Month: April 2022

The final game of an outstanding NHL regular season still had some aplomb.  

At 7 pm EST, the Atlantic Division stood at:

                                           W    L   OTL   PTS

Florida                                 58   17    7     122

Tranna                                53   21    7     113

T Bay                                   50    23    8    108

Bruins                                  51    25   5     107

For tonight’s Leafs/Bruins contest, Boston only needed one point to move up, depending on the outcome of the Islander/Tampa contest.  Not surprisingly, the Leafs sat out big guns Mathews, Marner and Tavares, while starting Kallegren in goal.  Somewhat surprisingly, the Bruins sat out McCovoy, Bergeron, Patsernak and Hall.  On the other hand, the Lightning went with a full roster.  Hmmmmm ?!

Boston got on the board first after only 1:10 with a goal from Fredricks.  As the non full house was soon to discover, this was pretty much like a pre-season scrimmage for both clubs.  This proved beneficial for some of the lesser lights on the Leafs roster.  The Spezza/Clifford/Simmonds line as well as Krampf/Engval/Nylander combo got all kinds of ice and that eventually led to a nice snipe off a breakaway goal from Nylander (his 33^rd) later in the period.  Ilya Mikaev got his 21^st off a deflection from Giordano and then Nick Abbruzzo got his first ever NHL goal off another deflection – this time from Mo Reilly.  On the scene reporter AEH claims to have seen more Justin Bieber (yellow) jerseys than she cares to remember.

The second period was rather pedestrian although high spirited with some solid hits from both sides.  On the ground reporter AEH observed from the first row greens that Jake Muzzin was a solid performer and rounding into form nicely. When Nosek pile drove Liligren into the backboards late in period, Morgan Reilly was the first one in there to correct that poor decision.  3-1 after two.

This one was pretty much a howdy-do laffer and even dedicated reporter AEH was seen leaving for the social bar before it was over.  Nylander snuck in a beer hockey slider for his 80^th point before Jake DeBrusk made it a 5-2 final.

HOPPER NOTES:  Loved how Coach Keefe worked all 7 d-men into the line-up under various combinations – HOH particularly liked the Giardano/Lyubushkin combo…GM Kyle Dubas has done a nice job in shoring up that D group…Jeff O’Neil thought (pre-game) that Nylander would be pissed that he didn’t get to “sit” with rest of the big boys…he ended up with 2 goals and his 80^th point…however, he might have got his hat trick had Engvall chose to pass off to wee Willy instead of scoring the final empty netter on his own…I’ll be interested to see if the hi-lite shows will show the clip of Nylander looking toward Engvall during the cele…tonight’s starless line-up was good for players like Joey Anderson (couple of good chances in the first), Blackwell and Abraduzze to show Coach Keefe they are there when needed…back to Nylander, I had lunch today with an old pal who used to wait outside the Gardens with me to get the cheapest scalper tix – they wondered (as do I) if Nylander is a popular teammate ?

Cheers – comments welcome and thanks for the contribution from reporter AEH !

The Detroit Red Wings are winding down their 31-39-10 season with hopes of a bright future from rookie stars like forward Lucas Raymond (23G, 56 pts) and d-man Moritz Seider who plays upwards of 23 minutes per night.  And, Steve Yzerman just signed another defenseman Simon Edvison, a phenom and rookie of the year from the Swedish league.  The Wings have come off some recent wins over Carolina, Boston and Tampa Bay.

The Toronto Maple Leafs hoped to seal up home ice in the first round and support Auston Mathews on his quest for 60 goals and to send  Mitchell Marner toward his first opportunity to score 100 points in a season.  Jake Muzzin was back, Nick Robertson was up and Alex Kerfoot played up on the big line.

Last February 26^th, these 2 combatants put on an awesome offensive show – Leafs 10 – Detroit 7.  I doubt if that what Coach had in mind for tonight and the first period reflected that.  Alex Nedeljkovic had to be sharp in the Red Wing goal as the Leafs dominated with most of the chances.  The Leaf line of Mathews, Marner and Kerfoot alone were swarming the Detroit goal, Mathews ending with 5 shots on net himself.  Still zeroes after one.

