Postgame: Not the rematch we were hoping for

Remember the season-opener in Winnipeg, when the Leafs put up 7 on the Jets? Yeah, this was not that game.

But, that being said, it’s worth mentioning that that game was actually a pretty good precursor of the Leafs’ 2017-18 season: goals came from Kadri (31), van Riemsdyk (36), Nylander (17), Marleau (25), Marner (22), and Matthews (31). Those guys are also the Buds’ top six goal-scorers on the season.

One of those guys even scored tonight!

As we all know (Mike Babcock included), Corsis are very important to hockey things.

Corsis don’t always = wins, though.

At the start, the Leafs were clearly a little more motivated than last night. Aside from a few early penalties that cancel each other out, this period is a lot of back and forth and not a lot of whistles. Good chances on both sides, and even better goaltending. Not as loose as the Islanders game, but it’s pretty fun to watch these two teams go at it….Cup Final preview, y/y?

In an extremely tragic and worrying turn of events, Travis Dermott accidentally blocks a shot off what looked like the inside of his left foot… and if it’s needed, he can definitely have mine in replacement. The Leafs could afford to rest him for the next week or so, but after that they’re really going to need him.

Dermott does not return for the second. ?

Leafs open the scoring with Marleau from Matthews and Gardiner on the PP! Not the unit we’re used to seeing tap it in, but no one here is complaining.

And then….. Josh Morrissey goal, and now the Jets own this game, apparently.

Right after the Jets tie it up, Mark Scheifele mows down Curtis McElhinney with zero repercussions (look, obviously Scheif didn’t mean to, but come ON). I know Mac isn’t the starter and doesn’t hold the entire weight of the Leafs’ round two playoff hopes on his shoulders, but he’s been really solid as a backup, especially lately, and losing him for any length of time right now would honestly suck. But he does stay in the net, and he’ll be starting again on Monday, so it looks he was just a little shaken up and everything is fine!

But. No PP for the Leafs, and then Gardiner goes to the box for cross-checking Schefiele and the Jets score. Okay. Big Buff puts the bad guys up by a goal.

(One of my greatest triumphs in life is that I can type Byfuglien without double-checking, so even though I’ve used his nickname above, I just want y’all to know I actually can type his last name. Byfuglien. There it is.)

Alright and the Jets go and score a third straight (courtesy of Andrew Copp?!), so it’s 3-1 going into the third.

Not how this rematch was supposed to go, buds.

In between periods, the team announced that Travis Dermott would not return to the game. Not ideal, for tonight or the future.

Takeaways:

Obviously, we’re all on the same page here. Travis Dermott can expect a wealth of feet ready and waiting. (But hopefully he doesn’t need them.)

Mark Leafs twitter down as “not thrilled” about how the game is going:

Patrik Laine might not love the Toronto scrums, but I’m glad someone is still keeping an eye on the important issues:

Back at it vs. Buffalo on Monday…feels like we’ve been saying that a lot lately.