Toronto Maple Leafs Starting to Pull Away in Canadian Division

The Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Montreal Canadiens Wednesday night by a score of 4-2.

The Toronto Maple Leafs move to 2-0 on the year vs the Canadiens, and more importantly, move five points up on the second place Habs, while starting to put a real gap between themselves and everyone else in the Canadian division.

Once again, the Leafs failed to put together a complete 60 minutes of quality hockey, but once again, it didn’t matter.  The Canadiens were clearly the better team in this one, but Freddie Andersen was the difference, and that’s good enough for now.

The Leafs had three points from Jake Muzzin, and a goal each from Justin Holl and Travis Dermott, just as everyone was likely expecting.

Toronto Maple Leafs vs Habs

This was probably the most boring game I’ve ever sat through.  Nothing happened.  There were no big hits, no sweet plays, zero intensity, no animosity between the teams, no one “took over the game,” and really, hardly anything happened.

The box score says that high-danger chances were 11-10, but that wasn’t my experience. Its possible however that I nodded off and the game was so boring I didn’t even notice.

At least until the third, when the Leafs sort of mirrored Monday’s action and stole a game they really had no business winning with a couple quick goals.  Such is the privilege  of teams dressing noted snipers like Justin Holl and Travis Dermott. 

The important thing to talk about is the outcome – Leafs win!  They now have 5 points on Montreal, and an incredible 7 points on Edmonton, who has a game in hand.  Vancouver is 11 back with two games in hand, but the craziest thing of all is that the Leafs now have an 18 point edge over the Ottawa Senators, which seems crazy after only 14 games, and even losing to them once.

An interesting observation about the difficulty of making out of the Atlantic Division in years past: The Leafs get moved, are in first place in the NHL, and the #2 and #3 teams are Boston and Tampa.

Just saying.

I continue to enjoy this early start, but what really makes be pumped about is the thought of what the Leafs can do if they actually start to play well.  Or, what if they someone manage to add this roster? I hope no one is too attached to Rodion Amirov yet.

The Toronto Maple Leafs continue to roll, and will next face off against the Canadiens on Saturday.