It was like déjà vu all over again on Long Island again —minus all the 1000-point stuff for John Tavares.
Just like Dec. 11, the Leafs fell 4-3 in OT on Thursday night at UBS Arena. And once again, they played far from their best game. At least they got a point, right?
We kicked off the Friday edition of Leafs Morning Take by discussing Ilya Samsonov’s comments from Thursday. For some reason, the Leafs let their much-maligned Russian netminder address the media for the first time since being demoted to the AHL and subsequently recalled earlier this week. There’s no need to let him talk —but that’s just my opinion.
Presented by Door Dash, The Appetizer focused on another OT loss on Long Island. Simply put, it was a sloppy defensive night for Toronto compounded by two brutal mistakes by Mark Giordano and Jake McCabe. That said, the entire team – with exception of Auston Matthews – look out of sync for the majority of the night. For some reason, the Isles always seem to do that to them. At any rate, the Leafs will finish off their season series with Tavares’ former team on Feb. 5 at Scotiabank Arena —their first outing after All-Star Weekend.
After that, thanks to our friends over at BATL Axe, former Leaf John-Michael Liles dropped by the show. The 43-year-old’s currently doing real estate, and also some broadcast work for the Colorado Avalanche. Liles’ exit out of Toronto was a fascinating one —he was dealt to Carolina minutes away from puck drop at the Big House for the 2014 Winter Classic.
Lastly, courtesy the Wendy’s Daily Faceoff Survivor, we previewed the measuring stick weekend for the Maple Leafs. They’ll host Colorado Saturday night and Detroit Sunday night. Furthermore, the conversation expanded to where the right spot would be to put Ilya Samsonov in there. This will be interesting —unless Martin Jones plays both.
We’ll be back on Monday at 11 AM ET!
Have a great weekend!
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