Toronto Maple Leafs Take On The Broadway Blueshirts

After blowing out the Winnipeg Jets 7-2, the Toronto Maple Leafs travel back home and take on the New York Rangers at the Air Canada Centre on Saturday night.

Wednesday night’s victory for the Toronto Maple Leafs was just the start they needed. Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and Patrick Marleau led the charge and collectively had four goals and three assists.

Leafs Penalty Kill

WINNIPEG, MB – OCTOBER 4: Goalie Connor Hellebuyck /

The Toronto Maple Leafs began the game by taking three straight penalties, so, in a sense, they were lucky to win. To me, the most frustrating penalty was the Komarov one. In the pre-season and against the Jets, Komarov received warnings from referees that he could potentially serve a penalty for wearing his visor incorrectly. Seven minutes into the first period, referee Tim Peel issued a minor penalty on Komarov for wearing his visor incorrectly.

As a Leafs fan, I need to vent, because it’s frustrating that Komarov doesn’t technically even need to wear a visor, but can still get a penalty for not wearing one correctly. You’d think that even some visor is better than none.

According to the rules set by the league in 2013, all players starting in the 2013-2014 season must wear visors if they have played fewer than 26 career games. If they have played more than 26 games prior to the 2013-2014 season, then the player doesn’t have to wear a visor.

If Komarov doesn’t have to wear a visor, then why does it matter if his visor is tilted too high?

Leo Komarov wasn’t the only Leaf who sat in the box in the first period. Morgan Rielly, Connor Brown and Jake Gardiner also served minor penalties.

The Leafs need to be careful with penalties, especially on Saturday. Yes, Fredrik Andersen was a brick wall in net on the penalty kill, stopping all eighteen shots. But teams score on power-plays and your goalie isn’t always going to bail you out.

So Babcock needs to ensure the Leafs don’t take any stupid penalties, and the team needs to be far more disciplined.

Stepan-less Rangers

During the off-season, Rangers’ general manager Jeff Gorton dealt Derek Stepan and Antti Raanta to the Arizona Coyotes for the seventh overall pick in the 2017 draft and Anthony DeAngelo.

The trade made a lot of sense for the Rangers, as they needed to build up their farm system.

But the Rangers neglected to replace Stepan by free agency or trade. Instead, they’ve decided to promote Mika Zibanejad to the number one offensive line.

More from Editor In Leaf

Zibanejad is a talented centre, but he has never had a 60+ point season before.

Yes, he was hurt last season and missed 25 games. Maybe if he played a full season he would have had a 60+ point season. But he played full seasons in Ottawa and wasn’t able to get past 51 points.

Not only did the Rangers neglect to replace Stepan, they didn’t make any changes on offense besides adding veteran David Desharnais to their fourth line.

Rangers Rising Young-star

OTTAWA, ON – APRIL 29: Jimmy Vesey /

I am confident that the Rangers’ young star Jimmy Vesey will continue to develop at a fast pace and be dominant in the league.

If you remember, the Leafs tried to make a run at signing Vesey and failed.

Last season, Vesey had 16 goals and 11 assists in 80 games with the Rangers.

This season, Vesey will truly develop at a fast rate with J.T. Miller and Rick Nash at his side. Vesey should be able to double last year’s goal totals and be a commanding offensive leader in the Rangers.

Next: Toronto Maple Leafs Top Ten Prospects

Expect Gardiner and Nikita Zaitsev to be held responsible for shutting down this stellar offensive pairing.

Predictions

The Leafs’ home opener will be a close game, but the Leafs should be able to squeak out a win. Just as long as the Leafs stay out of the penalty box.

My prediction is that the Leafs win this game 3-2.

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