Month: December 2022

First of all I hope that all of my followers had themselves a Merry (little) Christmas and that your plans with family and friends was not interrupted by that horrid winter storm !

Tonight, the Toronto Maple Leafs found themselves in St. Louis MO to take on the surprisingly average Blues.  This was the same club that won the Stanley Cup back in 2019 and yet now post a disappointing 16-16-2 record, 5 points out of the nearest available playoff spot in the West.

The Leafs meanwhile hold a 21-7-6 record, good for 4^th overall, despite trailing the unconscious Boston Bruins who have 56 points and just 6 losses to date.  Toronto is currently on a two-game win streak having beaten Tampa and Philly before the Christmas break.

The Blues started the game a little sluggish and the fleet of foot Leafs took advantage, peppering shots at Jordan Binnington from every angle.  Juston Holl banged in a Giordano point shot rebound to open the scoring after the 3:08 mark – his first in 32 games.  Momentum went the other way for about 10 minutes, resulting in some sloppy Leaf clearing and a Cale Rosen blast to tie things up at the 12:26.  Mitchell Marner did most of the work in the Blues zone, feeding Captain Johnny in the slot for his 15^th of the season as Toronto took a 2 to 1 lead to the dressing room.

Toronto appeared to take control of the game with an early shorty converted by Alex Kerfoot after some diligent corner work by Calle Jarnkrok.  That was until Blues Captain Ryan O’Reilly took over with his first goal in 8 games, roofing  his 10^th and the and 250^th of his career.  He played a major role in Justin Faulk’s PPG at 10:28 to tie things back up at 3’s.  Jarnkrok continued his great play converting a strong forecheck play by Pontus Holmberg to put the Leafs back out front with 4:44 to play.  Lots of rumours about needing a stronger scoring presence to join Tavares/Marner on the left wing.  More on that in HOPPER NOTES.

It didn’t take long for St. Louis to tie the game back up in the third.  Kelly Kyrou notched his 17^th on the Blues’ 29^th shot of the game.  The Leafs came on strong over the rest of the third trying to win it in regulation but superior goaltending at either end sent it to overtime.  In the extra frame, a reluctant TJ Brodie took a breakaway pass from Mathews while he was on his way to the bench.  He was tackled on his attempt but earned the penalty shot.  No dice.  A couple of shifts later William Nylander took a broken play in alone to score his 21^st and secure the 5-4 win.

HOPPER NOTES: Calle Jarnkrok got a well deserved first star tonight with a goal and 2 assists…guys I’d like on my team Colton Parenko…St. Louis and Toronto have been rumored to be in trade talks…I have said before that I agree about the need to another top 6 forward…here is how I would line-up that eventuality:

 Bunting                      Mathews                     Nylander

                         Reilly                            TJ Brodie

• O’Reily/Tarensenko Tavares                        Marner

                        Sandin                          Liligren    

• Kerfoot                      Kampf                            Jarnkrok

                          Giordano                        Holl

• Dryden Hunt             Holmberg                        Joey Anderson

Depth Forwards:  Aston-Reese, Wayne Simmonds

Depth D-men:        Connor Timmins, Jordie Benn

To accommodate the acquisition of O’Reilly or Tarasenko:  send a second rounder, Pierre Engvall and either Nick Robertson or Matthew Knies.

That is all – enjoy the rest of your time off and don’t forget our Team Canada Juniors !!

This afternoon’s “Next Generation” game started out as a dud but ended with a bang as the visiting Philadelphia Flyers showed their scrappiness by coming back to make a game of things after being outplayed and down 4-1.

One of the announcer’s actually said they should put on a pot of coffee in the first intermission after both teams came out with great lethargy in a low event period.  Philly finally got on the board off a power play slap shot from DeAngelo.  This was right after Mitchell Marner just missed converting a shorty on a break away.

Toronto came out with a great deal more enthusiasm and the assertive play that Leafs’ Nation has become accustomed to start the second.  They had the SOG up to 20 to 5 by the 10-minute mark.  Calle Jarnkrok tipped in a Marner point shot to get the Leafs on the board.  That was Mitchell’s 14^th home ice point in a row.  Shortly thereafter, Marner scored his 13^th with a power play marker to end the period at 2-1 Tranna.

