Hello darkness, our old friend.

Yet another inexplicable pile of horse manure was laid forth by the Maple Leafs in Buffalo on Thursday night.

Carter Hutton filled in for Jay Rosehill on the Friday edition of Leafs Morning Take. For all intents and purposes, the episode acted as an all-encompassing therapy session. Admittedly, I did a lot of venting, but that’s what this platform is for sometimes, right?

Presented by Door Dash, we got right into things in The Appetizer. 9-3. Ridiculous. If there’s one thing that’s become abundantly clear over the first 30 games of the season, it’s that the Leafs have themselves a big-time Ilya Samsonov problem. Ironically, the situation is very similar to what’s happening with Jack Campbell in Edmonton, but luckily, the Leafs aren’t tied down to the Russian netminder past this season. The 26-year-old surrendered five goals on 19 shots on Thursday night, many of which could’ve probably been stopped by a beer league netminder. Yeah, that’s where we’re at here. So, what’s next?

Meantime, we also discussed Sheldon Keefe. This is the definition of insanity, right? This team isn’t learning. On top of that, they’re not progressing the way a team with championship aspiration should be. How much longer can this kind of stuff keep up before the Leafs decide it’s time to turn the page?

After that, courtesy the Wendy’s Daily Faceoff Survivor, we previewed Toronto’s final game before the three-day holiday break: A stop in Columbus. There’s not much more to say. Auston Matthews said the loss to Buffalo was “embarrassing.” We’ll say how embarrassed the Leafs truly were on Saturday night.

Lastly, just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. Jay Rosehill and I put together a holiday special that will drop on Christmas Day featuring an interview with Easton Cowan. Furthermore, the live show will be back next Wednesday, December 27^th at 11 AM ET.