I mean good for them for being in the NHL still, and I had no idea they were in Washington until I looked at the lineup this morning. Both players are decent enough for their 4th line role and we can probably count on at least one of them burning the Leafs tonight, but what a special night for the “#shouldofkept” crowd that was convinced that both of these players were above replacement level. They might be on the better side of replacement level, but they are replacement level.

I’ve got many thoughts on the consistent approach that Mike Babcock takes with his starter being guaranteed the first part of back to back games, and the backup working with the tired second night squad. Last night I’d argue that Babcock was right and the Leafs needed Freddie Andersen to get past the Wild. The fact that the Leafs made beating the Wild look hard, at least for the first period doesn’t give me a lot of hope for tonight, and neither does Hutchinson’s first start.

Hutchinson really needs to show that he can at least not hinder the Leafs in these B2B games, and maybe his mop up duty against Tampa has him feeling a little better about his role on the team. I don’t think he’s going to get as long a leash as Sparks had last year, so if he doesn’t get things figured out quickly his job could be in jeopardy.

Some fresh legs will likely come in the form of Nic Petan and Jason Spezza, but will Martin Marincin be swapped out as well? Last night wasn’t the greatest performance by Marincin, and it seems that Justin Holl is establishing himself as the right side defender on the bottom pair. I don’t think any more thought needs to be given to this, but we will remain on #GravelWatch until he plays.

Trevor Moore played one shift with Tavares and Marner and immediately changed their path for the season. All of a sudden they found their offensive bliss and we loved watching them play hockey again. I think it’s also possibly time to consider that Trevor Moore is pretty good, or at least really good for what the Leafs need him to be and that’s Zach Hyman.

That begs the question, does Babcock see what the rest of seem to, and that is that the line should stay together and Kapanen should return to the right side of the ice on the Kerfoot line. I’m not entirely sure what’s wrong with Kapanen, but generally it looks like he’s trying to play a game that doesn’t suit him. He needs the opportunity to be blazing straight line speed, and with the success that Mikheyev and Kerfoot have been having breaking out of their own zone this year, they might be able to spring Kapanen on a few breakaways in the near future and this whole bad lineup card thing can soon be forgotten.

I don’t really have a lot to elaborate on this with. I just think it’s important to note it whenever the Leafs play the Caps.