Off that momentum, the Leafs started the third with another nice goal from Michael Bunting in the slot.  Potential trouble arose when Toronto went down on a 2-man disadvantage.  David Kampf and Marner were heroes throughout that stretch and helped keep the 2 goal advantage.   William Nylander is having himself quite a season, as shown by him charging the goal to net for his 20^th goal making it a seemingly impossible 4-1 lead.  The plucky Flyers would not cave.  First, Andy’s boy Morgan Frost converted a nice goal off the rush and then Joel Farabee posted a similar marker to make things very interesting.  Sure enough coach John Torterello pulled his goalie and a passionate last minute and half was enjoyed by all the Next-Gen kids in the crowd.  The Leafs go to their Christmas break with a handsome 21-7-6 record.

HOPPER NOTES:  Merry Christmas to all my followers and please keep your precious families and loved ones close, safe and together !

CHEERS !

The Tampa Bay Lightning are the closest thing to a dynasty that the NHL has produced since the salary cap began.  Some may argue the Chicago Black Hawks or the LA Kings or Pittsburgh Penguins belong in that conversation.  Don’t forget that the Lightning were in the 2015 Stanley Cup Final and have been in that same final the past 3 seasons, winning 2 Cups.  Leading the way throughout has been 32 year old Steven Stamkos.  He is just 3 goals shy of joining the 500 goal scoring club.  And he’s not done yet.  Last season he ended up with 42 goals and 106 points.

The Toronto Maple Leafs hosted this same Lightning squad at the Scotiabank Arena tonight sporting a 2 game losing streak vs Tampa’s 5 game win streak.  The Leafs were currently just 3 points ahead of the Lightning whom have 2 games in hand.  Calle Jarnkrok was back alongside Tavares and Marner and Matt Murray got the start in goal.

As expected, both contenders came out with bang in the first 5 minutes.  I would give Tampa a slight advantage, having two great chances in tight.  The Leafs started to take the momentum, shutting down the Lightning (who didn’t have an SOG for 10 minutes).  Toronto’s hard work paid off with just over 3 minutes left when Michael Bunting converted a nice feed from Nylander to open the scoring.  Michael’s 100^th NHL point.  The Leafs were outshooting TB 12-4 at the time.  When Toronto got their first power play, Sheldon Keefe sent out his latest chemistry experiment, sending his top five forwards out.  A brief skirmish happened at the buzzer when Bunting asserted his displeasure after a Nylander mishap = double minors.

As the second period began, the Toronto PP prevailed as Austin Mathews peppered a well-screened,  high short sider to make it 2 ZIP.  That was his 5^th in 7 games and 17^th on the season.  The Leafs had another PP opportunity and directed 7 more shots on goal with their 5 forward combo including some very clever playmaking but to no avail.  To explain the dominance with stats:  34-12 shot attempts at the 10 minute mark, 25-5 SOG and the Lightning only had 4 shots the entire second period.

The Lightning must have gotten a stern talking to in the second intermission because, man they came out smokin’ to start the third.  They had their speed, they had their forecheck and their nastiness.  Before the 5 minute mark they had their reward.  Namestikov popped in his own rebound to make it very interesting.  Back and forth the teams went and slowly you could see Toronto regain their composure.  TB had to pull their goalie and sure enough Engvall and later Nylander put away empty netters to win a key game 4 to 1 with a 40-19 SOG advantage.

HOPPER NOTES:  In my opinion, the Leafs pulled off a tic for tac trade, adding Dryden Hunt from Colorado in exchange for Denis Malgin.  The 6 foot 195 pounder is more suited to a bottom six role on Toronto and he has 150+ hits already…  Keefe says he protects the puck well and Denis Malgin was never going to fit in the top 6…those trade rumours for a top six left winger to play with Marner and Tavares ?  I’ll take O’Reilly over Tarasenko any day…too bad these two teams don’t play again until April 11…Rasmus Sandin did not play the third period – uh oh…would Jarnkrok rather play the left or right side (right shot)…nice to see Hayesy B acknowledged up in the broadcast booth with Gordo – a future all-star broadcaster for sure…when the dust settles, will the Leafs still be 8 pts behind Boston ?…it can be a stressful time of year for many of us:  did I buy the right presents, have I been fair to all my loved ones etc….just remember how lucky you are to love and be loved and please remember those in need…CHEERS to all !

