Leafs Postgame: Penglosses

Photo Credit: Charles Leclaire/USA TODAY SPORTS

Well, it’s the result we all expected, but that didn’t make it any less rough to watch. The Toronto Maple Leafs fell 4-1 to the Pittsburgh Penguins tonight, and it was about as bad as you’d think it would’ve been.

Interestingly enough, this didn’t start off too bad. Zach Hyman opened up the scoring just a minute and a half into the game, deflecting a chuck to the net from Matt Hunwick that gave the Leafs an early lead that they’d carry into the second period. 

But it became very obvious which team was the young group on the second half of a back-to-back and which one was the one defending a Stanley Cup. Evgeni Malkin took advantage of a penalty that confirmed the existence of Frank Corrado by scoring the tying goal, and with 20 seconds remaining in the period, Chris Kunitz added his second of the year from close distance.

While Toronto gave close case throughout the third period, as any team down a goal would, the situation got worse before it got better. Brian Rust grabbed his own rebound seven minutes into the third period, and to seal the night off, Sidney Crosby waltzed into the most dangerous of areas to deliver the final blow.

The front of the net is a risky place to let shots happen, so you probably shouldn’t let your opponents get there. Toronto was outshot in scoring chance territory by a whopping 30-17; its no wonder the final shots in this one ended up 49-36. Sure, it was fun back and forth hockey, but if one team is more likely to get in a little bit closer, of course bad things are going to happen.

The great thing about it being Blue Warrior and not “Game MVP” is that the rules to it are arbitrary as heck. As such, Frankie is the MVP. I’m excited that he got to play. He wasn’t overly impressive, but neither were most players on the team. Should be great to see him draw into his next game in March.

The Leafs may be actually good, but as the Lightning, Kings, and Penguins have shown them, they’re not actually elite just yet. But that’s no biggie; it’ll come with time. On to the next one, which is Tuesday night at the ACC against the Predators. I’m hoping the crowd gives PK Subban a spite cheer.