Welcome to a new series where we look at how the Toronto Maple Leafs have fared in the past week.
November 8: vs. Los Angeles Kings – 7-0 Loss
Do we really want to go over this again?
If you thought the 5-1 loss to the New York Islanders earlier in the season was bad, you had another thing coming. Going into this game with a three-game winning streak, the Leafs were riding high. That all came crashing to a halt when the Leafs faced the Kings.
The Leafs showed very little effort and left both their goalies hanging, all of this while facing a team without their starting goalie. What’s worse is that if you look at the current NHL standings, the Leafs are actually one point above the Kings. So the Leafs can’t use the excuse that the Kings are better than them.
This led to the bag skate practice that Mike Babcock put the team through, and where the lights went out.
November 11: vs. Philadelphia Flyers – 6-3 Win
This game was brought to you by the number one.
Morgan Rielly, Martin Marincin, Zach Hyman and Leo Komarov all scored their first goals of the season. Rielly also had three assists, giving him his first four-point game of his career. The first goal for Hyman had to feel good as he had received some criticism for not scoring with Auston Matthews and William Nylander as his linemates.
Of course, Wayne Simmonds continued his reign of terror against the Leafs as he scored two goals. The other Philly goal was scored by Travis Konecny, who has a Toronto connection. Selected 24th overall in 2015, the Leafs had that pick going into the draft before trading it to the Flyers to acquire more picks. As is the way with the Leafs, he’ll go on to be a thorn in the Leafs’ side for the foreseeable future.
November 12: @ Pittsburgh Penguins – 4-1 Loss
Well, one out of two isn’t bad, right?
Let’s face it. The Leafs were going to be in tough against the Penguins. Not only were they facing a good team, they were in the second game of a back-to-back, and had to travel in between. The decks were well stacked.
That didn’t stop the Leafs from getting off to a fast start. Only 1:22 into the first period, Hyman scored his second goal in as many games. Unfortunately, that was all the offense the Leafs could muster. The Penguins went on to pepper Frederik Andersen with 49 shots. Evgeni Malkin, Chris Kunitz, Bryan Rust and Sidney Crosby scored for the Pens, with Rust, Crosby and Kris Letang having two-point nights.
Of course, the story of the game should have been the tickets, as the Penguins decided to feature a certain former Leaf on them.
Pens put Phil on the ticket tonight for the Toronto game. That’s extra petty… and I love it!!!! pic.twitter.com/vT9cnRcvlb
— Kek? (@dougkeklak) November 13, 2016
I wonder if James Reimer will be on the Panthers tickets the next time the Leafs visit Florida.
