They got a point.

Baby steps, right?

The Toronto Maple Leafs are now winless in four straight games (0-3-1). There was a bit of improvement on Thursday night against Los Angeles, but it was not nearly enough to beat a consistent playoff team year-in and year-out. Dennis Hildeby was marvellous. We gave our initial thoughts on the latest loss to kick off the Friday edition of Leafs Morning Take. After that, we weighed in on the new Tkachuk brothers’ new podcast. We both think it’s fantastic for the game and the league.

After that, we got into a full game recap as the Leafs fell 4-3 in OT thanks to a Quinton Byfield winner. Toronto was outshot 37-15 in the game. They were good in the first period, so there’s that. The second period – as it has been all season for them – was an utter disaster. The third wasn’t great either. The Leafs blew a pair of leads, one of which was one of a two goal spread (2-0). 16 of 18 Leafs game haves this season have now hit the over. That said, despite all the struggles and bad play, the Leafs are 8-8-2 —good for 18 points, four points behind first place Montreal. Meantime, it was a rough night for William Nylander. He was coasting out there. Rosey broke that down. On top of all that, we dished on Friday’s roster moves. Auston Matthews was placed on IR retroactive to November 11^th, Joseph Woll was recalled, too. Easton Cowan’s back in the mix as well.

Two Stanley Cup champion and former Maple Leaf Dave Bolland then joined us. He was very candid and blunt. We got his take on Toronto’s first 18 games and his prediction for where this team could be headed. On top of that, he reflected on the glory days in Chicago and how important leadership was during rough patches. He gave a lot of credit to Coach Q, Duncan Keith, Jonathan Toews, and others. Additionally, we talked about killer instinct and what Bolland’s messaging to the team would be right now.

That’s it for another week of Leafs Morning Take. We’ll be back with you on Monday at 11 AM ET to recap the game with Chicago. Also, TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger will drop by the show to discuss what’s happening behind the scenes with the slumping Maple Leafs.

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