Early Morning Loss
Ugh... I got up at 3:30 a.m. for this?
After losing at the end of 2018, the Leafs also dropped one to start 2019 against the Wild.
Mitch scored 7 seconds in to tie the franchise record for the quickest goal to start a game, but we blew a 2-0 lead and fell 4-3.
Our first loss this season in 18 matches when leading after 1 period.
I mean, it seemed like it was going to be an awesome game for us, thanks to this beauty by Mitch:
Marner had another in the 1st, but then the Wild took over and really dominated the run of play the rest of the way. After Parise gave them the lead in the 3rd, I went back to sleep for a few more minutes before going off to work.
My takeaways:
Rise and Shine
This was the 2 p.m. game in T.O. The NHL billed it as the "Next Gen" game, with kids getting featured prominently in the stands, in the dressing room, on the benches before the game and in Sportsnet's coverage. It was pretty nice stuff, giving those kids a memory that will last a lifetime, etc.
So it was a rare matinee, and an early morning puck drop on my end. I could have dismissed it as just another regular season game (No. 40 out of 82) and could have kept my normal sleeping schedule.
But no, I am more dedicated than that. Since I often miss those weekend morning games here, I try to watch as much "uniterrupted" hockey as I can (uninterrupted by work, family duties, chores around the house, etc.)
Obviously, I didn't have to do any work when the game began about a quarter after 4 a.m. Everyone else in my family was asleep. I could just sit back and enjoy hockey before the break of dawn.
And I did for the first several minutes. Mitch sent me and everyone in the stands (or at least those who found their seats) into a frenzy with his first goal.
The second goal was even better. The moment he picked up the loose puck at center ice, I just had this feeling that he was going to do something with it:
Watch him fish the puck out of the traffic in front of the net. Pure skills. So how is he not an All-Star? He's got 9 goals in 8 games now, 55 points this season, most among non-All-Stars. The system is screwed, but I'll go off on the ASG in a separate post later.
Anyway, that was pretty much the high point of the game for us. Things went downhill pretty quickly. The Wild kept peppering our poor goalie Michael Hutchinson with shot after shot (something like 20 after 1st??)
Goalie Situation
Speaking of Hutchinson... We got the guy from Florida late December and he was thrown into fire just a few days after that.
Freddie is on IR with a groin injury. Sparks took a shot off his mask in practice and was in concussion protocol, keeping him out of lineup. He'd started 2 straight games in Freddie's absence, and now that Sparky is gone, a guy by the name of Kasimir Kaskisuo is our backup for now.
Not an ideal situation, clearly. Think of the Raptors playing without Kyle for so many games. Freddie is as big a part of the Leafs as Lowry is of the Raptors. Goalie and PG, after all. Anyway, everything was apparently so rushed that Babs said in a pre-game interview that he hadn't yet met his goalies and he had to go in and introduce himself!
I felt Hutchinson played really well early on. He felt a few pucks in the opening moments to get into the rhythm of things and didn't give up big rebounds. The goals the other guys scored weren't really his fault, in my mind. We had so much trouble with D-zone coverage and spacing.
I mean, how do you leave the other team's D wide open like this?
Spurgeon walked in from the point all the way to the dot before releasing the shot. Well, I shouldn't complain too much because I have Spurgeon on one of my fantasy teams and he got me 3 points today!
Nylander on Board
Remember when Nylander signed on Dec. 1, the Leafs' sports science folks said it would take him about 12 games to get his groove back?
Well, this was his game No. 12. He had but 2 assists previously. And Nylander finally got his first of the season.
Think he's relieved? Look at him dumping that invisible weight off his shoulders!
That was a nice give-and-go play with Matthews. I was really happy for Nylander, who was back on Matthews' line as RW the whole game (rather than Babs moving pieces around from period to period or shift to shift).
Now that the first one is out of the way, looks like Nylander will stay next to Matthews. It was Brown taking Hyman's usual spot as LW next to JT. Kapanen went down to Naz's line. The 4th line of Moore-Gaut-Lindholm put in some fine 4th line shifts.
But now that we've given up 8 goals in the past 2 games against 2 mediocre offensive teams, we need more than just grinding 4th line shifts. And it doesn't just fall on the D-men, either.
