Back-to-back games usually aren’t a ton of fun. You’re slow, tired, losing puck battles, and probably playing your backup goalie in the second half. Some nights, it seems like a loss is all but a guarantee. But in the rare home-and-home (why don’t they call it a home-and-away?)… sometimes you get nights when everything clicks. After an OT thriller last night in which Patrick Marleau scored the winner, the Leafs… won their fourth consecutive game, and their third consecutive game without Auston Matthews in the lineup.

With the bye week coming, the Buds are rolling. They weren’t pretty wins, but they were wins, and the Leafs got four in a row after a little bit of a slump. 19 games into the season, 12-7-0 is a VERY respectable place to be.

First period

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Mitch Marner 🎯

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12:33 AM · Nov 12, 2017

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Do we need to talk about anything else? Mitch Marner scored the opening goal of the hockey game, and all was good in the world. After he’d picked up a whale of points in recent games, Marner finally found the back of the net for the first time since Oct. 4. Slump. Busted. (Shoot the puck more, Mitch).

With about five minutes left in the frame, JVR tipped the puck into the net off a Nazem Kadri pass/shot (you know, one of those) and it was 2-0 Leafs.

Ever the copycat, Frank Vatrano scored a tip-in goal 62 seconds later and we entered the intermission with a 2-1 lead.

Second period

No goals, but there was this.

Oh, and Matt Martin, who briefly exited the game after a collision/(hit to the head?) got in a fight… which you can see here:

What more do you want us to say? Nothing else of value happened in the second, besides the Leafs getting outshot 13-11. No goals, a fight, and a failed Leafs powerplay. Onto the final 20…