Detroit has a good team with great potential as is Ottawa and Buffalo.  They always give the Leafs a go and they will be playoff teams soon.  Back and forth chances finally allowed Mathews to get loose for his 59^th.  Appropriately, aging veteran Jason Spezza was in on the goal (995) as he tries to reach the 1000 point mark for his remarkable, Hall of Fame career. 1-0 Leafs after two.

John Tavares got his 27^th goal to put his club up 2-0 thanks to Nylander and Lyubushkin.  The drama and anticipation was setting in – would it be Mathews’ 60^th, Marner’s 98^th or (long shot) Spezza’s time. Mathews scored his 60^th on a power play from Nylander and Mo Reilly to set the hometown crown off on a well deserved standing O.  Final 3-0 Tranna and record 113 points to secure home ice against YTBD.

HOPPER NOTES:  Detroit has the second worst GAA in the entire league (306) behind only Montreal… Kyle Dubas may have helped Toronto’s long term goalie solution by signing 24 year old Dryden McKay from Minnesota State – he was the Hobey Baker Award winner, made it to the Frozen Four with a .931 sv % and yes, he was named after Ken Dryden…was Kerfoot taking draws earlier in the game ?  This may play in to my pal Glennie’s hypothesis that there is something physically wrong with # 34…I see Novac Bertuzzi had to sit out tonight…”Soup” Campbell got the shutout tonight with 20 saves, 4 or 5 of which were 3 bellers…I am pretty certain that Leafs Nation would like to see him start Fridays’ season finale vs Boston, no matter how insignificant…

CHEERS everyone – comments welcome !

The Washington Capitals had plenty of motivation to defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs tonight:  a) a win would move them ahead of Boston in the Wild Card race therefore allowing them to avoid the juggernaut Florida Panthers in the first round, b) a win could also so vault the Caps ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins into third position in the Metropolitan and a date with the New York Rangers and c) revenge for the 7-3 ass kickin’ the Leafs handed them back on April 14.

Pre-game #80 for the Leafs brought out a couple of surprises primary of which was the “load management” resting of Captain John Tavares.  Michael Bunting and Timothy Liljgren also sat as did mystery man Jake Muzzin.  Erik Kallgren was back in the net.

The Capital One Centre was jumping, fuelled by the news of a Pittsburgh loss to the Flyers earlier in the afternoon.  TJ Oshie satisfied their lust with a beauty off the side boards to beat Kallgren over his left shoulder.  The Leafs went on a tear later in the period with a ton of sustained O-Zone pressure that led to Ilya Lyubushkin’s deflection off a Caps defender to tie the game.  Auston Mathews (103 pts) and Mitchell Marner both got on the scoreboard from that play.  A late period PP threat by Washington was thwarted through excellent plays by Lyubuskin and goaltender Kallgren.

Two real nice goals were called back (legitimately) during the second  – one by Jason Spezza, which would have been his 500^th career road point and one off a nice “Ovie to Oshie” combo.  Coach Keefe finally moved Nylander up with Mathews in Marner and that created some nice chances.  Kallgren was solid throughout for the Leafs and he made some key saves among his 21 stops for the game to date.

Alexander Ovechkin started off the third with a breakaway steal.  Seconds later he was crashing in to the end boards and rolled around in pain for the next several seconds.  Off he went to the “dark room”  He did not return.  I only give this much ink to a rather routine play because Ovie has 780 goals – third all time.

 Lars Eller put the home team out front off a wonderful tip in from Carlson at the 3:30 mark.  Not two minutes later, Marcus Johannson came off the side boards to place a lovely backhander in for the 2 goal lead.  Just as Leafs Nation was losing hope, Mikaev did a complete lap to bury a five hole (his 20^th) to make things close.  Coach Keefe pulled Kallgren with 1:50 left and the swarming Leafs got their payoff with the tying goal from Jason Spezza to officially record his 500^th road point with 57 seconds left.

3 on 3 overtime solved nothing, even though the Leafs took their 14^th too many men penalty near the end of overtime.  Seven rounds of shootouts end when Kerfoot buried one to allow the Leafs a 4-3 victory and 3 points on their road trip.

