Scoreboard watching went as well as it possibly could for the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night.

The Tampa Bay Lightning lost, and it was in regulation, too. Coincidentally, the defeat came to the Ottawa Senators, Toronto’s likely first round opponent.

We kicked off the Friday edition of Leafs Morning Take by discussing Linus Ullmark and how pivotal goaltending will be in the playoffs. Luckily, we feel strongly about Anthony Stolarz and Joseph Woll, so there isn’t as much angst this season. That said, it did bring some playoff PTSD watching Ullmark shine for the Senators against Tampa. In recent seasons, the Leafs have struggled to score in the playoffs. Additionally, we talked about Ryan Reaves mocking the visor rule in the AHL and Jalen Chatfield’s MMA takedown of Connor McMichael on Wednesday night.

Thanks to Charm Diamond Centres, we sifted through the latest news and notes from Leafs practice on Friday. They got Thursday off. Of note, David Kampf (upper body) and Jake McCabe (undisclosed) didn’t practice and they won’t play tomorrow night. Toronto’s getting ready to host the Columbus Blue Jackets, who are fighting for their playoff lives. The Jackets lead the season series 2-0 against Toronto and have outscored them 11-3. Having said all that, the Leafs have been red-hot lately. They’ve won three in a row and seven of nine. They’re currently three points up on Florida and two points up on Tampa for first in the Atlantic Division. All three squads have seven regular season contests remaining.

Then, after that, NHL deputy commissioner and chief legal officer Bill Daly dropped by the show for the very first time. We touched on everything from the 4 Nations Face-Off to the Stanley Cup Playoffs to the LTIR loophole. Additionally, Daly weighed in on the potential of the Battle of Ontario in Round 1, Rogers’ gigantic new 12-year pact with the NHL, and The Gr8 Chase aka Alex Ovechkin’s pursuit of Gretzky.

After that, we got to the CRISPI HOT TAKE OF THE DAY, presented by the Ninja Crispi 4-in-1 Portable Glass Air Fryer. Producer Vick fired up this hot take: Brad Treliving is GM of the Year, and it’s not even close.

We’ll be back on Monday. Join us at 11 AM ET for a recap of Toronto’s penultimate home game of the regular season. Over and above all that, we’ll preview the second to last week of the Leafs’ regular season. We’re almost there, folks!

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