Monday FTB: Leafs having a devil of a road trip

The Leafs lost against the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-1 in an entertaining game where they largely played well but got stoned by a hot goalie.

Then they sleptwalk through 2.5 periods against the Florida Panthers but somehow managed to steal a loser point from it thanks to a late Mitch Marner flurry.

They’re now facing the New Jersey Devils on the road, who are also having a bad time after they had a hot start. If this doesn’t cure what ails them, I don’t know that I can withstand the doomsday depressed Leafs twitter until the next game.

Please, Leafs. If you won’t do it for yourselves, if you won’t do it for Babs, if you won’t do it for your own mothers after they did the floss dance just for you, then do it to save us from moping Leaf fans!

ONTO THE LINKS

CWHL Recap: Thunder sweep Blades, Inferno shut out Furies | by nadio and mediajunkie

CWHL Recap: Furies dampen the Inferno, Thunder beat Blades | by nafio and mediajunkie

Special teams excel as Toronto Marlies complete weekend sweep in Manitoba | by MLHS

Exploring the Market: Which defencemen could help the Leafs on the right side? | by Ian Tulloch at The Athletic

I posted this link for Saturday, but after two good games for Sandin there’s an update...

Rasmus Sandin is turning heads in the American Hockey League | by Kevin Papetti

Following Sandin's two point game, here's an updated version of the chart I created for my most recent MLHS article.

These are the AHL U-20 Defensemen Single-Season Points Per Game Leaders Since 2006-07. At this point, we basically have to compare Sandin to 19-year olds. pic.twitter.com/gHxwAc3wYj

— Kevin Papetti (@KPapetti) December 15, 2018

And actually, Sandin had another point in the evening after Kevin tweeted that. So Sandin is now at 0.55 PPG. That’s on pace for 45 points over an 82 game season!

Rasmus Sandin has been reassigned to Team Sweden. Their camp in BC began today. No sign of Timothy Liljegren joining them, so I think we might have to admit finally that he will miss the WJC due to injury.

— Pension Plan Puppets (@PPPLeafs) December 17, 2018

That’s per the AHL transfer page. Final rosters for the team aren’t due for about a week, so there’s still time, but not much time.

Some Team Canada fun:

How 🇨🇦 goaltending consultant Fred Brathwaite was the surprise star as Team Canada got to work on shootouts https://t.co/iXQklZoF4G #TSNHockey #WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/n4X3p6cRlZ

— TSN Hockey (@TSNHockey) December 17, 2018

Have a great Monday everyone!

Who is Sandin’s best comparable?