Rielly to Brown!!! 1-0 Buds
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Morning after recap: Good Night for the Reds and the Blue and White
Photo credit: Don Wright-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 10, 2017, 10:59 ESTUpdated: Dec 10, 2017, 10:57 EST
Two Toronto teams faced off against the reigning champions of their respective league, and because Toronto is the greatest sports city in the world, both Toronto teams came out on top (just ignore that one was game 30 of the regular season, while the other was the MLS championship).
The Leafs went into Pittsburgh, and came out of it with a 4-3 game that was out of reach for most of the game. Let’s take a dive into the goals, as always.
1-0 Leafs (from Downtown)
God bless Morgan Rielly! Such a great pass. The only person who saw that coming was Connor Brown himself, who had a gaping net while Jarry was out of position. A pass so good you could’ve sworn Rielly was playing against them in rookie mode.
2-0 19 seconds later
JVR 2-0!!! Penguins are scrambling early on
And then right after, JVR blesses us with another one. This was a solid effort from all three forwards on the line, with Marner starting it, Bozak creating a ruckus in front of Jarry, and van Riemsdyk threading the needle through several bodies to find the back of the net.
But wait, there’s more! (3-0 Buds)
Marner throws the puck on net, Bozak gets a few whacks before finally putting it in. 3-0!!!
Marner creates the chance by gaming his Corsi and throwing it on net, and then Bozak puts in the most effort I’ve seen from him in years, with not one, not two, but three chances before finally capitalizing.
3-1 Leafs (The bad guys finally scored)
Sheahan's goal was a knuckler
This is basically the kinda goal you expect to be scored by someone who took 80 to get their first last season. It’s already Sheahan’s 3rd on the year, just like how he’s the Pens third best center. But, yeah, this was a knuckler, so you can’t really fault Freddie for it.
3-2 (Pens with another geno)
Freddy grabs his stick but can't square up in time. Geno 3-2.
After chaos in front, Freddie is a bit caught off guard, and has to grab his stick. He doesn’t have a lot of time to prepare himself for the shot, and gets beat. Doesn’t help that Evgeni Malkin is the guy taking the shot either.
4-2 Leafs (Bozak Horseman takes charge)
Tyler Bozak tips it! Quick response from the boys. 4-2.
Shortly after Geno makes it close, Bozak gets his second of the night off a tip in that’s a borderline high stick, but not close enough to overturn. Great job from Gardiner to put it on net, and an excellent stick from Bozak.
4-3 (It’s Close Again)
Crosby's late goal pushed the Penguins closer to Toronto's lead, but it wasn't quite enough tonight. (But man, was it pretty).
Poor Freddie, a couple softies, but otherwise standing on his head, and this is how the team repays him! Aside from the first couple seconds, there were three Pens and no Leafs, so Freddie had no chance. And he still almost shot it, but Crosby was the guy shooting the puck (McElhinney would’ve stopped it tho).
So, that’s all the goals for tonight’s game. I can’t say the Buds played amazingly, but to be fair, they were up 2-0 not even two minutes in, so they were probably content with sitting on this lead.
Overall, good day for Toronto sports. The Leafs won, and the FC made MLS history. Let’s get some more Toronto sports championships!
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