Well, it’s back to the drawing board for Craig Berube and company.
Luckily, they still have two games left in the regular season against the Florida Panthers, who just continue to have their number.
Any way you slice, Toronto’s now four points back of Florida for first in the Atlantic Division with one game in hand. Time’s running out to win the division.
At any rate, it was a spicy start to the Friday edition of Leafs Morning Take. After Rosey vented for a few minutes, we discussed the standings and the scoreboard watching this season. It’s a fun time of year to track all this stuff. Believe it or not, the Leafs have just 17 games remaining.
Thanks to Tim Hortons, we broke down the 3-2 loss to the Cats at Scotiabank Arena. Unfortunately, it was a lot of the same old same for the Maple Leafs. Auston Matthews had a pedestrian night, so did Mitch Marner. That game was there for the taking and they couldn’t get the job done. That said, Max Domi was great. He had a big hit, huge fight, and a monster goal. You can’t ask for watch more. Additionally, it was great to see Chris Tanev back in the lineup. Indisputably, it will take the veteran blue liner a few games to get back up to pace. Over and above all that, we dissected why Leafs fans shouldn’t be pulling their hair out after yet another disappointing loss to the Panthers. There’s reason for optimism, folks.
After that, we played another edition of TAKE IT or LEAF IT. We debated whether the Leafs would go further than the Panthers in the playoffs, if Calle Jarnkrok will start the postseason in the top six and if the Morgan Rielly/Brandon Carlo pairing will stay intact for the rest of the year.
To wrap, we previewed the Battle of Ontario as the red-hot Ottawa Senators will invade Scotiabank Arena on Saturday night. Thanks to its five-game win streak, Ottawa’s only six points back of the Maple Leafs in the standings. Linus Ullmark has been on fire.
Carter Hutton will be in the mix for Jay Rosehill on the Monday edition of Leafs Morning Take. Join us at 11 AM ET as we offer up a full recap of Leafs/Sens. Also, we’ll preview Toronto’s tilt on Prime Monday Night Hockey with the Calgary Flames.
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