IT CAME FROM ANAHIEM !

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 !