some could blame Kapanen for his stick throw as he may have ‘thrown’ away the game there on top of his twig. Some could blame the Leafs sloppy play defensively letting a team as weak as Montreal’s offense is; they stormed back and caught the Leafs off guard. Hutchinson was certainly not looking like an NHL goalie and the Leafs fizzled as the game winded down; seems as if the boys ran out of juice.

But, and this is when I love to hear a but, the Leafs still managed to get a point and now have a possible five out of six points. Matthews is on fire, scoring a goal in every game. Marner and Tavares have been clicking and both Barrie and Rielly look outstanding on the back end. Nylander looks like he’s going to elevate his game this season after a frustrating season last year with his late start and both Moore and Mikheyev look like great fits with their respected line.

There is a lot more good than bad after three games.

A few things to note:

Kapanen may get bumped down to the third line once Hyman returns. I fully expect it, especially the way he’s been playing/contributing. This will likely bump Timashov out of the lineup (my guess) and one of Mikheyev or Moore will move to the fourth line. But, if that line is continuing to play great hockey, who knows, we just may see Babcock move Kapanen to the fourth line. Would he? I don’t think so because Kapanen is better than that, but perhaps to light a fire under his arse for a small stint there. Time will tell, but Hyman is recovering well and he’s a true horse for that Marner/Tavares combo and you can bet they will be happy to have him back in the lineup.

Leafs power play is a monster. A true monster. Last year it started red hot then simmered down as the season went on. This year I expect the exact opposite as they have made some adjustments and when everyone is comfortable in their new spot they will have a couple different options to throw out at the opposition. Matthews is now on the off wing (right side) and we may see him blast a few more one timers this year because of it. The Leafs also have the option of using one of Nylander or Barrie on the first unit if they want to give it a different dimension on the ice. That’s the beauty of this season’s lineup; the talent pool is endless.

Tonight the Leafs will face the defending Stanley Cup Champions and I just so happen to have a ticket to the game. May have to pop into Real Sports and get the C stitched on my fresh Tavares jersey, but that would cut into my pre game beer drinking so it’s going to be tough to sway me away from that!

Schwartz-Schenn-Tarsenko
Blais-O’Reilly-Perron
Fabbri-Bozak-Sanford
Barbashev-Sundqvist-Steen

Gunnarsson-Pietrangelo
Bouwmeester-Parayko
Dunn-Faulk

Binnington

_____

You can see the overall depth of the Blues is magnificent, and now that they have a goalie in Binnington they are the real deal. Leafs will have to play a complete game tonight if they want to continue to add in the points department.

Toronto has three games this week. They will host Tampa Bay on Thursday and travel to the “dirty D” in Detroit to face the Red Wings. The wings are off to a shocking 2-0 start thanks to Anthony Mantha’s four goals last night. Tampa is 1-1-1 and it should be an excellent game by two of the NHL’s best teams.

Enjoy tonight’s game and thanks for reading.

Leafs Nation.

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