HOPPER NOTES:  with just 2 games left, is Mathews just racking his brain on the 60 goal thing ? …TML were outplayed all night by the Caps 4^th line – why ? …gotta keep that TJ / Gio pairing together – they had a couple of rough shifts, but who did Keefe have out there for that final 4 on 3 ? …

CHEERS.  Family time is so precious – Cherish it !

How about these Florida Panthers !  Who would have ever thought that they would have the best record in the NHL (56-15-6) enough to challenge the Colorado Avalanche for the Presidents Trophy ?  They are the league leaders in team scoring (4.16 goals per game), they have the second leading scorer in the league (Jonathan Huberdeau) just 3 points back of Connor McDavid and they never lose (12 game win streak).  To top that, they have an 84% winning record at home.

The Toronto Maple Leafs were likely wearing dark glasses as they slunk into the Miami arena tonight after the serious shit-kicking they took at the hands of their likely first round opponents, the Tampa Lightning.  The good news for Leafs Nation was the return of Auston Mathews and that a resurgent Jack Campbell was back in goal for his 46^th start.

Now I know that Coaches hate that type of first period – but the FANS love it.  Back and forth, good hits, great goaltending, creative offensive plays at both ends.  No wonder these are the top two goal producing squads in the NHL.  Mitchell Marner opened the scoring with his 35^th just 3 and a half minutes in – that seemed to lower the home crowd frenzy.  Michael Bunting disappeared to the Leafs room early which meant another mix and match for Coach Keefe.  He juggled in Krampf to centre the 4^th line, moved Nylander to fill out the top line and so the blender went.  Justin Holl benefited from an own goal with 2:40 left to make it 2 zip Leafs after one.

Sasha Barkov is one of the many reasons that Florida has had such a successful run over these past 2-3 seasons.  A perennial contender for the Frank Selke Trophy as top defensive forward, he has stepped up his offensive output as well.  Despite some games missed due to injury, before tonight’s puck drop he had amassed 38 goals and 86 points in just 64 games.  Add that to tonight’s output (39^th goal) and an assist (with Huberdeau) on Giroux’s tying goal and you’ve got yourself quite a hockey player.

With Bunting out with a suspected leg injury, the only consistent line Keefe stayed with in the third was Mathews/Marner/Nylander.  Both teams looked a little “gassed” in the final stanza but fought hard to get it to overtime.  “Soup” made a fabulous save early and then a couner attack by Mathews/Marner just ran out of gas.  Brandon Montour converted the game winning goal much to the delight of the Miami crowd.

HOPPER NOTES:  The Panthers have not lost a game in April ! …but, they’ve got Tampa tomorrow and the Bruins on Tuesday – so we shall see…watching Huberdeau work, reminds me of my long held HOH recommendation that a new NHL award, The Wayne Gretzky Trophy, should be presented each year to the player who ends the NHL season with the most assists – isn’t it about time ?…all 8 teams in the Eastern Conference will finish their season +100 points – kudos…Leafs Goalie Jack Campbell played well again tonight, but aren’t some of you just a little concerned about his fragility ? …the Panthers last real playoff run was back in 1996 – a lot of players on this year’s roster weren’t even born then…who is the better centre for Pierre Engvall and Ilya Michaev – Tavares, Kerfoot or Kampf…answers please…RIP Superstar Guy Lafluer…my little pal Ken McRae had the honor to “lace ‘em up” and share the room with this legend – lucky Dude !

Cheers – let the spring (and golf) begin !!

The betrothed first round playoff opponents:  Tampa Bay VS Toronto was played out tonight, despite the Leafs coming in at 108 points and the Lightning at 100.  And, that’s not even counting the ever present Boston Bruins lurking at 99 points.

Toronto was without Muzzin and Mathews (again) and sat out the “Soup”.  Steven Stamkos moved up to Tampa’s first line in the absence of Brayden Point and despite 4 legitimate chances in the first period failed to tie Martin St. Louis’ franchise record for all time points by a Lightning player.  Erik Kallgren was solid in the Leaf goal as the first ended in bagels.  A fairly well played period by a couple of teams that didn’t want to get their hands too dirty.

