Craig Berube called shootouts a crap shoot on Saturday night.
He’s not wrong.
Having said that, there’s no question that the Leafs lost out on a valuable extra point against the rival Montreal Canadiens.
Glass half empty, glass half full.
The point streak is up to four games (3-0-1) with Tampa in town to tangle on Prime Monday Night Hockey.
We kicked off the Monday edition of Leafs Morning Take by discussing the latest on the injury front. Honestly, there’s not much new. The prognosis sounds relatively good on Joseph Woll, but you just never know. Meantime, Anthony Stolarz still hasn’t skated since leaving the November 11th game with an upper body injury. Lastly, it seems like Chris Tanev’s inching closer. Craig Berube said the veteran blueliner is slated to meet with a doctor on Wednesday. After that, the Leafs should know more.
NEXT. MAN. UP.
At any rate, the Leafs played the classic first game back from a long road trip on Saturday night against the Habs. They were sluggish, but honestly, they fought hard to get a point. Hell, they almost pulled out the win. Dennis Hildeby was fantastic making 33 stops. Additionally, Scott Laughton scored for the third straight game. Surprise, surprise, the power play continues to stink up the joint. They’re 10-for-70 on the season, good for 30th of 32 in the entire NHL. Fantastic stuff. At least the penalty kill has been strong, even though they gave one up to Cole Caufield the other night.
As mentioned, Tampa’s in town for a big one. Just like Toronto, they’re banged up, so there’s no telling what that roster could like. Pontus Holmberg is slated to make his return. Unsurprisingly, he’s been a menace this year for Jon Cooper already 16 penalties. That’s where the Leafs really miss him. Look out for Matthew Knies. He has 10 goals in nine career games against Tampa. Incredibly, the Leafs are only four points of Tampa, who currently occupy first place in the Atlantic Division. Calle Jarnkrok and Dakota Mermis will draw back in. Nick Robertson and Phil Myers will come out of the lineup.
David Pagnotta will sub in for Jay Rosehill as co-host on the Tuesday edition of Leafs Morning Take. We’ll recap Leafs/Lightning. Also, former Bolt Tyler Johnson will stop by to give his analysis on the game and the Leafs moving forward, too.
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