Tonight the Calgary Flames were in Toronto to face the Leafs for a Monday night showdown between the two up-and-coming Canadian franchises.

This is the first game the Leafs played in what is expected to be an extended injury to Auston Matthews. They expect to be without him for four weeks, and tonight was the beginning of that.

There was very little (exactly zero) scoring in this period, but there was this moment of conversation regarding a seemingly soft call against Connor Brown:

It definitely seems Gaudreau was still in possession of the puck, so it wasn’t interference, but the call was cross checking and since his stick looks perpendicular to Gaudreau, it may be the right call.

The period ended 0-0, with Calgary leading in shots 12-4.

The second period also went pretty uneventful, as neither team seemed to be able to score. The Flames continued to generate more chances, and really controlled the game through two periods.

Again this period ended 0-0, and the Flames maintained their lead in shots, 24-15.

Finally, in the 3rd, the doors opened up for the Calgary Flames. This first goal by Sean Monahan capitalized on a rebound in front while the Flames were on the powerplay:

Not long after, Elias Lindholm made it 2-0 with this great finish on a passing play that was created from a bad breakout pass by Rielly:

The Leafs tried to come back, led by the dynamic Leafs powerplay, they scored one by Nazem Kadri finishing the Leafs’ own great passing play:

They tried to pull the goalie for the extra attacker to tie the game up, but it backfired as Michael Frolik buried an empty netter.

The final score was 3-1 for the Calgary Flames over your Toronto Maple Leafs.

This was an extra slow game, with an unfortunate result at the end. Missing both Auston Matthews and William Nylander really impacts what this team can do offensively, it seems.

My three stars for the game:

This loss was tough, but the Leafs will be back in action on Thursday when the Dallas Stars come to visit.