Well, that was a very Leafy way to start the season.
The Joseph Woll news in the morning, then the 1-0 loss at night. We’re back, baby!
The Thursday edition of Leafs Morning Take started on a lighter note. For those of you who frequently tune into the show, you know that Jay Rosehill is not a big fan of LeBron James. With that in mind, I had Rosey weigh in on a recent tweet from James voicing his displeasure for having to travel from Los Angeles to Milwaukee for a preseason game. So petty. As per usual, Rosey went off.
Brought to you by Square, we dove into a full game recap from Wednesday night’s opener in Montreal. First and foremost, we both felt like the Leafs didn’t play their best even though they managed to muster a whopping 48 shots on goal. Too much perimeter stuff! All in all, it was interesting to see how Craig Berube would utilize his bench. Matthew Knies played 18:48, nearly five minutes more than his average last season under Sheldon Keefe. Additionally, Anthony Stolarz was very solid making 26 saves in his Leafs debut. We gave some love to Habs goalie Samuel Montembeault, too. He was really good. Meantime, we touched on Toronto’s discipline issues as well. They took five minors, and ultimately, it was Cole Caufield’s power play goal that was the difference in the game.
After that, we broke down a few quick hitters. Firstly, Joseph Woll landed on injured reserve, which means he’ll be out at least a week. Then, we dissected Elliotte Friedman’s reporting that suggested that the Leafs are looking to deal Timothy Liljegren. In short order, he’s really fallen out of favour on the blue line. We’ll see where it goes, though.
Then, we got into a quick game preview for tonight’s tilt in New Jersey as the Leafs will tangle with former head coach Sheldon Keefe for the first time. I’m very curious to see what the lineup will look like. Will we see Bobby McMann make his season debut? Also, could Dennis Hildeby make his NHL debut? It’s just game No. 2 but it already feels like a big one for the Maple Leafs.
Join us on Friday at 11 AM ET for a full recap of Leafs/Devils. Also, we’ll preview Saturday night’s home opener against Kyle Dubas’ Pittsburgh Penguins. Speaking of which, Leafs anthem singer Natalie Morris will drop by for a chat.
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