The Maple Leafs lost another game last night. This time it was to the Avalanche with a standout and bizarre short-handed goal against sequence sealing the deal.

The loss is too great a burden to put all on the back of Jason Spezza. Check out our recap of last night’s game for more.

Brutal shorthanded goal costs Maple Leafs in 3-1 loss to Colorado Avalanche

We did at least get a great tribute video to Nazem Kadri.

The Leafs next game is Saturday in St. Louis against the Blues. After that they will head for a Western Canada road trip; get ready for some late night games. Right now the team stands with 30 points, one behind a slot in the Atlantic Division playoffs, however, the other teams in the division have two games-in-hand over the Leafs to stay in front. The only thing keeping the Leafs a contender right now is the disastrous recent slide by the Canadiens, losing eight of their past ten, and a surprisingly poor performance by the Lightning this season.

ICYMI
Here’s what we wrote about yesterday.

Mitch Marner Returns; Marincin And Petan Demoted - Fulemin
The golden boy is back!

Maple Leafs Nick Shore claimed by the Jets - Katya
Now we await the rest of the roster news.

Toronto Marlies news catch-up - Species and Hardev
It has been a very busy week for the Marlies with three games, a new head coach, and a suspension.

Sweden leaves a Rasmus Sandin-sized hole in their world junior camp roster - Katya
The early list has only five defenders on it.

The cap crunch has arrived and the boot is coming for one of two Leafs players - Hardev
With Marner coming back, there’s only so much money to go around.

Other News

It’s the time of year to put super high expectations on 17 year-olds, and then crush their spirits when they don’t exceed them. It’s the World Junior Hockey Championships!

Jonathan Quick couldn’t even make it as a backup goalie for the Leafs.

From The Branches