It wasn’t pretty, but they got the job done.

Over the course of an 82-game slate, you’re going to need a few like that victory against Dallas on Wednesday night at Scotiabank Arena.

And once again, it was all about the Core Four. Seriously, the depth scoring has been nowhere to be found with this team this season.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

Oh, Jay Rosehill had a pretty good rant about that, too.

At any rate, we kicked off the Thursday edition of Leafs Morning Take by dissecting Mason Marchment’s late hit on Jake McCabe. It’s seriously remarkable that a penalty wasn’t called on the play. Understandably so, both McCabe and Sheldon Keefe, among others, were incensed. It made for some fantastic memes on social media —that’s for sure. Also, kudos to Simon Benoit for attempting to line up Marchment in the third. Accountability is a beautiful thing.

Presented by Door Dash, The Appetizer focused on the ins and outs of Toronto’s nail-biting 5-4 win against the Stars. The Core Four combined for five goals and nine points while Simon Benoit played a season high 22:45. Having said all that, Toronto’s defensive problems were at the forefront once again. On top of that, Ilya Samsonov had a so-so night tallying 27 stops. They’ll take it.

Brought to you by Douglas, we revisited the Chris Tanev conversation. Over the past couple days, the Leafs and Flames have reportedly re-engaged on trade discussions. Obviously, the situation is fluid, and there are a lot of moving parts.

Lastly, thanks to Charm Diamond Centres, we took our weekly look at the Atlantic Division standings. Things. Are. Tight. At least the Leafs hopped over Tampa, who lost 3-1 to the New York Rangers at MSG on Wednesday night.

Be sure to join us on Friday at 11 AM ET. We’ll preview the fourth and final instalment of the Battle of Ontario on Saturday night in Kanata.