Toronto Maple Leafs Defeat Nashville 2-1 In Bobby McMann NHL Debut

The Toronto Maple Leafs were missing TJ Brodie, who has been sidelined with a rib injury, and Auston Matthews, who was absent to rest an undisclosed injury, but still managed a solid 2-1 win against the Nashville Predators last night.

It was a low scoring affair that ultimately witnessed the Toronto Maple Leafs emerge victorious on the back of stellar goaltending by Murray, who stopped 11 of 12 high danger shots, and 29 of 30 total.

John  Tavares led the way with two points.

William Nylander and Alexander Kerfoot substituted for the absent Matthews and performed well enough, while Conor Timmins again got the nod in lieu of Brodie, who will miss at least the next two games against Detroit tomorrow and the Boston Bruins on Saturday.

Toronto Maple Leafs Power Play Performs Poorly

The Leafs had four power plays last night, including a double minor to finish the game. Incredibly, they weren’t able to register a single shot on the first three, and weren’t able to score on any of them until the game winning goal by Mitch Marner with 1:15 remaining in the third period.

Despite the absence of Matthews, and the game winning goal by Marner, this team has far too much talent to be held shotless for such an extended stretch of time with the man advantage, and is something I’m sure coach Sheldon Keefe will be addressing with the players at their next practice.

Leafs Milestones Continue To Add Up

Bobby McMann made his NHL debut for the Toronto Maple Leafs last night, and was able to hold his own playing 11:01 on the third line, mainly alongside David Kampf and Alexander Kerfoot.

McMann was able to make some good plays, including a sprawling pass to Alexander Kerfoot in the second period, which Kerfoot was unfortunately unable to bang home.

With the game winning goal tonight, hometown hero Mitch Marner is now on an 18 game point streak on home ice, tying him for the team record with Leafs legend Darryl Sittler.

Captain John Tavares added a goal of his own, giving him 411 for his career, putting him in sole possession of the 95th spot in NHL all time goal scoring leaders, passing Corey Perry and Ray Bourque in the process. Next up is John MacLean and Garry Unger, who each have 413.

It looked as though the Leafs were content to take the game against their out of conference competition into overtime until the double minor high sticking penalty that left Rielly with a bloody nose, at which point they were able to capitalize in front of the home crowd, winning their 26th game of the year so far.

In the end, the Toronto Maple Leafs were able to secure the two points and move into second place overall in the league, two points ahead of the Carolina Hurricanes, who did not play last night.

The Leafs remain second in their division, nine points behind league leading Boston Bruins, and eight points ahead of their most likely opponents in the playoffs, the Tampa Bay Lightning.

A re-match against the two time Stanley Cup champions is exactly what fans are hoping for, but with only a different ending this time.