Sign Up to PPP Today

You have to be a member to comment at PPP. Membership is free and requires only an email address.

Become a Member

Don't blow it Morgan.

That was the thought in my head before the game. The Maple Leafs went 5-0 while he was suspended. Undefeated without their best defender. Blowouts, close games, they did it all, and now he's back. Starting on the third pair to ease back into things, but there he is.

Of course the he comes back for the games against Vegas and Colorado, not the Coyotes, but some real challenges. And challenge they did, as the Golden Knights hit a post in the first minute of the game.

Martin Jones and Adin Hill are being tested hard in the first five minutes of the period; William Nylander and Tyler Bertuzzi almost team up to open the scoring, even Ryan Reaves has a few chances:

Nic Hague, Jonathan Marchessault, and former Marlie Mike Amadio put the puck to Jones, but despite everyone trying, nothing is going in the net.

Bobby McMann isn't just a goal scorer, he defends his captain as well.

The crowd is loud for both teams, as the locals are out and loud as they always are, and Leafs fan travel well and hey, if you can see a game on the strip, why not. As always, sell your tickets to Leafs fans to pay for the rest.

The Maple Leafs open the scoring past the halfway mark of the period, after McMann gets the puck from behind the Vegas bet, up to Jake McCabe on top of the faceoff circle, and he shoots hard and gets it over the Hill to break the scoreless tie.

David Kämpf doesn't want to be left out, and becomes the second unlikely goal scorer of the net after he steals the puck and wraps it just around Hill for the second goal of the game.

As the period goes on, the Leafs get better, take over control of the puck, and hem the Knights into their zone. The second line of Nylander - Domi - Bertuzzi do an excellent job of keeping control of the puck. Bertuzzi plants himself in front of the net, distracting Hill, being a pain for Brayden McNabb who is trying to keep him at bay, and attempting to deflect in pucks.

John Tavares makes it 3-0, his first 5-on-5 goal since December 11th. Off the face off he fights for the puck, keeps control and shoots it in easily.

That is it for Adin Hill, former Brock Badger Logan Thompson comes into the net for Vegas.

Oh, it doesn't help. Max Domi quickly makes it 4-0.

Matthew Knies and Paul Cotter skate after the puck and Knies easily knocks Cotter off his skates in the race to the boards. Cotter heads back to the bench, unable to draw a penalty.

The first period ends 4-0 Maple Leafs.

The second begins with William Karlsson denying Martin Jones the shutout by scoring in the first minute of the period.

It's hard to get a shutout in the NHL, so it's not the end of the world. It's nice to do for your goalie though.

Vegas is picking up their game, matching the Maple Leafs play early in the second as they had in the first before it got away from them. The Leafs are playing well still; a good game so the nitpicky things are sticking out more. A turnover caused the Karlsson goal. Nick Robertson had a low effort pass in the offensive zone that was easily poked away from it's target. Reaching for complaints kind of things.

Zach Whitecloud has complaints though, as he's the first victim of the referee whistles, called for holding William Nylander. That's a penalty I'll take any day of the week.

The Maple Leafs try, but the Golden Knights penalty kill is too much for the Leafs, and they go without a legitimate shot on net this power play.

But, Max Domi has watched so many of his teammates have multi-goal games recently, he wanted in so Domi comes in, battling the trailing defender, and scores his second goal of the game to make it 5-1 midway through the second.

This is the second game in a row the Knights have let in five goals, having lost 5-3 to Nashville on Tuesday.

Pontus Holmberg goes top shelf on Thompson, making it 6-1.

I did not expect to blow out the Golden Knights, I gotta be honest.

Another power play for Toronto, with 2:36 left in the second. Paul Cotter gets a crosschecking call. Once again, no PP goal for the Leafs, but when you score six five-on-five, you let the PK feel a little bit good by not scoring with the man advantage.

The second period ends, with the Leas up 6-1.

The third begins as the second did, with Vegas scoring in the first minute. This time it's Johnathan Marchessault, making it 6-2.

They come right back after the post-goal face off, and former Leaf Mike Amadio makes it 6-3.

We get a real nice scramble in front of the Golden Knights net, crowd gets really anxious about the possibility of a goal, but we're denied a seventh Leafs goal.

Vegas is attacking the Leafs net like they'll be cut after this game if they don't win, giving Martin Jones more of a workout now than he had the last 40 minutes.

Max Domi and Ryan Reaves team up to complete the hat trick, but Thompson decides now is the time to make a save. Rude.

Pontus Holmberg gets the first penalty for the Leafs, when he gets called for tripping Sheldon Rempal.

The Vegas power play isn't as good as it's penalty kill, but it does a better job than Toronto's as they attack the net and force Jones to scramble for saves.

The Maple Leafs at even strength? Perfectly fine as they score goal number seven right as the power play ends.

Matthews wanted everyone else to have some fun before he scored tonight.

Ryan Reaves almost makes it eight after he stickhandles down the boards, through a hit, and Thompson just gets the pad out to throw off the shot. Great sequence for Reaves. He's stonewalled again by Thompson, the fourth line is buzzing tonight.

The Leafs played very well, Vegas tried to match their standard, but it wasn't enough and the Maple Leafs had five players score seven goals against the Vegas Golden Knights to extend their win streak to six games.

And you know what? Morgan didn't blow it.

The Maple Leafs next game is Saturday night against the Colorado Avalanche at 7PM.

Will it be seven straight before they host the Golden Knights on Monday?

I can confidently say: Maybe.

PPP Runs on Your Support

If you enjoy reading PPP Leafs, and want to see it continue, please consider becomming a paid subscriber. We want to keep all our content open to all users, but to be a sustainable site, we need more support from paid members.

Subscribe Now
Game Coverage