Leafs Win Preseason Opener

 So here we are back for another season following the Toronto Maple Leafs 2021-2022 campaign. Before I talk about tonight’s result, I want to quickly bring readers up to speed on some news and notes that took place during this long offseason. After suffering yet another disappointing first round exit this time at the hands of the Montreal Canadiens the Leafs roster saw some substantial changes. Fans would say goodbye to Mr. Reliable Zach Hyman as he would join the Edmonton Oilers, but they would welcome additions to the likes of former Bruins Andrej Kase, and Nick Ritchie along with Kurtis Gabriel and Michael Bunting just to name a few. Kyle Dubas would make an adjustment to his teams coaching staff adding former Hershey Bears coach and former AHL Coach of the year Spencer Carbery who will now look after the Leafs powerplay that at the start of last year was very effective but in the final 35 games of the season only managed to score 9 times. Lastly, and probably the most surprising was the news that Forward Ilya Mikheyev had asked for a trade from the Leafs looking to go play for a team where he would have a more important role, but management declined saying they see Ilya as an important part of the roster.

So now that you’re caught up on some news and notes let’s talk about Saturday’s preseason matchup. For the first time since game 7 these two longtime rivals would meet, and the arena would be at 50% capacity. With this only being the start of preseason, we wouldn’t see many familiar names but there would be one name that the fans in attendance would be happy to hear. Captain John Tavares would play in his first game since suffering that horrific injury in game one of the playoffs.

Starting in goal in this game for the host Maple Leafs would be Michael Hutchinson who last season posted a respectable 8-4-2 record stepping in for Toronto when both Freddie Andersen and Jack Campbell were battling injuries. In goal for the visiting Canadiens would be goalie prospect Cayden Primeau who would be chased from the goal in his previous meeting against Toronto.

The first period would see the see the action start a little slow and cautious at first, but Kurtis Gabriel would provide a spark by doing what he does best and that’s hitting anything that moved. Kurtis throwing his weight around would energize the fans and the fans would be rewarded as midway through period one Toronto would open the scoring as William Nylander would set up Jake Muzzin with a perfect pass and Muzzin would send the puck passed Primeau hitting the mesh to put Toronto up 1-0. It’s worth mentioning Toronto would get some work on the penalty kill as Sandin would serve an interference minor and Marlies Captain Rich Clune would get a penalty for boarding but thankfully to some strong play in the Leaf end and some efficient clearing of the puck Toronto’s penalty kill would be perfect through 20 minutes of action and the Leafs would carry their one goal lead into the intermission.

Period two would see Toronto absolutely dominate their opponent and the crowd would have reason to cheer as once again Gabriel was throw a big hit that would lead to him having his first fight with his hometown team and once again getting the crowd on his side. In all honesty in my opinion, I don’t know if this guy will be an everyday player for Sheldon Keefe and the Leafs but when he is called upon if he consistently plays physically and drops the gloves when needed he will quickly become a fan favorite. Now, Toronto would get to work on the powerplay and as we all know with the struggles on man advantage last season a key topic would be how the Leafs would perform this season when on a powerplay. Thankfully we wouldn’t have to wait long because with just ten seconds gone Rasmus Sandin would team up with William Nylander who would have his point shot deflected by John Tavares for his first of the exhibition season and giving Nylander his second assist of the contest. With Toronto’s lead now doubled momentum was clearly on their side and their strong play would pay off as former Arizona Coyote and Scarborough native Michael Bunting would collect his first goal as a Leaf as TJ Brodie after collecting a cross ice pass from Mike Amadio, Brodie would then send a pass out front to Bunting who would find the back of the net giving Toronto and their fans a 3-0 lead which be the score heading into the final frame.

Period three would be when a goalie switch would take place, and for Montreal Michael McNiven would step in and with Michael Hutchinson’s night done or so we thought Marlies prospect Ian Scott would take over. However, Scott would leave the game after making three saves in just over 4 minutes of action with what was originally thought to be an equipment issue it was confirmed by Sheldon Keefe after the game that Ian Scott had suffered a groin injury and was going to miss some time. So, with Hutchinson back in goal and Toronto holding a three goal lead they looked to just coast through the rest of this period because you wouldn’t want to risk any more possible injuries. With time in regulation chipping away Toronto would in fact add to their lead as Montreal’s McNiven would skate out to play the puck but unfortunately for him his clearing attempt would end up on the stick of Kurtis Gabriel and he would send the puck into the wide-open cage. With Toronto leading 4-0 now and the game well in hand the only thing that remained to be seen was would the shutout remain intact. Sadly, Tyler Toffoli had other plans as he would beat a pinching TJ Brodie and would score on the breakaway with just under two minutes remaining. Time would run out and Toronto would win this game 4-1 but with-it being exhibition both teams agreed to take part in a shootout so that they could work on it. William Nylander and Cole Caufield would both score for their respective teams meaning we would need sudden death to decide who wins the shootout. Ilya Mikheyev would be called upon to shoot in the extra round and would go on and score the winning goal. So, the Leafs win the game and the bonus shootout. Now I know it’s only training camp and these games in the grand scheme of things don’t matter but for Ilya’s sake I hope that goal in the shootout for him is the start of something positive.

 

The next game for the Leafs comes Monday night when these two teams will once again play each other. So here we are Leaf fans back for another season of Maple Leafs hockey  as always thank you so much for reading.