Remember when Mike Babcock used to go on about the Leafs needing to get six points out of every five-game stretch? Well, with nine points in their first seven games, the Leafs are well on their way to keeping up with that 98-ish point pace. Of course the team would like to be better than a sub-100 point team, but it’s early and it’s good to see that things are going well.

Speaking of things going well, Morgan Rielly.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone have a four-point night without notching a single goal or primary assist. Mo should buy a lottery ticket with that luck. Or maybe just take his teammates out to dinner.

Nevertheless, Rielly is in the record books because his four assists in the second period tied the record for most points by a Leaf in a single period; the first to do it since Rick Vaive.

Rielly also hit 200 assists in his career, making him only the 29th player in Leafs history to accomplish that feat. Bonus marks for anyone in the comments who can name all 28 players before him.

The Leafs used the strong puck luck in the second surrounding a very complete hockey game to trounce the Minnesota Wild 4-2 at home. Arvind had the recap and included some very insightful notes on how the Leafs performed on the whole. It was definitely better than what the score sheet showed after the first six minutes.

Maple Leafs set up camp in the offensive zone and dominate the Wild

Speaking of score sheets, the twins at Evolving Wild/Hockey reverse engineered a flaw baked into the NHL’s shot tracking data. We’ve had doubts about it’s accuracy in the past but those two really cracked the code, or at least identified the problem in a lot more detail than the rest of us. Check out Katya’s piece on the matter.

The NHL as Unreliable Narrator

Bryan Bastin also wrote about the topic over at On the Forecheck (Nashville). I would encourage reading their article as well.

The NHL’s shot location data has changed—and nobody knows why (Update: ...or do they?)

Back on the Leafs, Kyle Dubas is shopping for Russians, they include Nikita Nesterov and Mikhail Grigorenko. Let the annual shopping spree begin!

Ilya Mikheyev worked out so well, Kyle Dubas went shopping for more Russians

And finally, my Marlies progress report three games into the season. Looking at early  trends and performances. Who’s upped their game, and who’s on the verge of falling behind.

Toronto Marlies progress report: Egor Korshkov is the real deal

Lastly, from around the league, reigning first-overall pick Jack Hughes has yet to put up a point with the New Jersey Devils (who pretend fired their whole coaching staff yesterday). Luckily this slump pushed Mitch Marner to get out of the kids’ table and score his first 5v5 point of the season last night.

Comparing Jack Hughes' slow start to other first overall picks' in the NHL - Article - BARDOWN

There was a classic LOLMAF last night for the Golden Knights.

Today is both a Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Marlies game day. We’ll have full coverage of both games here at PPP. It’s my first day back at Coca-Cola Coliseum since last spring and I can’t wait to be back!

From The Branches