Leafs Hold Off Wings

The last few days have been exciting if you are a fan of Toronto sports. Friday afternoon news broke that I do not think any Leaf fan was expecting but Morgan Reilly the longest tenured Leaf had signed an eight-year contract extension for a total sixty million dollars working out to 7.5 million dollars a season starting next year and going all the way to the 29-30 season. This deal came out of no where and I do not think all the talking heads at TSN were happy with the news because they would now be 0-2 on their predictions. First when Tavares signed through free agency right away, we heard “oh Nylander has to go you can’t keep him” well the last time I checked Nylander was still a member of the Maple Leafs. Going into this season the “experts” were at it again saying Toronto cannot keep Reilly they will not be able to afford him. Well, going into training camp this season Morgan told management he did not want to leave, and he was willing to take a pay cut to stay here. At seven and a half million dollars a year for the next eight that is a cap hit that leaves both sides happy. Now are there going to be changes to the roster throughout this season and coming offseason so that Toronto can fit under the cap? Of course, there will be but instead of trying to figure out what potential moves could happen lets just sit back and let the GM Kyle Dubas take care of it and as fans lets be happy that Morgan wanted to stay in the blue and white.

The fun does not stop there as Saturday at BMO Field the Toronto Argonauts needed overtime but managed to beat the visiting BC Lions booking their ticket to the CFL Playoffs with the hopes of winning their 18^th Grey Cup and their first since 2017. Finally, the Maple Leafs beat the Red Wings lets talk about it.

After snapping that frustrating four game losing streak in Chicago the Leafs returned to the Bank to begin a home stand starting with a visit from the Detroit Red Wings. The squad from Motown has shown so far in this young season that they are not a guaranteed win night like they have been the last few seasons. Detroit has a team full of rising talent and they make you work hard for your two points. The Wings would be without their leading scorer Tyler Bertuzzi as he is unable to travel into Canada due to choosing not to get vaccinated. The goaltending matchup for this game would be Thomas Greiss for the visitors and after missing the last two weeks with a groin injury Petr Mrazek would make his home debut facing his former team.

 

Justin Holl would find himself a healthy scratch meaning Liljegren would draw in pairing with Sandin, Jake Muzzin would now partner with TJ Brodie, and Travis Dermott would move up to the top pair with Morgan Reilly. Early on this season starts to a game have been an issue and usually Leaf fans would watch their team be outworked in the opening period and it would often lead to Toronto having to play catch up to try and collect the two points. This game however we would see the Leafs start the game with a purpose and right away the Leafs would collect chances forcing Griess to make some difficult saves of his own. Both goalies in fact were good when called upon as Mrazek had to work to keep the Red Wings from opening the scoring. When it looked as if the game would be goalless after the first twenty minutes, we would instead see Toronto light the lamp first because with thirteen seconds left and with their thirteenth shot of the first period Jake Muzzin would fire a wrist shot through traffic and passed Greiss and Muzzin with his first goal of the season and the first goal from the Leafs blueline would pit the Leafs ahead 1-0 after twenty minutes of play.

The middle period would see Toronto again playing with some jump but midway through the second John Tavares would be called for slashing giving Detroit a chance to equalize. The advantage would not at first go as they may have planned because Pierre Engvall would intercept a pass and go in all alone on a breakaway, but Engvall would be unable to beat the Wings netminder. As hockey fans know every time your team does not score on a dangerous net the puck always seems to end up in your goal. This would be no different as after the shorthanded breakaway was turned away Detroit would cash in on their powerplay thanks to Filip Zedina would walk the puck into the middle of the ice and his wrist shot would beat Mrazek on the glove side and the game would be level at 1-1. After this goal Detroit would have a spark but Petr Mrazek would manage to shut the door on Detroit’s hopes for the go-ahead goal. In the final minutes of the second period Toronto would have their turn with the man advantage as Michael Rasmussen would be handed a minor for slashing. The top powerplay unit were unable score so the second unit got their turn and it was a decision that worked out for Keefe’s Leafs as Jason Spezza would send one of his trademark slap passes towards the visiting goal and Michael Bunting would deflect the puck into the goal for his third of the season and just like period one this Leaf goal came in the final seconds and after forty minutes Toronto would lead 2-1. It is also worth mentioning that on the powerplay Nick Ritchie would pick up a secondary assist on the powerplay tally giving Ritchie his first point as a Maple Leaf and with Spezza’s powerplay helper he is now just twenty-five points away from the one-thousand-point milestone.

 

With Toronto twenty minutes away from back-to-back wins they would look to finish off their opponent early. Just seventeen seconds into the third period John Tavares would work the puck down low and from behind the net Tavares would send a great tape to tape pass to Alex Kerfoot waiting in front and he would beat Greiss blocker side for his second of the season. The Leafs would have a two-goal advantage, but it would not last long as with just ninety seconds played Bertuzzi’s replacement Joe Veleno would drive to the net and Rasmussen would beat Matthews in a battle down low and then center a pass to Veleno and his wrist shot would beat Mrazek once again cutting the Leafs lead to one. Just prior to the ten-minute mark of the final period John Tavares would cap off his night in style because after Morgan Reilly would dive to clear the puck Alex Kerfoot and Tavares would counter with a two on one breakaway. Kerfoot would bethinking pass the entire way and his saucer pass would land on the blade of Tavares and his shot would go into the roof of the net and with his third goal of the young season Toronto would once again have a two goal lead this time 4-2. As we saw tonight though two goal leads were difficult to hold onto in the game and just minutes after the Tavares goal the Red Wings would again pull within one. Vladislav Namestnikov would be standing in front of the Leaf goal, and he would deflect a Veleno pass into the Leaf net, a goal that would see Mrazek miss his poke check attempt and the score would now be 4-3. Last year in the playoff run specifically us fans would see Mitch Marner struggle to find the back of the net and his scoring struggles would continue into this regular season as he would struggle for opportunities, and we would see Marner’s frustration build. The other night in Chicago though we would see signs that Marner was going to break out of his funk as that night he collected a few assists. Tonight, right from the start we would see Mitch dancing with the puck beating defenders with his unreal stick handling ability. Late in the third period Thomas Greiss would play the puck to his defenseman Nick Leddy. Leddy’s passing attempt to exit the zone would be intercepted and with Greiss unable to get back into the net Mitch Marner would have a wide-open cage to finally collect his first goal of the season and his first goal since last March.

 

With Toronto leading 5-3 things looked like the were comfortable for the home team but it is the Maple Leafs, and we know that nothing is ever easy because in the final minute of regulation and the Greiss on the bench the Red Wings would have Toronto stuck in their own end. With Toronto unable to clear the puck Lucas Raymond would center the puck for Filip Hronek who would step in from the point firing a slap shot off the post and in and once again Detroit would trail by a goal with twelve seconds left in the game. Thankfully for the Leaf fans in attendance and everyone holding their breath watching from home the final horn would sound and the Leafs would win this matchup by a score of 5-4 giving Petr Mrazek is first of hopefully many wins as a member of the Leafs.

After the game coach Sheldon Keefe said that although he is happy with the win the third period showed that this team still has plenty of work to do. The Leafs need to learn how to finish an opponent when they are down. If you keep letting your opponent hang around in a game their confidence will grow and usually some puck luck will go their way. For now, Leafs fans lets take the two points and turn the calendar to November. Toronto finishes October with a record of 4-4-1 for nine points and will continue their home stand on Tuesday when the Golden Knights fly in from Vegas.

Thanks, as always for reading.