It was a good night for the Leafs and the Marlies as both teams went 2-0 over their weekend back-to-backs.
Good morning!
Last night the Leafs beat the Flyers 6-2. It was a solid win against a bad Flyers team: Tavares is absolutely rolling lately, Matthews got his 20th of the season, ZAR finally got a goal, and Timmins scored the first of his career. Katya’s got the recap for you here:
Yesterday, Brigstew’s FTB was a Pontus Holmberg appreciation thread, and Holmberg also got another assist in last night’s game.
So to keep the Pontus love coming, I thought I’d just drop this tweet here. More like Pontus Hart-berg, amirite?
Pontus Holmberg 5v5 point rate: 2.37 P/60
Connor McDavid 5v5 point rate: 2.38 P/60I mean, you gotta ask the question at this point, right?
— Arvi (@arvi) January 9, 2023
The Marlies also played the second game of a back to back last night, and they won both games. Last night’s game was a 4-2 win against Laval, Montreal’s affiliate, improving the Marlies’ record to 22-9-2 while holding first in their division. The fourth goal of the game, scored by Bobby McMann, was also the 4000th goal in franchise history!
OUR 4TH GOAL TODAY
OUR 4000TH GOAL IN FRANCHISE HISTORY pic.twitter.com/EBu3YKJ4m3— Toronto Marlies (@TorontoMarlies) January 8, 2023
Around the NHL, Timmins wasn’t the only player to score his first career goal last night, as Blackhawks prospect Lukas Reichel scored his first NHL goal too with a nifty little between the legs rebound.
LADIES AND GENTS LUKAS REICHEL’S FIRST NHL GOAL pic.twitter.com/BlMnNAfCwG
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) January 9, 2023
In prospect news, check out this Knies deflection from yesterday:
#LeafsForever prospect Matthew Knies with a nice little deflection in front for the powerplay goal. He has 12 goals and 23 points in 22 games.pic.twitter.com/emW15Z0rNf
— More like Nikita GREATbyonkin (@brigstew86) January 8, 2023
As well, Fraser Minten’s team, the Kamloops Blazers, look to be going all in, as they just made a massive trade for Olen Zellweger. Can you imagine if NHL trades were this big?
TRADE ALERT
We’ve traded Olen Zellweger and Ryan Hofer to the Kamloops Blazers for four players and up to 10 @TheWHL Draft picks.
: https://t.co/Qg7pn7iWAy pic.twitter.com/oIFrvCwe2V
— Everett Silvertips (@WHLsilvertips) January 9, 2023
Elsewhere in the WHL, it looks like Bedard hasn’t missed a step since his dominant performance at the juniors, as he scored four goals and six points in his return.
Oh boy, it’s goal No. 4 for Connor Bedard today.
I’ve run out of superlatives. pic.twitter.com/B73pXjaUek
— /Cam Robinson/ (@Hockey_Robinson) January 9, 2023
Happy Monday everyone!