The Maple Leafs were Vasilevskiy’d last night. What an unfortunate turn of events this was the game where he returned from injury. The Leafs vs. Louis Dominue would have been a much different game, that’s for sure.

Recap: Vasilevskiy is a wizard, Leafs lose 4-1

And this was all in front of the Leafs’ moms! Noooo!

The Lightning are like the Dominion of the NHL right now. I suspect Vasilevskiy is like a Vorta; they simply destroy him when he is injured and clone a brand new replacement. It’s the only explanation of how he can do such acrobatic efforts every night to stop pucks, yet not have his legs fall off.

The next Leafs game is tomorrow night in Sunrise. Meanwhile, the Marlies are heading to Cold Florida: Winnipeg! They are making a rare trek out to the AHL’s Western Conference to play the Manitoba Moose starting with a game tonight at 8:00 p.m. EST. The forecast shows it will be 28 °C in Sunrise and -1 °C  in Winnipeg today.

I know where I would rather be.

ICYMI

Marlies goaltending nearing crisis levels following 8-1 humiliation - Hardev
Does anyone know where the Dmytro Timashov doghouse is located?

Other News

D’aawwwwww. We still love you, James.

No penalty called on this one.

That’s a good boy!

Shattenkirk sidelined 2-4 weeks with shoulder injury - Blueshirt Banter
[Species: Remember when every teams’ fans wanted Kevin Shattenkirk?]

Provorov’s historically unenviable position - Broad Street Hockey
Ivan Provorov is not having a good season, but could the coaching staff do more in helping him try to fix it?

The Devils Need to Cut Loose Some Dead Weight - All About The Jersey
[Species: His name is Cory Schneider and he would make a great Marlies goalie.]

Ovechkin should be on a victory lap. Instead, he’s lapping the field. - WaPo
Can he catch Gretzky?
“I don’t think it’s possible,” Alex Ovechkin said Wednesday afternoon following Capitals practice, maybe 14 hours after he finished off the 21st hat trick of his career. “I don’t see it. Maybe if you scored 100 goals in a season.”
Shoot. Ovechkin is on pace for just 68.

From The Branches