The Ottawa Senators are a bunch of hypocrites: Leafs Morning Take

The penultimate week of the 2023-24 NHL regular season is underway.

The Leafs, who clinched a playoff spot for the eighth consecutive season over the weekend, have six games left. Furthermore, the Stanley Cup Playoffs are now just 12 short days away from puck drop.

Exciting times in Leafs Nation.

Anthony Stewart filled in for Jay Rosehill on the Monday edition of Leafs Morning Take. After shooting the breeze about the solar eclipse, we dove headfirst into the Ottawa Senators being a bunch of hypocrites. In case you missed it, Ottawa captain Brady Tkachuk lost his mind after Devils captain Nico Hischier deposited a puck into the empty net after the final horn. He had to be restrained. In short, the Sens didn’t think Ridly Greig’s empty net clapper was disrespectful, but weirdly, they were perturbed over Hischier’s actions. Hypocrisy at its finest.

Presented by DoorDash, the Appetizer focused on Toronto’s solid 4-2 win in Montreal on Saturday night. Auston Matthews potted No. 64 and Ilya Samsonov made 24 stops. Meantime, Bobby McMann tallied his 15^th of the campaign while Mitch Marner notched an assist in his return to the Maple Leafs lineup. Most of the conversation revolved Ryan Reaves, though. The enforcer had another strong outing, headlined by a beatdown of Michael Pezzetta following a questionable hit on David Kampf. You love to see it!

Additionally, thanks to our friends over at Charm Diamond Centres, we took a look at some of the news and notes from the morning skate. The Leafs will ice the same lineup as Saturday night. That means Ilya Samsonov will start. Also, Joel Edmundson will miss a seventh straight contest.

After that, courtesy the Wendy’s Daily Faceoff Survivor, we previewed the third and final meeting of the season with Kyle Dubas’ Pittsburgh Penguins. The two teams split have split the first two. Toronto’s won four of five, Pittsburgh’s riding a respectable eight game point streak (6-0-2). Sidney Crosby and company are fighting for their playoff lives.

Carter Hutton will fill in for Jay Rosehill on the Tuesday edition of Leafs Morning Take. In addition to recapping the Leafs/Pens game, we’ll preview the second game of the back-to-back as the Leafs visit the Devils in Newark. Also, Darren Pang, who does excellent work for NBC Sports Chicago and TNT, will drop by for a chat.