Another day, another early-season sloppy game, at least according to this eye.
But in a results-driven business, all that matters is that you find a way, and that’s exactly what the Maple Leafs were able to do on Saturday night against the new-look Ottawa Senators.
GAME 3 - Senators 2 @ Maple Leafs 3
The big news of the day was Matt Murray exiting the morning skate early, and later placed on LTIR with an adductor injury. Chalk me up as someone who absolutely saw this coming.
That means he’ll be out a minimum of 24 days and 10 games - which puts the spotlight, and pressure, on the other roll-of-the-dice goaltender du jour, Ilya Samsonov.
Tonight’s game started with an incredibly soft penalty call on Mitch Marner, which led to Sheldon Keefe blowing a gasket asking the referees, “how many mistakes they could possibly make this early in the game?”. (You can thank my lip reading for that quote)
Seconds later, Samsonov let in his 3rd straight goal of the season that went “through him”.
Fortunately, I thought Samsonov settled in quite nicely and played “well enough” the rest of the way, which is precisely what the Maple Leafs are hoping to get from him on a one year bet.
(As I’m writing this, Jack Campbell lets in another early goal for Edmonton, so…)
(Make that two)
(Three? C’mon man!)
(I wish I could say this is a joke, but… four)
WHO STOOD OUT?
William Nylander
The 85th highest paid player in the NHL was instrumental in the late 2nd period tally that tied the game, and followed it up in the 3rd with a pocket-picking snipe on the Power Play.
I’m not quite sure why he takes so much criticism in this marketplace. Perhaps it’s the flashes he shows where he leaves you wanting more, but at that point, you’d have another $10-11M player and him wearing a different uniform.
QUICK HITTERS
Nice to see the first line buzzing tonight. A sign that a breakout is just around the corner
I’m noticing that the Leafs are more open to shots from the perimeter than in the last few seasons. We’ll have to keep an eye on whether or not this becomes a trend
It was interesting to see Keefe experiment with both Tavares and Matthews playing short shifts with Aube-Kubel and Aston-Reese in search of offence. I could see you finding lightning in a bottle when an offensive-minded centre can take advantage of that kind of speed on the flanks.
STADT OF THE DAY
Did you know that of Justin Holl’s 10 career goals (you might remember 2 of them came in his first two NHL games), 40% of them, including tonight, have been game winners?
And as former Leafs staffer Cam Charron so eloquently put it on Twitter this evening, he’s:
We’ll see you on Monday following a tilt with the up-and-coming Coyotes of Arizona State University. Thanks for reading!