Maple Leafs move Monday’s game vs. Red Wings to 2:00 pm to avoid conflict with Blue Jays

The Toronto Maple Leafs announced on Friday that they have moved up the start time for Monday’s game against the Detroit Red Wings to 2 pm. EST to avoid conflict with the Toronto Blue Jays.

The move was done because the Blue Jays are scheduled to host Game 2 of the ALCS against either the Detroit Tigers or Seattle Mariners that same day, and the start time would have overlapped with the Leafs’ originally scheduled time of 4 p.m. This results in a doubleheader of sorts, where fans of both teams can watch the two games back-to-back without missing a moment of the action.

The Leafs also announced that they will be hosting a watch party at Scotiabank Arena for the fans who bought tickets to the game, where the Blue Jays game will be aired on the scoreboard above centre ice.

“The Blue Jays playoff excitement has captured the entire city and we want to help make sure that fans don’t miss a pitch,” MLSE CEO Keith Pelley said in a press release. “We greatly appreciate the cooperation by the NHL and Amazon Prime to make this time change possible and we all look forward to cheering on both the Leafs and the Blue Jays on Monday afternoon and evening.”

This marks the latest instance where the Leafs and Jays uniquely crossed paths this week. Many Leafs players were in attendance for Game 2 of the ALDS against the New York Yankees, with photos of them watching on going viral on social media. During the Leafs’ season opener against the Montreal Canadiens, fans got updates of Game 4 on the scoreboard and watch-alongs at various points throughout the night.

At one point during the third period, the arena erupted as the Jays extended their lead to 4-1, prompting fans to start chanting “Let’s Go Blue Jays.”

“ I like that. It’s not the first time I’ve heard them, but I heard them early in my career in a negative way,” defenceman Morgan Rielly joked to reporters after the game. “ 2015, 2016, whatever that was. So it’s cool. We got the game on now, so we’ve got the boys all watching.”

Given the uniqueness of the circumstances where the Leafs are currently playing second fiddle to the Jays in Toronto, you can expect more situations like this to continue as long as the baseball team is in the playoffs. In the meantime, Leafs Nation needs to adjust their Monday plans accordingly because the start time of the hockey game has now moved up two hours.

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