The Maple Leafs left Alberta last night with seven of eight possible points, a pretty good result for a long road trip with games at odd hours. It leaves them with a comfortable three point margin as leader of the North Division thanks also to the Canadiens losing to the Flames last night. I guess that “players only meeting” worked. Here’s our recap of last night’s game.

Game Recap: Toronto Maple Leafs lose in overtime

The Leafs now get a short break. Their next game isn’t until Thursday when they kick-off a three game series against the Canucks in Toronto. Yes, you read that correctly, they will play the Canucks three games in a row. After that, the Leafs will face the Canadiens twice, and then the Senators for three games in a row. After that there’s also the first of a three game series against the Oilers, though the last two games of that series fall after the month-end into March.

Basically, you will passionately hate someone on every Canadian team by the end of February, but, there’s some good news too in that all of the February games start at 7:00 p.m., except one at 7:30. You won’t need to stay up late to watch the Leafs again until those March games against the Oilers (yes, 10:00 p.m. ET start again.)

Let’s take one more look at that Matthews goal from last night before we get to the rest of the news.

[Transcript] Keefe Post Game: "At the end of a long road trip, with fatigue a definite factor, the guys pushed back" - MLHS
Keefe on Lehtonen: "I think he still doesn’t look comfortable out there."

Other News

The Dallas Stars lost to the Carolina Hurricanes 4-1 yesterday, but one of those four Canes goals stood out with some rather crazy back-and-forth action.

Some people are saying Victor Mete wants a trade out of Montreal, and he wants it right now. Habs GM Marc Bergevin says that’s totally false, meaning it’s likely he will trade him today.

Marco Rossi has some long-term issues from COVID-19. The exact issues were not disclosed, but it looks like he will take off at least a month to do a health check.

After 14-year playing career, Stempniak is a different breed of data analyst - The Boston Globe
The former Leafs player will work remotely from the Boston suburbs in his new role as the Coyotes’ first hockey data strategist.

Wild’s Fiala suspended 3 games for boarding Kings’ Matt Roy - Jewels From The Crown
Kevin Fiala will forfeit $77,586.21 of his salary to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.

Meet Washiiyeh Jeannotte, a 9-year-old hockey player with sharp stickhandling skills - CBC
Washiiyeh Jeannotte, a member of the Algonquins of Barriere Lake, is hoping to inspire other Indigenous youth by providing a glimpse into his backyard rink practices via TikTok.

[VIDEO] Henrik and Daniel Sedin enjoying spending retired life in Vancouver - Sportsnet
Henrik and Daniel Sedin were the faces of the Vancouver Canucks franchise for over two decades. When they decided it was time to retire, the twins made a decision to remain in Vancouver instead of returning home to Sweden.

How important are measurements, really? | Food | The Guardian
Do you have to be so precise when measuring ingredients? After all, what difference does 5g of flour actually make?

From The Branches