Some will try and tell you that the Washington Capital’s Captain Alexander Ovechkin is already the best goal scorer of all time.  Better than Mike Bossy, the Rocket, Big Phil, the Golden Brett or his dad Bobby.  Even better than Wayne, Gordie, or Mario.  They will all tell you that he has played through a tighter checking era where goalies are bigger and more agile.  That argument will carry through to barstools across the land.  He’s at 800 one behind Gordie and 94 behind Wayne with plenty of gas in the tank.

The Toronto Maple Leafs moved into the Capitol One Arena to try and shut him down.  Led by a motivated castoff in Ilya Samsonov, himself on a 2 shutout in a row heater, the Leafs will try to bounce back from a rare loss to get back on track.

Thursday’s game in New York is what they now refer to as a “low event” game.  Tonight’s first period in Washington was the exact opposite.  Right from the get-go it was “your try”, “OK your try”, back and forth at high speed.  It’s kind of a shame that the goose egg was broken by Erik Gustaven’s cheapie to break Samsonov’s 163 minute shutout streak.   That was followed quickly by 2 great opportunities from a rejuvenated Alex Kerfoot.  Eventually, William Nylander got the Leafs back involved with help from Tavares and Kerfoot (his 8^th point in 9 games).   The Caps weren’t done yet as Van Riemsdyk was credited with a bit of a softie off a deflection to give the Caps the lead back.

While everyone was looking for the coronation of OVIE, the Caps defence popped their third of the game when Gustaven made it 3-1 early in the second.  Austin Mathews must have always looked up to OVIE as a kid.  His motivation tonight goes without saying.  On a 1 on 4 , he brought his team back to within striking distance with a patented wrister from newly minted RD juggernaut Connor Timmins, his 5^th assist in 5 games.  A couple of hillites:  OV passed when he could have scored and then Captain Johhny was fed by Marner for what have surely been a goal.

The Washington defence corps turned out to be the stars of this game.  Garnett Hathaway basically put the game away at the :10 second mark. Eric Gustavsen made his hat trick (his first 3 goals of the season BTW) to close things out at 5-2 Capitals.

HOPPER NOTES: Sometimes, people forget that the Great 8 is also number 4 all time in hits…Austin Mathews had to have been motivated tonight – scoring one of his beauts…one of the stars had to be Charlie Lindgren in net for the Caps – the 28 year old had 31 stops – a lot of them difficult…I believe that Ashton-Reese is better than that other hyphenated guy we used to have…is Captain Johnny hurting a little bit ?  He used have a lot more ZIP in his game…how long will the Washington window be open with 14 – 30+ guys ? …guys I wish I had on my team:  Eugenie Kuznetzov…if you can, please give your nearest loved one a HUGE hug – CHEERS !

The New York Rangers are a little behind expectations from last year’s solid team results.  They are barely hanging on to the last available playoff spot in the east, Igor Shesterkin hasn’t measured up to last year’s spectacular 9.35 SV % and their “second line” which includes top draft picks Kaapso Kakko and Alexis Lafreniere are not carrying the weight of top six forwards.  The Rangers seem to be turning a corner however, winning their last 4 in a row.

The Toronto Maple Leafs on the other hand hold down the second best record in the NHL with 16 games with a least a point.  Marner was going for his 24th straight game with a point and tonight’s starter Matt Murray has one of the top SV % (9.20) in the whole league.

The Rangers have a lot of star power with the likes Artemi Panarin, Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad, so it was little surprising to see the second team power play unit open the scoring when Filip Chytil roofed one to put New York up by one four minutes in.  Toronto was little slow off the start tonight, but Michael Bunting scored his 7^th with the help of David Kampf and Connor Timmins.  That was the Bunt Man’s 10 straight game with at least a point.