Things changed in the second (understatement).  Tampa started out with an innocent enough looking goal by Chernak to open the scoring.  Nice looking prospect/rookie Brandon Colton got his 20^th off a missed Blackwell assignment and then all of a sudden Leafs Nation wondered – was this going to be a blowout or a punch up ?  Steven Stamkos answered that shortly thereafter with his 34^th on the PP which signified his coronation as the franchise leader in points (954), one more than legendary Martin St. Louis.  To rub it in, Stamkos went out for a celebratory skate to the crowd’s delight.  The Lightning didn’t stop there as Kucherov scored what was the third Tampa goal in 3:34 to make it 4 zip.  Wayne Simmonds did his job by challenging Pat Maroon to a draw.  More to come ?

After Ondrej Palat tipped in a pass from Stamkos to make it 5-0. I could have sworn I saw Kallgren look over to the bench as if to say, “PLEASE”.  No such luck, Kilhorn 6-0, 7-0 ,7-1 and then a shameful goal from Maroon to make it 8 to 1.  As expected there were plenty of dance partners to end off this rather shabby display.  To HOH, it only proved that you never bring a knife to a gun fight.

HOPPER NOTES:  Sometimes, I guess a good ass-kickin’ is what’s called for, after all it only starts to (really) count starting  May 2 – right ?…too many (Taveres, Nylander, Reilly etc, etc) floaters to count on this night…Tampa Bay was 2-9 in their last 11 and Andrie Vasalevski had lost his last 6 decisions…Kyle Clifford’s butt end to take out Corey Perry is unacceptable – 3 games…earlier in the second, Toronto’s Captain was mugged by Hagel and everyone paired off – that is accept for Nylander who chose to watch from the edge without even picking a partner…Boston lost 4-0 to Pittsburgh tonight BTW…so, given your choice, would you take Tampa Bay without Goodrow, Coleman, Gourde and Johnson or Boston without Rask, Krug and Chara ?  Guys I wish I had on my team Ryan McDonough.

Cheers – please comment – SPRING is coming – golf is near !!

The Philadelphia Flyers are in the franchise doldrums, having amassed just 23 wins and the second worst GAA in the entire NHL (3.66).  This is a club that will miss the playoffs for the second year in a row for the first time since 93-94.   When Cam Atkinson is your leading point getter with just 50 points, you know GM Chuck Fletcher has a huge job over the coming off-season.

The Toronto Maple Leafs on the other hand were 10-1-1, with a team record 50 wins and solid hold on the second seed in the Atlantic and the home ice advantage that comes with it.  Out for a second game were Auston Mathews and Jake Muzzin.  Jack Campbell was in between the pipes.  Leafs Nation’s concern may be the mentality that team might be thinking more toward an upcoming 3 game road swing through Tampa (Thursday), Florida (Saturday) and Washington (Sunday).

The “Blender”, also known as Toronto Coach Sheldon got to work early with forward line combos it took HOH 10 minutes to figure out.  Near as I can tell, he had Tavares with Mikaev and Blackwell, Abruzuze centering Marner and Bunting, Kerfoot with Nylander and Engvall and then Spezza centering Kampf and Simmonds.  The biggest WOW there was David Kampf dropping to the 4^th line.  The (AHL) Flyers put up a gallant effort in the first, but like colour man Ray Ferraro said, “there’s not really a stat that legitimizes the Flyers as an NHL team”.  (1-0 Jays at this point BTW).

Timothy Liljgren started the Leafs scoring with a nice snipe off a Kerfoot feed less than 2 minutes in.  I guess the Hockey Gods didn’t tell the Flyers that they were supposed to lie down and rollover because they continued to out play and out shoot the Leafs throughout the middle of period two.  James Van Riemsdyk had 1-2-3 whacks on a goal mouth scramble to tie things up.  William Nylander scored his career high 32^nd on a PP –  his 8^th goal in his last 10 and then the veterans got together on a F—ing beauty.  Simmons to Spezza to Giordano to Spezza finished the period with a rather undeserving 3-1 Leaf lead.

