This is so weird. I’m not used to all of this winning yet. I’m not used to going into every game with a realistic chance of winning, no matter the team. Especially since this time, it’s actually sustainable! Even with all of the goals, the mediocre goaltending has weighed down what would otherwise be a lot of good luck.

Speaking of goals, it’s time to dive in, because we have quite a few to get to.

This was just an all around great shot by Kadri. Well placed, sneaking it right above Howard’s short side shoulder. Should that have been open? Probably not, but the guy posted a .250 save percentage last night, are we really surprised? Also, excellent pass from Ron Hainsey of all people, probably the second last person on the team I’d expect to make a stretch pass like that (go ahead and guess #1).

The lead up to this play was insane, as the Leafs had a solid 20-30 seconds where the Red Wings didn’t even get close to touching the puck. The puck touched six (yes, six) Leafs before crossing the goal line. A great job by Rielly for getting the puck on net, and a solid tip from Hyman. Actually, who am I kidding, he didn’t really do much on that, but a goal’s a goal.

Yeah, this was bad. Really bad. The tired Leafs showed that they didn’t really care much for catching up with Zetterberg, and McElhinney was so slow and out of position, he didn’t even reach the short side post by the time Zetterberg slide the puck in. This might be the worst goal the Leafs have allowed so far this season.

Auston Matthews with a couple nifty moves past the Red Wings defense, and he lets off a shot so deceptive, no one knows when he actually shot it. Seriously, stare at the puck, and find out when he shoots it. You’ll have better luck finding Bigfoot.

Oh hey, another Leafs goal. This time, Connor Brown looks to be gaining his Corsi, and it finds a way through four players and a goalie and into the back of the net. If he actually shot that where he wanted to, then great shot Breezy. If he just threw it on net, there’s still nothing wrong with that.

*mini rant time*

What is Ron Hainsey doing there? What exactly was he planning to accomplish with that play? I’d say best case scenario, he deflects that puck off his ankle, and it still goes on net (and probably goes in). Doing so, he took himself immediately out of the play, and gave Tatar an easy shot at his own rebound. There’s a time and place for blocking a shot, and a one-on-one isn’t that time. In this case, he should’ve applied pressure to Tatar, and either knock him off the puck, pressure him to take a low quality shot, or worst case scenario, he gets deked out, but Tatar is so close to net that he can’t deke out McElhinney (unless he goes around the net).

McElhinney didn’t *exactly* help with a pretty bad rebound, but that wouldn’t be a worry if Hainsey played that situation a little bit smarter.

This one was initially called back for goalie interference, as the refs didn’t believe McElhinney had a chance to stop it with Abdelkader in front of him. It could’ve gone either way, but it was probably the right call. It was a well placed shot by *Jonathan Ericsson*, and Abdelkader (and Eric Fehr) did a good job screening McElhinney. For a guy who’s 6’2″ every time he’s in the net, he sure didn’t use it there.

Yay, we don’t need another “it was 4-1” anymore! This was challenged for goalie interference as well, this time because it looked like van Riemsdyk was standing on Mrazek’s stick, but his skate only got near it after the puck was past Mrazek. Another great job on the power play (I feel like we’ll say that a lot this season), as they moved the puck well, and another great shot from Rielly, this time actually scoring a goal (and a lot earlier than last season).

Unlike last night, there wasn’t anything special about this empty net goal, except for the fact that my son fired it dead center into the net from behind the blue line.

All in all, a solid win, especially with it being the second night of a back to back, even if it’s against the Red Wings.

So remember, Buds All Day, and Curtis McElhinney is better than Frederik Andersen.