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Leafs Postgame: Getting rid of the Blues

| Ryan Hobart

Last night the Maple Leafs took on the reigning champion St. Louis Blues on the road in a difficult match up.

The Leafs got off to a great start, scoring the first goal within 3 minutes of the opening puck drop on a great read by Mitch Marner, leading to a goal by Zach Hyman:

The Blues got one back quickly though, capitalizing on great pressure on the forecheck to set up the Ivan Barbashev goal:

The match was the debut opportunity for Pontus Aberg, who the Leafs signed to a 1 year contract last season. He got his first opportunity on the first line, a great chance to impress with Auston Matthews and William Nylander.

While Aberg didn’t do so much on the scoresheet, the line did create a goal for Auston Matthews to put the Leafs up 2-1:

Still in the first period, Hyman scored his second goal of the game shorthanded on a great rush by rookie Pierre Engvall:

STILL in the first period, the second powerplay unit got a rare conversion of the advantage, on a cracking point shot from Jason Spezza:

In the second, the Leafs made it even worse for the Blues, on the powerplay again, this time for the first unit and Matthews’ second goal of the game:

On to the third period, as the Leafs felt their victory was safe at hand, the Blues capitalized on the lapse in judgement, making the game 5-2:

Final Thoughts

That was the last entry on the scoresheet as the Leafs took a solid road win. The first two periods especially were executed to perfection giving them the 5-1 lead and basically sealing the deal in the firstly 40 minutes.

This game was the opening of a long road trip that will undoubtedly bring some adversity, so to start with a solid win will be an important boost to confidence.

The Leafs will play next on Tuesday, kicking off a 3 game trip to Western Canada against the Vancouver Canucks.