A new, more resilient Leafs bunch
The loss to the Red Wings was truly disappointing. The Wings are once against among the bottom-feeding teams in the league this season. While there are no “easy” opponents in the NHL, the game against the Wings was one the Leafs should have won.
Still, the Leafs lost. So, that set up a tough game against a Sabres team that’s been an absolute disaster. The Sabres looked poised to get back into the playoff hunt this season...until they went a month between wins.
While things did not look good for Toronto in the early going, the team bounced back. The Leafs showed resilience in coming from behind to beat the Sabres.
The catalyst was recent healthy scratch Nick Robertson. He notched his third of the season to open the floodgates for Toronto. John Tavares carried the team and got two goals to give the Leafs a 4-3 lead after 40 minutes.
I truly want to underscore this last point as this new, more resilient Leafs bunch has won games they wouldn’t have otherwise in the past. That is one of the reasons why the Leafs are in first place in the Atlantic at this point in the season.
I must admit, I wasn’t sure the Leafs could lead the division. While I had pointed out the Toronto Maple Leafs had a chance to win the division, it seemed likelier they would hover around the second or third spots.
With the way things are going now, this resilient Leafs team could well take home the Atlantic Division, and most importantly, set themselves up for a more favourable playoff matchup.