It was a hard-fought loss.

That was our depiction at least of Tuesday night’s tilt against New York Rangers at Scotiabank Arena. Peter Laviolette’s squad got some tremendous puck luck, too.

We kicked off the Wednesday edition of Leafs Morning Take by discussing the little ceremony the Leafs put together to honour John Tavares for notching his 1000^th career point. Personally, I thought it was funny to gift the most stoic and selfless player a painting of himself, but I digress. It’s the thought that counts, right?

Presented by Door Dash, The Appetizer dove deeper into the 5-2 loss. Auston Matthews, who showed no ill effects from the flu, scored two more goals in his return to the lineup. He’s now registered eight consecutive 25 goal seasons, which is utterly insane. We got a bit wild with the conversation.

All in all, Martin Jones turned in another solid performance. The Rangers got a lot of puck luck. It was just one of those nights and that will happen from time to time. Additionally, we also discussed how in the world a team as talented as the Leafs have the seventh least power plays per game through 29 outings. It does not make sense. Unfortunately, it’s been a story year after year after year recently.

Meantime, thanks to Charm Diamond Centres, as we try to do every Wednesday, we dissected the Atlantic Division standings. Toronto deserves a lot of credit for making considerable ground over the past little while. Believe it or not, Tuesday night’s loss was their first regulation loss since November 25^th, which means they’ve been gaining points.

Join us on Thursday at 11 AM ET as we preview the second of four meetings with Buffalo this season. Back on November 4, the Sabres outlasted the Leafs 6-4 at Scotiabank Arena. Also, Maple Leafs fan and All Elite Wrestling (AEW) star Adam Copeland drops by for the first time this season.