The middle stanza was a fairly low event affair as indicated by the modest 15-13 SOG to date.  Neither team was clicking until a 2 minute + ”keep in” by Toronto in which they were all over the Rangers.  Nada.  The well travelled Jimmy Veesy took advantage of a Conor Timmins pinch to put New York up 2-1 at the 4:27 mark.  Not much to choose from here.

As close as this game had been, the teams seemed to want to go head-to-head – no cowards here.  Sheldon Keefe shortened his bench, favoring his bottom six grinders.   The best chance of the period came from Mathews (from Marner) at around the 10 minute mark, but he just couldn’t close the deal.  Veesy closed things off with an EN to make it 3-1 NYR.

HOPPER NOTES:  Tonight’s loss ended an impressive 15 game streak of at least 1 point per game for the Leafs, a 23 point streak for Mitchell Marner and an 18 pointer for Mathews…can someone explain to me why Madison Square Garden is round ?  It puts me in mind of my old high school pal “Bonehead”, when he would pontificate at the cafeteria table after math class, “Hey, cake are square, pie are round”…instead of playing Kerfoot and Malgin on their wrong wings, why not move Alex back to the left side with Tavares/Marner ? …guys I wish I had on my team: Jacob Trouba…it’s kinda peaceful to look out the window at all the nice snow at this time of year (unless you have to get up or shovel it !)…is Liligren out ? …second game in a row of basically zero contribution from the “Big Four”…now, more than ever, is the time to embrace your loved ones and cherish all they bring to your life….CHEERS !

Way BACK ON October 30/22 the Anaheim Mighty Ducks were the worst team in the National Hockey League.  They picked on a hapless Toronto Maple Leafs team that was in disarray, caught in the throes of a horrid start and an even worse trip through the state of California.  Can any real fan of Leafs Nation even remember those dark days some 44 days ago, especially since their miraculous recovery and current 14-1-4 streak since ?  Today, Anaheim ranks last in the NHL.

The Leafs, ever in danger of playing “down” to their competition, hosted those very same Ducks at Scotiabank Arena this evening.  Ilya Samsonov (8-2) got his turn in the 1a – 1b goaltending tandem rotation, Marner went for his 23^rd consecutive point streak and the Mathews-Bunting-Nylander combo got to continue its dominance in the top six.

I think the Leafs were a little surprised at how determined the Ducks came out to start the game as they had 4 aggressive shots on net before the 2 minute mark.  Alex Kerfoot finally contributed a goal (his 3^rd) from the previously banned Engvall to take the momentum out of that bubble.  The drama of Marner’s 23 game consecutive game point streak was muted when Captain Johnny converted his 18^th to keep things alive.  Connor Timmins had 2 assists this period.  The Toronto squad seemed to be playing with confidence, toying with Anaheim until a final determined surge by the Ducks showed they weren’t done.

The biggest temptation for this reporter during that second period was not to check my email, not to flip to the Boston/Rangers game and/or catch up with the FBI series.  Good news for Leaf fans, TJ Brodie got his first goal, Michael Bunting scored his 6^th for the home team and Timmins had his third assist of the game.

Alex Kerfoot and Engvall scored for the Leafs and even Joey Anderson joined the party to make the final 7 zip Tranna.  That was a 29 save shutout for Samsonov, his second in a row and 8^th of his career to date.

HOPPER NOTES: Auston Mathews for the Selke ?…didn’t see much of the “Big 4” in the final period…Kerfoot is a $3.5m contract that needs to score 20 goals – let’s see…William Nylander (and his $7m contract) was voted 3^rd star last week with his 7 points in 3 games…my little pal Glennie and I did a You Tube video (hopperonhockey.ca) near the first of the season and one of the challenging questions was who would be the first NHL coach to get gassed…among our consensus first choices was DJ Smith, Bruce Boudreau, Dallas Eakins and even Sheldon Keefe…now 6-7 weeks later, only Eakins remains top of the list…I hope that video blog will continue in the New Year – standby…the Leafs really do need a top 6 left winger to play with Marner and Tavares -tonight’s Malkin experience, Robertson and Kerfoot will NOT do…Giordano and Holl could be suitable as your top 2 or your bottom 2 pair…BTW, the FBI got the bad guy and Boston won in a shootout….CHEERS and please comment !

