Is this real life, or is it just fantasy?
The Toronto Blue Jays are now just one win away of their third World Series in franchise history.
Thank goodness we’re all entrenched in their amazing story, because it’s been an October to forget for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Unfortunately, it was more of the same on Wednesday night in Columbus. Obviously, aside from the Jays talk off the top, that’s where the conversation started on the Thursday edition of Leafs Morning Take. The Leafs were humiliated by the Blue Jackets. Take a drink.
First thing’s first, the Leafs have now surrendered five goals or more in five of their pasting seven outings versus Columbus. Yeah, for some reason, the Jackets have been a thorn in Toronto’s side —including the playoffs. The Leafs outshot the Jackets 38-24, but honestly, that was indicative of the game. The Leafs were sloppy. Game after game, they continue to play defence that would make a beer league team lick their chops. This is unacceptable. The saving grace is this team always starts slow. They’re 5-5-1, and most importantly, they’re off to a better start than both Florida and Tampa. It was a rough night for Cayden Primeau. He was very pedestrian. At this point, they could be better off dressing Dennis Hildeby until Joseph Woll’s ready to return to game action. Additionally, we debated what’s up with Auston Matthews. He had another lacklustre night. Meantime, we gave some love to John Tavares, who became the 49th player in NHL history to score 500 goals. Sammy Blais was really solid in his Leafs debut, too, notching one goal, one assists, five hits, and two shots on goal. The Leafs lost Steven Lorentz as well, which obviously will be something to monitor over the coming days.
After that, Amazon Prime’s Andi Petrillo dropped by to promote her new book (Just Call Me Andi: Sports Stories From a Trailblazer). Over and above that, she also weighed in on Toronto’s 5-5-1 start. In the long run, she thinks they will be okay but was honest in saying that there’s some concern there. Petrillo zoned in on the offence specifically. At this point, we’ve seen every line combination. It feels like Berube has no answers. No one can string anything together.
Lastly, to wrap, we did talk about Matthews a bit more, and Nylander, too. Let’s hope Willy can go in Philly on Saturday night. That game could prove to be a tell-tale sign of where this team’s at right now.
The Halloween edition of Leafs Morning Take promises to be a good one. Join us at 11 AM ET on Friday as we dissect the latest from practice as Toronto gets set for their game in Philadelphia. Also, legendary Leafs play x play Joe Bowen will make his first ever appearance on the show.
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