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The Toronto Maple Leafs Book-End 2022 with Six-Goal Performances

By James Tanner

TORONTO, CANADA - OCTOBER 13: Mitchell Marner #16 of the Toronto Maple Leafs congratulates teammate Ilya Samsonov #35 on victory against the Washington Capitals in an NHL game at Scotiabank Arena on October 13, 2022 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Maple Leafs defeated the Capitals 3-2. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
TORONTO, CANADA - OCTOBER 13: Mitchell Marner #16 of the Toronto Maple Leafs congratulates teammate Ilya Samsonov #35 on victory against the Washington Capitals in an NHL game at Scotiabank Arena on October 13, 2022 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Maple Leafs defeated the Capitals 3-2. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /
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The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Colorado Avalanche 6-2 last night in what was a very good way to finish off the year.

The Toronto Maple Leafs kicked off 2022 on New Years Day with a 6-0 victory over the Ottawa Senators, then 365 days later, they finished it off with another six goal win.

In between, the Leafs played 87 other regular season games, going 57-21-11 for the year, second place in the NHL behind only the Boston Bruins.

The main difference between the two teams?  The Leafs lost 11 times in OT, Boston just 7.

Not to shabby, and speaking of not too shabby, let’s check into the game.

Toronto Maple Leafs vs Colorado Avalanche

Mitch Marner scored one of the nicest goals of the year to kick off the game, shortly after that, it was 2-0, then 3-1.  That was basically the whole game.  Never in doubt.

The Leafs dominated the first period statistically, then coasted to a nice victory, scoring 4 x 5v5 goals, one power-play marker and an empty netter.

The win gives the Leafs 52 points, which is a solid five up on the Lightning, but a crazy eight behind the Bruins, who are overdue for a slump.

Their .833 points percentage is better than the 1978 Montreal Canadiens, so I think we can expect them to settle down a bit eventually.  They are a good team, but they aren’t going to keep getting 83% of the available points.

You can look at the Bruins record the same way you look at Colorado’s, who are in 17th place overall. After almost half a season, the Cup Champs have two points more than Detroit and three points more than Buffalo.

The Blackhawks lead the Connor Bedard standings, with just 20 points.  If any team deserves a superstar less, I can’t think of them, so let’s hope they win some games in the new year.  I am hoping he ends up in Montreal, because Toronto and Montreal should both have a top player to renew the classic rivalry.

The most likely thing to happen is that the Oilers miss the playoffs and win the draft lottery.  They haven’t gotten a first overall pick in a while, so they’re due!

The Toronto Maple Leafs next game is Tuesday, and it’s the 5th week in a row the Leafs get an easy Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday schedule (excepting Christmas where they had the Saturday off).

dark. Next. Leafs Top 3 New Year's Resolutions

They play St.Louis Tuesday, Seattle Thursday and Detroit on Saturday.  I hope everyone reading this had and has a great new year(s).  Take care!

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