The Toronto Maple Leafs struggled offensively against the Philadelphia Flyers. No, seriously. The lone goal scorer was Michel del Zotto. No, really. Watch the game in six if you don't believe it:

Some rough thoughts on players:

  • I thought Peter Holland had a really strong game tonight, was often in the right place in the right time, had some speed, and had a couple good zone entries.
  • Nazem Kadri was creative and had a couple good opportunities (include a great doorstep chance where he was shut down by Steve Mason).
  • Morgan Rielly played like a man possessed in his last few minutes of ice time. I get so excited when he jumps into the rush - I expect that when he figures out to convert on those opportunities more often, he'll light the lamp more frequently than he has been lately.
  • I don't think anyone really stood out as a strong negative for me. Yes, Del Zotto's stick should've been tied up, and yes, I continue my "kick David Clarkson off the second power play unit" crusade (and tonight, he was on for the last-minute 6-on-5), but otherwise, thought everyone played at least 'alright.'

Overall, I was braced for worse, considering the missing Captain and the last time these two teams played (Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek were surprisingly quiet tonight), but this is, to me, a reasonably good loss. This was a close game throughout, and the Leafs were competitive - that said, they were competitive against a non-playoff team and those are the kinds of games the Leafs need to win if they're going to try and stay in the playoff picture. Also, I wish I had more context for this, because it's 100% untrue:

I assume James Reimer and management know that any time a goalie comes out with one goal against, they did their job well enough. I expect they do.


Do you remember the last time the Leafs played against the Nashville Predators? Because you will hear about it incessantly in the run-up to next Tuesday's game against the club. Puck drop is at 8 PM eastern.
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