With or without Nylander, the Leafs need to deliver their best effort of the season in Game 2: Leafs Morning Take

Following a disappointing 5-1 loss in Game 1, the Leafs will look to salvage a split in Boston on Monday night.

We kicked off the Monday edition of Leafs Morning Take by dissecting what turned out to be a very crazy first weekend of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Home teams are 6-0 so far, a stat the Leafs direly need to change, or they’ll be in big-time trouble. Plain and simple.

Presented by Greta Bar YYZ, in the first segment of the show, we broke down Saturday night’s loss. It was ugly. Sadly, the formula for another Maple Leafs postseason loss was all too familiar to the fans and media member alike. The big boys were quiet, the opposing netminder (Jeremy Swayman) stood on his head, & they lost the special teams battle. Check, check, and check. Furthermore, discipline was a big story. Toronto took some really stupid penalties, and ultimately, that led to their demise in the series opener. Thankfully, it’s only one game. That said, the Leafs fell to 2-7 all-time in Game 1s in the Auston Matthews era. They’ve scored two goals or less in eight straight playoff outings.

Meantime, thanks to our friends over at Charm Diamond Centres, we addressed the whole William Nylander situation. It’s utterly bizarre. No one knows what’s up. That said, the star winger was on the ice for the morning skate, and at this point, he’s considered a game-time decision for Game 2. No one will disclose anything on the matter.

 

Lastly, brought to you by Douglas, we offered up a full game preview. It looks like Ilya Samsonov will start, and again, outside of the possibility of seeing Nylander, the Leafs look like they’re going with the same lineup from Saturday night.

Carter Hutton will fill in for Jay Rosehill on the Tuesday edition of Leafs Morning Take. We’ll recap Game 2 and also look ahead to a pivotal Game 3 in Toronto on Wednesday night. Also, former Leaf/

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