The Calgary Flames pulled into Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena after a rather poor showing in a loss to Columbus.  This after a 4-1 home stand which gave Flames’ fans some encouragement after a spotty start.  Their modest 13-11-2 record indicates that their summer roster adjustments have not gone quite as smoothly as Brad Treliving and Daryl Sutter had hoped.

Stats wise, Tyler Toffoli and Nazem Kadri lead the team with 10 goals each, they’re 5^th in powerplay effectiveness at 82% and they lead the Western Conference in shots for per game.

The Maple Leafs on the other hand have produced points in their last 13 games – 10-0-3 and have a league leading point streak (21) sharp shooter in Mitchell Marner.  With Nick Robertson out 6 to 8 weeks and Engvall on a 1 game suspension, Denis Malgin, Wayne Simmonds and Joey Anderson were called to action.

 Toronto jumped off to a good start with lots of skating and a strong forecheck.  This activity drew a power play in which Auston Matthews sniped another of his patented wristers with help from Nylander and Sandin less than 4 minutes in.  Calgary shook off their bus legs to score to two in a row.  The first was a 4 on 4 where Nathan Hannifan converted a pretty play from Huberdeau and Lindholm.  Nazim Kadri put his Flames out front with his 11^th only to have Nylander score his team leading 16^th (his 6^th in his last 8^th) from the now celebrated 22 game point streaker Marner.

The Flames took a beating in the press and from their coach after their pathetic loss to Columbus the night before.  After two periods playing the contending Leafs squad, you could tell they weren’t just going to rollover.  They took the lead after pressuring the weak side on a Leaf defence that just wasn’t prepared.  A defected wrister from Nylander, (his 13^th in 17 games) with less than 3 minutes to go tied it back up at 3’s when the buzzer went.

Controversy enters all great contests and this one was no difference.  A puck slipped through Murray’s pads to start the period even though a whistle was heard by some.  After review, the goal was allowed and Calgary retook the lead.  Bunting had been on a 7 point streak of his own – but none were goals and none were home goals.  Remedy that with his game tying goal from linemates Mathews and Nylander.  That gave the troika 8 points on the night.  Uh Oh, 6 straight overtime losses by TML put to the test.

An unfortunate high sticking penalty off the opening faceoff helped Toronto to a 4 on 3 PP.  All of the “Big 4” were on the ice when Marner buried it to get the win and break the OT jinx.

HOPPER NOTES:  Great second screen viewing – Tiger and Rory vs Justin and Jordan in a night lit golf grudge match ! …I thought Kerfoot had one of his better games – maybe because Kadi was in town ? …I’m warming up to Connor Timmins in a limited 6^th d- man role…always love the comments – keep ‘em coming…CHEERS !

The Last time the LA Kings faced off against the Maple Leafs, Toronto was involved in a horrendous season-opening slump and just couldn’t get it going.  In fact, looking through my notes from October 29, I just scrawled across my notebook S-H-I-T !  A line from my game report that night read: “The Toronto Maple Leafs dropped back to 4-4-1 after another rather feeble loss…not be a complete cynic, but they were at this exact same record this time last year…a lot of no shows wore Leaf jerseys tonight”.  Boy, what a difference 6 weeks can make!

Since then, the Leafs have been on a 9-0-3 heater, supporting a 20 game point streak by Mitchell Marner in which they’ve been 12-2-6.  Ilya Samsonov got the start tonight despite Matt Murray’s brilliant 44 save shutout performance against Dallas on Tuesday and his 6-0-2 record to date supports his .941 save percentage.

 The Kings are a team on the rise (5^th in the west), with a good veteran/newbie mix and a cupboard full of prospects.  They seemed to be back on their heels to start the game and if not for some key swift saves by Jonathan Quick on a couple of Leaf power plays, the 0-0 score may have been quite different.  Nick Robertson got the bad side of a one-on-one play in the offensive corner and was out halfway through the first.

