The Toronto Maple Leafs were back in action last night against the Philadelphia Flyers, in a game that was widely considered to be a “must-win.” They came into this game in last place in the Atlantic Division and off to an awful start. After how they lost to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Wednesday night, they needed a bounce-back game. And that is what they got.
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The Maple Leafs played well against the Flyers and had a good bounce-back win. Despite giving up an early goal, they managed to stay the course and play a hard, physical game that eventually saw them take the lead and never look back. Unfortunately, they saw Chris Tanev get stretchered off the ice with what looked like another concussion. But other than that, they played well in a game where there likely weren’t a ton of eyeballs on them with the Toronto Blue Jays playing in Game 7 of the World Series.
Nevertheless, they won, so let’s look at a few takeaways from their 5-3 victory last night.
Chris Tanev Stretched Off
As mentioned above, the fans in the building last night saw a very unfortunate incident. Maple Leafs defenseman Tanev was stretchered off the ice after a collision with Flyers forward Matvei Michkov. It looked to be a fluke accident, where Tanev was skating backward and Michkov was turning, and they ran into each other. This caused Tanev to fall to the ice and it looked like his neck snapped backward. As soon as he hit the ice, he was holding his head and there was cause for concern. He was down for several minutes before medical staff attended to him and then the paramedics with the stretcher. Thankfully, he did give a thumbs-up while being taken off the ice.
Last night was Tanev’s first game back from dealing with a concussion that he suffered against the New Jersey Devils on Oct. 24. Head coach Craig Berube provided an update after the game and had this to say.
“He’s moving, and I think he’ll be all right. But he’s getting some tests done right now. We’ll know more in a little while. We’ll know soon. He might be coming home with us.”
Unfortunately for him, back-to-back concussions aren’t ideal. He plays a rugged, physical style and puts his body on the line for his team every night. That can be a cause for concern. Only time will tell how long he is out for, but it does look like he avoided the worst.
Easton Cowan Scores His First
The time has finally come for Maple Leafs rookie Easton Cowan, who scored his first NHL goal last night. He has played well since joining the club and it was only a matter of time until he was rewarded for his efforts. He now has four points in nine games with Toronto.
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The goal was a product of a hard-working shift from veteran John Tavares. He was able to break up a pass and pick up the loose puck in the neutral zone. After getting across the Flyers’ blue line, he pulled off a spin pass just before the right circle and found Cowan wide open in the middle of the ice. Once it was on his stick, he made no mistake and ripped it top shelf over the left shoulder of Dan Vladar. It was a goal that made him look like he had been there before, but you could tell by the smile on his face that it was his first. After the game, he spoke with reporters and talked about the grind that comes with getting your first goal in the NHL.
“It’s a mental grind,” Cowan said. “You want to score. And the first (eight) games I played in, didn’t score. So, just stuck with it in practice. Kept getting better, and I’m gonna keep doing that. It just felt like it was going to be a matter of time, you know? I stuck with it.”
Hopefully, that goal can kick-start his offensive touch a bit more and he can help the Maple Leafs get rolling and move up the standings over the next few weeks. Regardless, we have learned one thing about him in the first nine games of the season: he can definitely play in the Maple Leafs’ top six.
What’s Next for the Maple Leafs?
The Maple Leafs will now return home and host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday night. That game will be a Prime Monday Night Hockey special starting at 7:30. After that, they will face off against the red-hot Utah Mammoth on Wednesday before hosting their rivals, the Boston Bruins, on Saturday.
