Leafs Top The Wild

 Photo From Maple Leaf Hotstove

 

The Leafs begin the season 2-0 for the first time in four years after beating Minnesota 7-4. I’m not going to write a summary about last night’s game because everyone who reads this likely watched the game. What I want to do with this article is tell Leaf fans “For crying out loud will you relax?”. We are two games into the season and already Leaf fans are trying to push Ilya Samsonov out of town. Ilya is 2-0 to start the year and I have had too many people tell me he’s terrible. To those fans, I politely ask are you sure you know what you’re talking about? Ilya said wasn’t great Wednesday against Montreal but with the game tied he answered the call in the overtime and shootout. Last night of the 4 goals given up I would only put one on his shoulders. The first Wild goal was a point shot that hit Matthews's skate and then went off Hartman, so a double deflection is hard to put on your goalie. The second Wild goal beat Sammy on the short side that’s the one you want to see a save on. Third, the Rossi goal Sammy makes the original save, but the rebound isn’t cleared. That isn’t the fault of your goaltending that 3^rd goal happened because of a bad net front presence by Toronto and a failed clearance just before that. Finally, the 4^th Wild goal go back and watch the replay I hope that you notice Ilya Samsonov is screened by his defender and a Wild forward. If Jake McCabe was able to clear the forward away from the slot does that goal happen? Probably not. We are 2 games into the regular season there are plenty of games left and I’ll say it again this team will be fine.

Defensively Toronto has had a rough start to the season, but I thought last night was a step in the right direction. Wednesday, we noticed Brodie and Liljegren and heard their names a lot because of their glaring mistakes but last night their game was a little better because you didn’t hear them mentioned often. If you’re a defenseman and your name isn’t mentioned a lot is a positive thing. Now I know you’re reading that thinking “Please explain”. It’s a simple answer really as a defenseman if you don’t notice a defenseman, it’s likely because they are playing a simple game. They aren’t forcing plays hoping something happens they are reading the ice well making short simple passes to deal with pressure in their end from the opponent. TJ Brodie made a few mistakes last night not closing the gap on the forward on the Wild’s second goal is a good example of that but again I feel his game was better and a step in the right direction. I fully expect people will disagree with what I have said and that’s fine.

Toronto is in action again Monday night when the Connor Bedard Rookie Tour visits Scotiabank Arena. I think on Monday we will see Joe Woll make his first start of the regular season to give Samsonov some extra rest because after the Black Hawks game Toronto squares off against the Florida Panthers on Thursday and the Lightning on Saturday.

As always thanks to everyone for reading but remember to take a deep breath and relax.