The Toronto Maple Leafs played a back-to-back weekend set in which they faced the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday and the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday.
The Maple Leafs split the two games, losing 4-2 against the Red Wings, and beating the Sabres 5-3 on Sunday.
The Leafs deserved to win against Detroit, and they dealt Buffalo their 10th straight loss. All in all, a pretty good weekend.
While the split may not look quite so good at first glance, there were plenty of positives to consider. So, let’s look at three key takeaways from the Toronto Maple Leafs back-to-back weekend set.
3 key takeaways from the Toronto Maple Leafs back-to-back weekend set.
The goaltending was solid
Leafs Nation held its collective breath when Anthony Stolarz left the game against the Anaheim Ducks last Thursday with a lower-body injury. The situation spelled disaster. Luckily, the injury wasn’t that serious, and Stolarz isn't expected to miss much time.
However, the situation meant the Leafs would have to recall someone to back up Joseph Woll. With the weekend set coming up, someone would get a start.
So, Dennis Hildeby was recalled to backup Woll on Saturday night. Woll played well enough in the losing effort. He gave up three goals on the night. While his performance wasn’t spectacular, he gave the Leafs a chance to win (especially after getting a goal waived off due to a bogus offside call).
Then, Hildeby got the start on Sunday against the Sabres. After a shaky start, Hildeby settled down. He didn’t need to stand on his head. But as his confidence grew, so did the Leafs ability to get back into the game.
Ultimately, Hildeby shut the door and the Toronto Maple Leafs came back to win the game. Hildeby’s performance was encouraging as the Leafs need to play with the confidence in knowing they have a solid netminder playing behind them.
While Stolarz could be back this upcoming week, knowing that someone like Hildeby is waiting in the wings provides the team with the overall confidence in knowing the crease is taken care of.