The Maple Leafs continued their pre-season last night, playing in Belleville and trouncing the Ottawa Senators 6-3. It was quite a fun game, though the Senators certainly did not have their “A” lineup for this one.

We got a good look at Ilya Samsonov in net this game and I saw a goalie from the Louis Domingue school of adventure. I always get worried when goalies go way out of the net to play the puck. Remember when Ben Scrivens would do this all the time?

When things go wrong on these goalie adventures, they go very wrong. Hopefully we don’t experience that at a critical time.

On the positive side, did Nick Robertson ever look good in this game. He used his absolute cannon of a shot too many occasions to count.

The question is can he get setup to set that off in real NHL games and not these pre-season matches? Hopefully the answer is yes.

The Leafs next pre-season game is on Monday in Montreal against the Habs.

ICYMI
Here’s what we’ve been writing about in the past 48 hours.


Making some sense out of the Maple Leafs salary cap
What you need to know about waivers in preseason
Rasmus Sandin signs two-year contract extension with Toronto Maple Leafs


And the Leafs injuries continued to pile up.

Other News

Jason Spezza owes this kid a signed jersey for this very public missed fist bump.

Linesman Takes Punch as Wild, Stars Scrap - Scouting The Refs
Linesman C.J. Murray took a hard right breaking up a fight between the Dallas Stars and Minnesota Wild in retaliation for a late hit on Roope Hintz.

Federal government warns Canadian hockey players in Russia, Belarus to leave - CBC
Canadians continue to play hockey for Kontinental Hockey League teams in Russia and Belarus despite the Canadian government's warning to get out of those countries. [SPECIES: come back to the Marlies, Josh Ho-Sang!]

Treaty 6 First Nations woman 1st to join NHL's Winnipeg Jets as collegiate scout - CBC
Sydney Daniels, 27, is joining the National Hockey League team as a college scout, but the woman from the Mistawasis Nehiyawak First Nation has already enjoyed a long hockey career.

Tamal Ray’s recipe for pork belly sandwiches with apple and fennel slaw - The Guardian
[SPECIES: You cannot eat only one of these.]

And my final item for the weekend, presented without comment.


What do you think about Nick Robertson’s chances of making the team now?

I expected he was going to make it out of training camp all along.67
I didn’t think he would make it, but now I’ve changed my mind and I think he will.87
I still think he’s only getting on the Leafs roster for the first game if he’s needed to cover injuries.210
I still think that he will start the season on the Marlies.122