For the first time since November 7th, the Toronto Maple Leafs are back in a playoff spot.
Incredibly, Craig Berube’s bunch delivered in a big way on Monday night in the ultimate heat-check game. William Nylander netted the OT winner as the Leafs outlasted the Avalanche 4-3 to snap Colorado’s ridiculous 17 game home win streak.
Obviously, we were pretty jacked to kick off the Tuesday edition of Leafs Morning Take. That was a really inspiring effort, too bad many people on the east coast likely missed it because of how late it took place. At any rate, there’s definitely reason for optimism as the Leafs get set for the second half of their back-to-back in Utah, the final stop before the franchise’s first showdown with Mitchell Marner.
Meantime, in the opening block of the podcast, we also touched on Jay Rosehill’s favourite athlete, LeBron James. In case you missed it, LeBron announced he’ll be wearing a special-edition patch for the rest of the season to commemorate his record-setting 23rd NBA campaign. On top of that, we also dove into the coaching shakeup in Columbus, where Dean Evason was fired and 70-year-old Rick Bowness came out of retirement to become the Blue Jackets’ new head coach. Yeah — we’re very versatile podcasters.
Joseph Woll was dynamite, turning aside 31 shots and improving to 9-1-1 over his last 11 appearances. The Leafs also killed off a crucial penalty late in regulation, setting the stage for William Nylander’s OT heroics. All in all, it made for a fun conversation as we broke down everything that unfolded. There’s a reason Colorado owns the NHL’s best record — they gave Toronto all it could handle. We also raved about Auston Matthews’ patented curl-and-drag snipe and Bobby McMann’s burst of speed on a breakaway to beat Trent Miner. Easton Cowan had a big goal in the first period to kick off the scoring, too. Unfortunately, the Leafs lost Nick Robertson early in the game after he blocked a shot in the leg. That said, Sportsnet’s Luke Fox spotted Robertson walking around “fine” after the game. Hopefully, it was just a stinger, or something.
After that upbeat chat, TSN Hockey Analyst Craig Button stopped. Firstly, he dished on the statement overtime win in Denver and what’s truly changed during the team’s 10-game point streak. With the Leafs back in a playoff spot for the first time in a while, Craig shared how his view of this team has evolved, why winning “the hard way” matters, and his thoughts on Dougie Hamilton as a potential fit in Toronto — answering “unquestionably yes” when asked. We also touched on the development of Easton Cowan and Ben Danford.
Lastly, we hit on the back-end of the back-to-back as the Leafs visit Utah. All eyes on Matias Maccelli, who will make his return to Utah after being dealt to the Leafs last summer. In November, Maccelli had one and one – as part of a 5-3 win – against the Mammoth in their visit to Scotiabank Arena. Dennis Hildeby will get the call in goal.
As always, we’ll have a full game recap coming up on Wednesday’s edition of Leafs Morning Take. Plus, former NHLer and Spittin’ Chiclets co-host Ryan Whitney is expected to join us, too.
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