That’s more like it!
Just like that, the Leafs have the first win of the season under their belt.
Congrats to Craig Berube and Dennis Hildeby!!
We kicked off the Friday edition of Leafs Morning Take by providing a quick mood check. Admittedly, spirits were low following the opening night lost, but as expected, the Leafs responded in a big way on Thursday night in Newark. After that, I had Rosey break down Matthews Knies’ game, and most importantly, he’s crushing body check on Dougie Hamilton. That kid is incredible!
Brought to you by Square, we dissected the 4-2 victory. First and foremost, we gave some love to the 23-year-old Hildeby, who made 22 saves for the win in his NHL debut. After that, we dissected another strong outing for Steven Lorentz. In short order, the PTO signing has becoming one of Berube’s most trust players. He played over 15 minutes against the Devils!
Kudos to Bobby McMann, too, who scored in his season debut after being a healthy scratch in Montreal. There’s nothing wrong with some internal competition! Furthermore, it was another quiet night for the big boys. In fact, it’s the first time Auston Matthews, William Nylander, and Mitch Marner have all been held pointless through the first two games of a season. Obviously, that’s bound to change very soon. I fear for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
After that, Leafs anthem singer Natalie Morris dropped by the show for a few minutes. We talked about her super cool gig, how she landed the role, being a contestant on Canada’s Got Talent, and what’s next for singing career.
To wrap, we previewed the home opener against Pittsburgh. In 2023-24, the Leafs were 22-15-4 at Scotiabank Arena, a record they can certainly improve upon this season. It will be the first of four in a row at home. We don’t expect any lineup changes with exception to Anthony Stolarz getting the call in between the pipes.
No long weekend for us. We’ll be back in the mix on Monday at 11 AM ET to recap the game with the Penguins plus look ahead to Toronto’s quiet two game week.
You can subscribe to TheLeafsNation (TLN) YouTube page HERE. Additionally, check us out in podcast form wherever you get your podcasts. Make sure to leave us a 5-star review!
