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The Toronto Maple Leafs successfully rebounded from another puzzling effort against the lowly Arizona Coyotes with a 6-2 victory over the Colorado Avalanche in Denver on New Year’s Eve. The Leafs never trailed in the contest against the Stanley Cup champions, scoring twice in the first period and a pair in the span of 24 seconds after the Avs had narrowed the lead to 3-2 in the second.
Michael Bunting tallied twice, Mitch Marner, Pierre Engvall, Auston Matthews, and TJ Brodie scored for Toronto, and Matt Murray bounced back from a pedestrian effort in Arizona with 26 saves for his ninth victory of the season.
The club will begin 2023 with a three-game homestand on Tuesday, facing St. Louis for the second time in a week, but the Blues will be without team captain Ryan O’Reilly (broken foot) and winger Vladimir Tarasenko (hand injury), who were both placed in injured reserve on Monday. The Leafs made a roster move, demoting winger Joey Anderson to the AHL Marlies with defenseman Rasmus Sandin coming off injured reserve.
At practice on Monday, winger Dryden Hunt remained on the fourth line with Pontus Holmberg and Zach Aston-Reese, Sandin resumed his normal spot on the left side with countryman Timothy Liljegren, Morgan Rielly and Brodie were reunited, and Mark Giordano was paired with Justin Holl.
With eight healthy defensemen, it appears that the odd man out to start the homestand is Conor Timmins, who skated with extra Jordie Benn at Ford Performance Centre.
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An interesting item from Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman’s 32 Thoughts during Saturday’s broadcast. Friedman believed that the Leafs were poised to take a big swing on a defenseman to improve their chances in a playoff run. That might still be the play, but the way the defense played while Rielly, Brodie, and Jake Muzzin were out may have altered the “big swing” philosophy, in favor of two smaller moves.
Toronto has limited cap space, and are not stocked with draft picks, which are contributing factors to more strategic moves for a depth defenseman and a forward or possibly two forwards.
Adding a defenseman does not make a lot of sense with the Leafs carrying eight, unless one of them are part of the deal or a blueliner coming in provides a different aspect, such as physicality. Friedman hinted that Toronto could be looking for another scorer (likely to play with John Tavares and Mitch Marner), but it is also possible that GM Kyle Dubas could be looking for a physical top-nine forward to provide some pushback.
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • 
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