Despite the Game 1 blemish, Mike Kelly still feels strongly about Toronto’s chances of advancing to Round 2: Leafs Morning Take

I don’t want to call this a must-win, but it’s a must-win.

Fire up the cliches, baby.

At any rate, we previewed Game 2 between the Leafs and Lightning on the Thursday edition of Leafs Morning Take.

First and foremost, we dove into the Michael Bunting suspension news. In case you missed it, the pending UFA was handed a 3-game ban for his illegal hit to the head of Tampa’s Erik Cernak in Game 1 on Tuesday night.

After that, we dove into the projected lineup changes. Although we won’t get much confirmation until closer to game-time, it appears Matthew Knies will slot in for the suspended Bunting. Also, no changes appear to be coming on the back end, so Timothy Liljegren will have to enjoy the press box popcorn just a bit longer.

Meantime, powered by our friends over at Skip, we were joined by Mike Kelly of the NHL Network/Sportlogiq. He shared his thoughts on Game 1 and also what he thinks the Leafs need to do to even up the series tonight at Scotiabank Arena.

 

Lastly, for the Betano Wrap Up, we prognosticated a bounce-back of sorts tonight for the Maple Leafs.

 

Join me on Friday at 11 AM ET for a full recap of Game 2, plus a preview of Game 3! Also, Jay Rosehill will be by for another instalment of 3 Hits With Rosey.