For just the second time this season, the Toronto Maple Leafs have won three in a row.
That said, in true Leafs fashion, the mini win streak comes with some alarm bells as Joseph Woll was forced to leave Thursday night’s game due to a lower body injury.
Lather, rinse, repeat.
The 27-year-old was playing so damn well, too. At any rate, that’s where the conversation started on the Friday edition of Leafs Morning Take. What now? That’s the big question. Anthony Stolarz is nowhere to be found. Hell, he’s not even skating. Furthermore, after the game, Craig Berube didn’t have much of an update on Woll, who came up lame on a save late in the second frame. Here we go again, folks. In the HILDEBEAST, we trust.
All in all, losing Woll was the only blemish on an otherwise impressive night for the Maple Leafs, who suddenly are starting to catch fire a bit here. Woll made 22 stops, Hildeby added nine big ones in the third in relief as Toronto smothered Carolina 5-1. In total, 10 different Leafs notched at least one point. Bobby McMann scored twice while Matthew Knies tallied a goal and one assist. Incredibly, for the fourth consecutive, the Leafs scored on their first shot of the game. For context, that’s the first time something like that has happened in 12 years. In addition to potting his ninth goal of the season, Auston Matthews was a force defensively racking up six shot blocks, two more than the entire Hurricanes team. On top of all that, the penalty kill was nails again going 3-for-3. Over the past six contests, Toronto’s killed off 16 of 17 penalties. The shot blocks and goaltending sure help —that’s for sure. The Leafs failed to score on their two power play opportunities. They’re now 10-for-68 on the season. Wild stuff.
After that, 9-time Stanley Cup champion Scotty Bowman stopped by the podcast once again. As per usual, he was candid, sharp, and concise with his analysis on the Maple Leafs. Bowman dished on the Carolina win and how shocked he was to see the Leafs start the season the way they did. That said, he did compliment their depth. He likes the roster —as constructed in the offseason. Most importantly, he thinks the biggest reason for the recent turnaround is their defensive play. Furthermore, Bowman weighed in on Matthews’ shot block party, Toronto’s terrible power play, and the Woll injury. Of note, Rosey asked him if he thinks the Leafs are too tight-lipped with respect to their injury reports.
That’s it, that’s all for another week of Leafs Morning Take. Coming up on the Monday edition, we’ll recap Leafs/Habs, plus also look ahead to Monday night’s divisional tilt against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Scotiabank Arena.
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