Toronto picked up some garbage off a good forecheck when Lyubushkin sent one in from the point that David Krampf tipped in.  Newly arrived Ronnie Attard came off the point for Philly to make it interesting before Ilya Mickaev scored an empty netter to make the final 5-2 Leafs.

HOPPER NOTES:  Hats off to the Flyers who really didn’t deserve to be in this game – they outshot the Leafs 38-29 and never gave up…wonder if that was JVR’s last game in Tranna…Morgan Frost got in his first NHL game for Philly tonight…he’s a smallish 5’11” forward who was a first rounder that has shown some promise in the AHL…a lot of you will recognize his surname as being that of his legendary, broadcaster Father and ACC House announcer Andy Frost…being with the same Corporate family for a number of years, I had the pleasure of meeting Andy on a number of occasions – just a great guy and MAN do I miss Psychedelic Sundays ! …I’m still a little surprised at David Kampf being moved the 4^th line – was it, A) to help rest him with 4^th line minutes or B) a relegation due to lack of offensive productivity lately ? …guys I wish I had on my team: Kevin Hayes…

CHEERS !  Be the one who guards over your loved ones – comments welcome.

The New York Islanders started this NHL season with a decided disadvantage.  Their long awaited brand new arena on Long Island was near completion but was not ready for guests until November.  They had to start on the road, and then an 11 straight losing streak after the grand opening at Belmont Park didn’t help a bit.  A fairly respectable 35-30-9 record leaves them out of the playoff running – in fact, with a loss tonight, they will be officially eliminated.

Leafs Nation came to expect another opportunity for Auston Mathews to get to 60 goals.  No such luck – Mathews had to sit out due to an undisclosed “minor” injury from the night before.  The Leafs still have a 4 point cushion over Tampa Bay for the race toward the second seed and home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.  Both clubs have 7 games remaining.  “Soup” Campbell got the start.

As is his want, Toronto Coach Sheldon Keefe, loves to experiment.  With Mathews out, he took the opportunity to overhaul his forward lines.  Tavares with Marner and Mickaev, Kerfoot centering Engvall and Nylander, Kampf with Bunting and Blackwell and then Spezza with Simmons and Abruzzo.  You’d think complete chaos, disruption of the norm – but it was OK – you never know what’s going to happen in the playoffs.  Anthony Beauvillier opened things up with a PP goal off the side wall and then Mitchell Marner roofed the tying goal from Bunting and the suddenly hot Mark Giordano.

 The Islanders got of to a rather lucky start in the second with a garbage “own goal” to go up at the :32 second mark.  The now attention getting Pierre Engvall scored his 8^th in last 10 games to tie things up from Kerfoot (50^th point) and Holl.  The concern about the 0 for 17 Leafs PP was put to rest when Nylander popped his career high 31st off a nice Tavares feed.

This is what the third period taught this reporter a) the Islanders never quit, b) Soup Campbell is solid  (29 saves) and has achieved proof that he is a number goalie in this league and c) Zedano Chara is a gem.

HOPPER NOTES:  Final score Leafs 3 Islanders 2 BTW…tough year for Islanders Nation having already lost Clarke Gillies, Jean Potvin and now Mike Bossy, RIP…with all the line shuffles, the Leafs showed good depth and flexibility…now that the Islanders are officially eliminated, if I was Tom Renney of Hockey Canada I would be jetting toward Barry Trotz to beg him to coach Team Canada at the Men’s World Championships…he could bring along his trusted Matt Barzal, Josh Bailey, Adam Pelech, Ryan Pulock and Noah Dobson as the team’s anchor…guys (I hate) but would  love to have on my team:  Zedano Chara…

CHEERS everyone !

The promising Ottawa Senators (28-40-4) hosted the Toronto Maple Leafs earlier tonight on a bit of a middling streak of 5 wins in their last 10, only 13 goals in their last 5 and an injury to D leader Thomas Chabot.  Anton Forsberg was in goal for the latest in the battle of Ontario.  The top line of Brady Tkachuk, Josh Norris and Connor Brown could last for the next decade.

Toronto was coming off a convincing 7-3 win over Washington and boasts a recent 8-1-1 record.  Erik Kalligen was in net and the suddenly hot Ilya Mickaev was hoping to add to the 17 goals he has scored since mid-January.  The only concern the Leafs may have had was there record (0-4-15) on the PP over the past 3 games.

