I missed last weeks review because, well basically, I had a few festive beers over the Christmas period and decided that Bud fans across the world could wait an extra week to get a bigger review.

The record 3-2-1

It has been an interesting two weeks to say the least, with the Buds winning three and losing three. But every game over the holiday period was tight apart from the 7-4 victory over Arizona on December 28th.

The Leafs finished for Christmas on December 23rd coming off the back of a 3-2 victory over the Rangers at Madison Square Gardens. They then did not play until December 28th where they faced off against Auston Matthews hometown team the Arizona Coyotes.

Toronto put seven past the Coyotes, and were 3-0 up early in the first period. In true Maple Leafs style though they allowed the Coyotes back into the game, and headed into the second period just 3-2 up. There was to be no Coyotes come back, and the Leafs won an entertaining affair 7-4.

The next night Toronto traveled to the Mile High City, where they faced off against the Colorado Avalanche. Matt Martin and Roman Polak (how) were on the scoresheet for the Leafs, and JVR also netted the game tying goal late in the third period to put the game to OT. J.T. Compher scored the winner for the surprisingly good Avalanche – who have went from bottom feeders to play off contenders.

On New Years Eve the Buds traveled to Vegas to face off against the best in the west. The less said about this game the better. Buds lost 6-3 – Matthews did score twice though.

The start of a seven game home-stand began against the league leading Tampa Bay – a frantic affair that was thrilling to watch ended up falling to the Lightning. The Leafs now know where they need to be to truly call themselves contenders. Buds lost 2-0.

Just as panic was beginning to set in that the Buds had lost seven of their last 10 – they faced off against the San Jose Sharks who had won their last 10 games against the Buds.

But this time it would the Leafs who took home the two points. The two sides shared four goals drawing 2-2 in regulation before Tyler Bozak scored in the shootout to give the good guys the victory. This game also saw the fight between two future teammates Joe Thornton and Nazem Kadri.

Finally last night the Buds emphasized their position as Canada’s finest with a shootout victory over the Canucks.

The Stats

Rk	Player	G	A	P
1	Morgan Rielly	0	6	6
2	Auston Matthews	5	0	5
3	William Nylander	1	4	5
4	Patrick Marleau	3	2	5
5	Mitch Marner	1	3	4
6	Zach Hyman	1	2	3
7	Jake Gardiner	0	2	2
8	JVR	1	1	2
9	Tyler Bozak	1	1	2
10	Connor Brown	1	1	2

A pretty big two weeks for Morgan Rielly who has put himself amongst the top scoring defenseman in the league. Matthews continues to show that he is one of the finest goal scorers in the NHL.

Tyler Bozak also scored two shootout winners – meaning he deserves some extra plaudits.

Season stats

Rk	Player	GP	G	A	P
1	Matthews	33	19	14	33
2	Nylander	43	8	22	30
3	Marner	43	5	25	30
4	Rielly	43	4	26	30
5	JVR	42	17	10	27
6	Kadri	41	14	10	24
7	Marleau	43	15	9	24
8	Hyman	43	7	15	22
9	Bozak	42	8	13	21
10	Gardiner	43	3	16	19

The big three from last season are now assuming their position as the team best players as they have all cracked 30 points. Nylander and Marner will be hoping that they can break 60 points this season, while Matthews should aim for around 70 if he can stay on the ice.

Kadri broke a big points slump against San Jose, so hopefully he can start producing at a rate we saw earlier in the season. Hyman had just 28 points last season but this time around he could get around 40 – a marked improvement.

Divisional standings

RK	Team	GP	W	L	OT	PTS
1	Tampa	41	29	9	3	61
2	Boston	39	23	10	6	52
3	Good Guys	43	25	16	2	52
4	Detroit	40	17	16	7	41
5	Panthers	40	17	18	5	39
6	Montrelol	41	17	20	4	38
7	Ottawalosesagain	40	14	17	9	37
8	Sabretoothless	41	10	22	9	29

Basically Toronto and Boston are playing for home ice. Boston have been electric recently – they beat Carolina 7-1 last night. The Bruins have not lost in regulation in their last 10 games.

Tampa are keeping pace at the top of the NHL, they are three points ahead of Vegas, though the Knights have a game in hand.

At the other end of the standings the Atlantic division is battling for Rasmus Dahlin. Detroit are currently sat in 24th place, while Montreal, Ottawa and Buffalo sit above Arizona at the bottom.

Winnipeg are currently the best team in Canada – they have three more points than the Leafs and have played one less game.

Player of the fortnight

Morgan Rielly

I have really enjoyed watching Rielly the last few weeks and he is beginning to look like the offensive defenceman we thought we were drafting. He could hit around 60 points this season which is outstanding considering he only scored 27 points last season.

Conclusion

It was never going to be easy playing three games out west over the holiday period – but the Buds picked up three points which is okay. Tampa was a good test for the team, and shows the bar we need to reach by spring if we truly want to make some damage in the playoffs.

The San Jose and Vancouver games were decent enough performances, and you have to be happy with four points. But man, I would just love to see this team play like the offensive juggernaut we know it can be.

Coming up

Just two games next week, with Columbus coming to town on Monday and Ottawa on Wednesday. With these two at home, it gives us a good chance of picking up four points and really consolidating that playoff position. Plus we need to try and get home ice for the Bruins playoff match!

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