After losing at the end of 2018, the Leafs also dropped one to start 2019 against the Wild.
Mitch scored 7 seconds in to tie the franchise record for the quickest goal to start a game, but we blew a 2-0 lead and fell 4-3.
Our first loss this season in 18 matches when leading after 1 period.
I mean, it seemed like it was going to be an awesome game for us, thanks to this beauty by Mitch:
Marner had another in the 1st, but then the Wild took over and really dominated the run of play the rest of the way. After Parise gave them the lead in the 3rd, I went back to sleep for a few more minutes before going off to work.
My takeaways:
Rise and Shine
This was the 2 p.m. game in T.O. The NHL billed it as the "Next Gen" game, with kids getting featured prominently in the stands, in the dressing room, on the benches before the game and in Sportsnet's coverage. It was pretty nice stuff, giving those kids a memory that will last a lifetime, etc.
So it was a rare matinee, and an early morning puck drop on my end. I could have dismissed it as just another regular season game (No. 40 out of 82) and could have kept my normal sleeping schedule.
But no, I am more dedicated than that. Since I often miss those weekend morning games here, I try to watch as much "uniterrupted" hockey as I can (uninterrupted by work, family duties, chores around the house, etc.)
Obviously, I didn't have to do any work when the game began about a quarter after 4 a.m. Everyone else in my family was asleep. I could just sit back and enjoy hockey before the break of dawn.
And I did for the first several minutes. Mitch sent me and everyone in the stands (or at least those who found their seats) into a frenzy with his first goal.
The second goal was even better. The moment he picked up the loose puck at center ice, I just had this feeling that he was going to do something with it:
Watch him fish the puck out of the traffic in front of the net. Pure skills. So how is he not an All-Star? He's got 9 goals in 8 games now, 55 points this season, most among non-All-Stars. The system is screwed, but I'll go off on the ASG in a separate post later.
Anyway, that was pretty much the high point of the game for us. Things went downhill pretty quickly. The Wild kept peppering our poor goalie Michael Hutchinson with shot after shot (something like 20 after 1st??)
Goalie Situation
Speaking of Hutchinson... We got the guy from Florida late December and he was thrown into fire just a few days after that.
Freddie is on IR with a groin injury. Sparks took a shot off his mask in practice and was in concussion protocol, keeping him out of lineup. He'd started 2 straight games in Freddie's absence, and now that Sparky is gone, a guy by the name of Kasimir Kaskisuo is our backup for now.
Not an ideal situation, clearly. Think of the Raptors playing without Kyle for so many games. Freddie is as big a part of the Leafs as Lowry is of the Raptors. Goalie and PG, after all. Anyway, everything was apparently so rushed that Babs said in a pre-game interview that he hadn't yet met his goalies and he had to go in and introduce himself!
I felt Hutchinson played really well early on. He felt a few pucks in the opening moments to get into the rhythm of things and didn't give up big rebounds. The goals the other guys scored weren't really his fault, in my mind. We had so much trouble with D-zone coverage and spacing.
I mean, how do you leave the other team's D wide open like this?
Spurgeon walked in from the point all the way to the dot before releasing the shot. Well, I shouldn't complain too much because I have Spurgeon on one of my fantasy teams and he got me 3 points today!
Nylander on Board
Remember when Nylander signed on Dec. 1, the Leafs' sports science folks said it would take him about 12 games to get his groove back?
Well, this was his game No. 12. He had but 2 assists previously. And Nylander finally got his first of the season.
Think he's relieved? Look at him dumping that invisible weight off his shoulders!
That was a nice give-and-go play with Matthews. I was really happy for Nylander, who was back on Matthews' line as RW the whole game (rather than Babs moving pieces around from period to period or shift to shift).
Now that the first one is out of the way, looks like Nylander will stay next to Matthews. It was Brown taking Hyman's usual spot as LW next to JT. Kapanen went down to Naz's line. The 4th line of Moore-Gaut-Lindholm put in some fine 4th line shifts.
But now that we've given up 8 goals in the past 2 games against 2 mediocre offensive teams, we need more than just grinding 4th line shifts. And it doesn't just fall on the D-men, either.
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