The Senators were coming off a big win vs Boston and seemed to be still on that high.  Following a great forecheck/attack sequence by the Leafs, the Sens broke out on a 2 on 0 to allow Tim Stuezle to convert his 19^th on a beautiful Tkachuk feed. Just 1:11 later, Del Zotto was credited with a rattle around point shot from Norris and Brown. 2-0 Sens.

A good solid playoff period was good for both in the second.  Good practice for the Leafs and a good teaching lesson for the young Senators.  In for a resting Muzzin, Justin Holl sent in a nice point shot from Giordano that was converted by Kyle Clifford less than 3 minutes in.  Audette tipped in a one hopper to regain the Sens 2 goal lead.  Michael Bunting got that back with his 60^th point, again off a Giordano feed.  Both teams turned up the jets throughout the middle stanza with great chances at both ends.  Mitchell Marner tied it up thanks to good O-zone pressure.

Coach Keefe went back to his “traditional” second and third line alignments for the third (ie Tavaeres/Kerfoot/Nyllander and Kampf/Engval/Mickaev).  After a mistake/giveaway by Lyubushkin early, the Sens went back out front 4-3 as Stuetzille scored his 20^th.   Mitchell Marner then got his 93^rd point off a neutral zone turnover and a beauty backhand Bunting pass.  Some real good hockey ensued until the clock ran off and we were going to overtime. 

Some great 3 on 3 back and forth decided nothing until Mark Giordano scored to put a bow on the win and his 3 point night.  Final Leafs 5, Ottawa 4.

HOPPER NOTES:  tonight’s Leafs win was their 49^th, a franchise record…the Senators looked back at the Leafs after the game winner, jealous – just like a green eyed lady I used to know…their time will come…the Atlantic Division with the surging Detroit Red Wings, Buffalo Sabres, Ottawa Senators and even the Montreal Canadiens will all be reckoned with in years to come…puck drop at 7:16 – why didn’t you warn us – I could have watched the USFL ! …suggestion for Sheldon – why not let the “second” team start the PP every now and then – quite often Johnny T and/or Matt/Mar look gassed as the call is made…a little help here, have the Leafs made a better trade deadline deal than Mark Giordano ?  Compare Ron Francis, Brian Leetch, Nick Foligno etc, etc, etc ?

Cheers – Happy Easter everyone !

The Washington Capitals came into Toronto on a 4 game winning streak to start their 5 game road swing.  A domineering 9 to 2 win over the Flyers fueling their jets.  Ageless superstar Alex Ovechkin again leads his team with 46 goals to date as the Caps are coming off a run of 4 x 4+ goals for.  This was Leafs Nation’s first look at them at Scotiabank Arena in 2 ½ years.

Mathews/Marner hype aside, Toronto had Jack Campbell back between the pipes, Muzzin in/Justin Holl out, Simmonds and Clifford in/ Abruzzo and Spezza out.  The Leafs were 7-1-1 in their last 9 and defeated this same Caps squad 5-3 back in February.

Michael Bunting got back to scoring with his 21^st to break the ice with his first in 17 games.  A dream pass from Marner and a secondary assist from Matthews (his 100^th point) made it so.   Now a stalwart, Mark Giordano set up a bullet for William Nylander to make it 2-0.  There is no place in hockey for the shot to the head of SOUP by Tom Wilson !  Coach Keefe waited (and waited) for the referee team to come over and explain to him what the decision making process was on that play, prior to the start of the second period.

John Carlson got the Caps back in it early with his 15^th of the season.  11 seconds later (now becoming a favorite) Ilya Lyubushkin got his first as a Leaf in a very timely manner.  Nylander scooped in some back door garbage for his 30^th which also netted Mo Reilly his 300^th career assist.  A real nice tilt between Kyle Clifford and the evil Tom Wilson necessitated some Leafs Nation vigour, that later resulted in Bunts 2^nd of the night (3 Leaf goals in 4 minutes) to make it 6-1.  The aforementioned Wilson made it 6-2 with less than a minute left.