After outplaying the Kings and out shooting them 15-7 in the first, the Leafs exacted a little revenge scoring 3 goals in one minute and 6 seconds in the first half of the second.  Zach Ashton-Reese seemed to fire the Toronto squad uo with a clean mid ice hit, followed by the need to defend himself.  The ensuing power play, allowed Pierre Engvall to score his 4^th, followed by David Kamps’ 4^th and then William Nylander made it 3-0.  During all that, assists went to Timmins, Holmberg, Bunting and Kerfoot.  The home crowd was getting anxious for Marner’s streak and sure enough, off a fabulous shift in which he almost assisted from his butt, Mitchell slapped his bar down 7^th in 7 games to keep things going.  Justin Bieber loved it BTW.

Except for a stupid/selfish play at centre ice by Pierre Engvall which cost his team a 5 minute major, the LEAFS kept their impressive streak alive with a 5 zip win.  The other shoe dropped when Auston Matthews scored his 14^th  to make it so.  The Leafs played strong with only 10 forwards to finish the game and Samsonov polished it up with his 7^th career shutout.

 HOPPER NOTES:  Love it when TSN Starts the game on time (7:07) AFTER the anthems…TJ Brodie was back – love the guy – steady in limited action…Denis Malgin was in for SDA – look for Wayne Simmonds on Saturday…in case anyone was wondering, Marner’s 21 point streak is only 30 behind – you guessed it –  Wayne Gretzky…LA had an 11 for 20 pp rate going – wonder why they couldn’t score during that 5 minute major in the third ? …maybe that’s why they haven’t won 2 in a row in a month…poor #50 for the Kings, a hometown boy buys 200 tickets for his family and ends up getting booed for the entire third period (see Engvall)…cheers everyone – I like your comments, please post them on hopperonhockey.ca

The Dallas Stars led the Central Division as they entered tonight’s home game versus the Toronto Maple Leafs with a respectful 14-6-5 record.  They also lead the league in goals for with 98 to date and hold down a 2.80 goals against average.  New Coach Pete DeBoer came in looking for balance on offense and defense and with Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, Joe Pavelski and the sensational Jason Robertson leading the way, mission accomplished.  Goaltending is anchored by Jake Ottenger and capably backed up by Scott Wedgewood.

The Leafs were coming off a tough overtime loss to Tampa Bay, but with a couple of days rest and some new recruits in the line-up, they looked ready to play.  Seymyon Der-Arguchintsev (here to fore known as SDA to this reporter) was the 76^th pick by the Leafs back in 2018.  He is 22 years old, has 18 points in 20 games for the Marlies and was inserted on the right side alongside Pontus Holmberg and Zach Aston-Reese.  Wayne Simmonds came out of the line-up.  Right shot defenceman Connor Timmins recently acquired from Phoenix will get his first start paired with Victor Mete.  Both newbies saw some time on the second power play unit.

As might be expected, both clubs came out guns ablazen.  Dallas got an early power play but Matt Murray stood tall, stopping 5 good opportunities.  Later John Tavares got his 13^th popping in Mitchell Marner’s point shot to take the lead at 4:51.  Marner’s point was the 20^th game in a row in which he had registered at least one point.  Dallas just kept coming and it wasn’t until Auston Mathews scored his own 13^th on a beautiful wrister. That one, with just 2:21 left gave TML the 2-0 lead after one.

The second period saw the Leafs form a conga line to the penalty box.   It started with defending a double minor in which the Stars had 7 shots on goal. Murray used his size to get in front of them all.  The pressure from Dallas didn’t stop there as they continued to pound the Leaf goal.  On one of the few occasions Toronto finally took a turn at trying to score, Rasmus Sandin picked up some garbage after Tavares, Mathews and Bunting were relentless in the zone.  3-0 TML.  That wasn’t the end.  The Leafs went down one, then two men in the final 2 minutes.  To make matters worse, Marner had his stick sawn off from a point shot and if not for some desperate stops from Murray and spectacular defending from Sandin/Liligren, Dallas would have had at least one goal.

