The Toronto Maple Leafs are coming off one of their best games of the season this past Saturday night. They beat the Anaheim Ducks 9-2 in what could have been their best game from start to finish. Today, they took on the St. Louis Blues in a holiday matinee. In the United States, it is Presidents Day, and here in Ontario, it is Family Day, which means a nice relaxing day to sit on the couch and enjoy a day of Maple Leafs hockey.
The Maple Leafs didn’t disappoint, either, albeit in a pretty slow first period. But the rest of the game had a good amount of pace. Toronto topped the Blues by a score of 4-2 to extend their winning streak to five games and keep them in third place in the Atlantic Division. The Blues needed these two points as much as the Maple Leafs did, as they are both right in the thick of things in their respective conferences.
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Needless to say, the remaining 28–30 games, depending on how many each team has played, matter. Especially when you have just over two weeks until the 2024 NHL Trade Deadline, it can help upper management decide whether to buy or sell. This winning streak for the Maple Leafs has come at the perfect time and helps them start their road trip off the right way.
Marshall Rifai NHL Debut
Congratulations to Marshall Rifai, who was called up and played in his first NHL game against the Blues. He played 11:33 total time on the ice in his debut, which is a good amount for a rookie who was undrafted and had to work his way up to this level. Rifai played at Havard University alongside fellow Toronto Marlies player Nick Abruzzese and played three seasons there before going undrafted in the NHL draft.
Rifai signed a two-year contract with the Maple Leafs organization with an annual average value (AAV) of $775K. With the Marlies, he plays in the top four and has shown that he isn’t afraid to get involved physically. Last season, he had 118 penalty minutes, and within his first few shifts with the Maple Leafs, he was involved in a pushing match with Blues forward Brayden Schenn. The expectation is that the Maple Leafs will keep him on the trip and send him back to the AHL when they return home. However, the team is awaiting the verdict on the Morgan Rielly appeal, which could have him return to the lineup against the Arizona Coyotes on Wednesday instead of the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday.
Bobby McMatthews?
Is Bobby McMann the second-hottest player on the Maple Leafs right now? He resembles Auston Matthews on his mini-scoring streak. He came into the first Blues game on Feb. 13, 2024, not knowing he was going to play, but due to a flu bug, he drew into the lineup. It ended up being a night he will never forget; he scored a hat-trick and, since then, has scored five more to total eight goals in 29 games. This brings him up to a 20-goal pace in his first NHL season, which is incredible since he is a 27-year-old rookie.
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If McMann can even get 15 goals on the season, he should earn himself a spot in the lineup for the playoffs. Aside from his goal-scoring, he is also a strong forechecker and great on the cycle. Those are good characteristics to have for someone who is bidding for a bottom-six spot. He may also give the management group a chance to re-evaluate players like David Kampf and Calle Jarnkrok and their roles on the team. McMann couldn’t have a bigger breakout at a more perfect time.
Samsonov Deserves Praise
Remember before the Christmas break when Ilya Samsonov was a shell of himself? He was unrecognizable; he lost all his confidence and looked to be on his way out of the NHL. Well, now he has a season-high four-game winning streak and has been lights out. It has been said numerous times, but the Maple Leafs’ goalie situation has been interesting, to say the least. Every time that one goalie has struggled or been injured, another one has stepped up and kept the team afloat. First, it was Samsonov to Joseph Woll, then Woll went down, and Martin Jones got called up and took over the crease. Now, we are officially back to Samsonov, and after his American Hockey League (AHL) leave, he is back and better than ever.
In those last four games, Samsonov has a save percentage (SV%) of .903. He has allowed 10 goals over that span, but most importantly, he has come up big when his team has needed him. At points this season, it seemed like Samsonov’s career was over, which made a lot of Leafs fans sad to see. A goalie that they had come to love last season had hit rock bottom and looked defeated. But after a trip to the AHL, not to play games but to work on his mindset, and a visit by his parents from Russia, he returned and looked better than ever. He has shown that he is an NHL-level goalie ready to take his team to the playoffs.
The Maple Leafs now have won five in a row and look to keep this going during their current road trip. They are next in action against the Arizona Coyotes, where Matthews and Matthew Knies will look to have an impact in front of their friends and family.