After the middling performance vs Buffalo on Tuesday, the Toronto Maple Leafs can take some solace after a real solid performance against a real playoff team.  Ilya Mikheyev took a beauty breakaway pass from his Russian pal Ilya Lyubushkin (and Tavares) to score his 17^th and seal the deal.  Some 4^th line persistence from the Caps allowed Dowd to make it a final at 7-3.

HOPPER NOTES:  Not a lot of work for Soup tonight but he was there when necessary…real nice game from Bunts (3^rd star)…Mikheyev reminds me of the much hated (and admired) Ilya Yakachev (# 15) of the 72 Russian team – something about the way they skate…my handsome (and now svelte) friend Glennie and I seem to agree on the progress of Pierre Engvall…guys (I hate) that I wish were on my team:  Tom Wilson…where’s Gord Miller been these days – hope he’s OK…the LEAFS 9 points in their last 12 games is pretty hard to argue with…

CHEERS – Take care of the ones you love in sickness and in health !

The Buffalo Sabres have been another one of those “pain in the arse” teams to the Toronto Maple Leafs this season.  They have won 2 of 3 games to date, including that 5-2 beat down in the Hammer.  First overall draft pick Owen Power made his Sabres’ debut tonight after prestigious starts in the World Championships, World Juniors and Olympics (for Canada) as well as the Frozen 4 with his Michigan College team.

The Leafs sat out Jake Muzzin and Jack Campbell tonight (aches and pains) to go alongside their LTIR mates Mrazek, Kase and Sandin.  Mitchell Marner (90 points) and Austin Mathews (58 goals, 99 pts) were looking to add to their already fantastic run.

Speaking of “pains in the arse” Kyle Opposo opened the scoring with a beauty bardown on the PP.  That was his 19^th for the Sabres and he now has a 6 game scoring streak against Toronto.  During this final 10 game stretch for the Leafs, Coach Keefe has talked about shoring up defensive chances against and regaining puck control quickly.  Very good objectives in preparation for the playoffs.  Some concern has been shown that those wishes have/will be set aside in search of individual goals and records.  For instance, does everyone on the Leafs offence feel obligated to pass the puck to Mathews ?

After two periods, not much had changed, 2 good teams going at it.  Yes, TWO good teams.  The way the Buffalo Sabres are playing now, it’s hard to believe they are only 26-37-11 on the season.  Don’t tell anyone, but theses guys are good – with a bright future.  (6’7”) Thompson, Touch, Cozens, Skinner, Millstadt, Dahlgren, Samuelsson and now Owen Power ?  Nice look of a playoff team to come.  Timothy Liljgren, in for a resting Muzzin, slammed in a nice backboard carom off of Anderson to tie the game up with the help of Nylander and Mo Reilly.  The combo of Tuch and Thompson cancelled that with the big guy’s 33^rd to take the lead back. 

In case there was any doubt, the Sabres scored two goals in 1:34 to put the lights out.  First Jeff Skinner got help from his linemates (Thompson/Tuch) to score his 31st, the 13^th point in his last 14 games and then Dahlgren had a laughable open net goal thanks to another Leafs defensive zone breakdown.  Alex Kerfoot got his 13^th goal and 49^th point to make it somewhat interesting.  Inevitably, Coach Keefe pulled out his line juggling act (eg Tavares, Mathews, Marner, TJ and Gio) and then pulled his goalie with 3:30 left.  That equalled an empty netter and a 5-2 loss.

HOPPER NOTES:  and, Buffalo is about to get a lot better – 3 first round choices at this year’s draft… that was the last of a 4 game road trip for the Sabres…wish I were a fly on the wall for tomorrow’s meeting with Kyle Dubas and top prospect Mathew Knies – will he sign or go back to college for one more year ? …coulda used a little more from David Krampf tonight – great on faceoffs and the PK, but 5 on 5 scoring is needed…due to recent play, you’ve got to think that Justin Holl should book his press book seat once Muzzin comes back…good call by Bryan Mudryk tonight – not much of a (arrogant – know-it-all) Mike Smith fan…final SOG Buffalo 28, Tranna 24

CHEERS – good things come to those who wait !