TML were full measure for their 4-0 victory over a serious contender tonight.

HOPPER NOTES:   Final SOG: 44 to 29 Dallas…remember WAY back when Toronto “experts” were so worried about Matt Murray after the season opening loss in Montreal ? …of the 2 new recruits, I thought Connor Timmins did not look out of place – especially since his assigned partner Victor Mete went down early…good first pass, not afraid to get in people’s way etc…SDA barely got 7 minutes, so it’s hard to judge…TJ Brodie’s return is approaching so the Benn and Mete injuries will have less impact…guys I wish I had on my team: Miro Heiskanin…Marc Giordano is worth every nickel the Leafs are paying him x 10 ! ….Hats Off to Liligren and Sandin, the most improved d-pairing in the NHL….interesting to see Ashton Reese replace Nicky Bobby in the third….hope y’all are having fun in the malls – love given’ em – love getting’ em…cheers !

When describing a perennial contender in the NHL, you need look no further than the Tampa Bay Lightning.  Be it their 3 time Stanley Cup finalist (2 Championships), playoff contender status or regular season dominance, you can NEVER take a night off against this central Florida juggernaut. 

Tonight will be the first of 3 meetings between last year’s first round opponents and the Toronto Maple Leafs.  It is also the first of 6 home games in a row for the Lightning who are already a 7-3-1 at home.   When you add the fact that the workman like penalty killer Anthony Cirelli re-joins the squad and Steve Stamkos is coming off his 1000 point (494 goals) career milestone, the Leafs will need to pay attention.

Toronto is on a 5 game heater of their own, hilited by the 18 point point scoring streak by Mitchell Marner.  Calle Jarnkrok went down last game opening an opportunity for Nick Robertson to re-join John Tavares and William Nylander on the “second” line.  David Kampf moved in with Pierre Engvall and Alex Kerfoot as a checking unit, that left Wayne Simmonds to join Pontus Holmberg and Zach Ashton-Reese on the 4^th line.

As we watched these two higher calibre teams get going, there wasn’t much to choose.  Somewhat surprisingly, Sheldon Keefe started with Mathews/Nylander and Tavares/Marner combos.  Perhaps we will see that as a coaching strategy throughout the season.  To my eyes, there really is no difference between the two allignments.  It may mess with the opposing coaches’ lineup planning so maybe that’s the reason.  Both goalies showed well and the penalty kills were strong on both sides.

After a sometimes docile first period, you could start to see the hate coming out.  Hacking and Whacking.  It took Mitch Marner’s record breaking 19^th point, converting a short handed goal from David Kampf, to set the wheels in motion.  You knew from the game tempo that wasn’t going to be the end.  Ilya Nemesnikov tied it up just 2:20 later.   The 50/50 crowd at Amalie Arena was equally divided on William Nylander’s goal with 3:10 left.  Mathews and Bunting were in on the lead taking goal.  Hostilities ensued and you could only look forward to a third period that started at 4 on 4.

That 4 on 4 turned to a 4 on 3 on the opening faceoff and Kucherov tied it up in quick in order.  Lazy Leaf penalties made it 3-2 when Colton put in a rebound.  Just when Leafs Nation thought about tuning into the rodeo, Marner came through again.  This time on a PP from Mathews and Nylander.  Tavares displayed tremendous determination to drive the net, only to have his potential game winner called back.

My Sweetie called it again when the Leafs lasted only 33 seconds before giving up the overtime winner.  Shameful.

HOPPER NOTES:  Is there a better 4^th line in hockey than Perry, Bellemare and Maroon ? … would/could you ever have heard this reporter (or any other for that matter) say their go to right defenceman for Toronto was Justin Holl ? …Stamkos 1000 pts/Tavares 974 – Stamkos drafted 1^st overall in 2008/Tavares in 2009 – Stamkos – first ballot Hall of Famer/Tavares – needs a Cup…what if Correy Perry had come to Toronto after his Anaheim career ? … just last April, Liligren only got in to 2 Leaf games in round one…CHEERS everyone…always love the comments !