Toronto Maple Leafs 7th in a Row + Marner Quietly the Hottest Player in the NHL
The Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Colorado Avalanche 4-3 last night setting a new record for their longest winning streak of the Auston Matthews era.
With the win, the Toronto Maple Leafs move to within seven points of the Boston Bruins for the Atlantic Division lead, but have two games in hand. Should the Leafs win those two games, they would only be three points back.
The Leafs are 8-2 in their last ten, and Boston is 3-7 (with several OT losses). Winning the division is now a real possibility.
Last night's game wasn't the greatest, but it was a road victory againt a top team, so who cares if they weren't exactly a dominant force, but rather just a good team grinding out a victory?
Sure, the Avalanche probably wins that game more times than not, and probably the coach hated the third period (this team blows too many leads as it is) but seven wins in a row is seven wins in a row.
The Toronto Maple Leafs Have Arrived: Win 7th Game in a Row
Tyler Bertuzzi had a hat-trick, finally getting lucky after months of being the NHL's unluckiest player. (Though he is a millionaire despite an extremely obvious lack of education so how unlucky can he be?)
After months of putting up good numbers and not scoring, ironically, last night, Bertuzzi put up horrible numbers and scored three times. That's hockey for ya.
The Nylander, Bertuzzi, Domi line was caved in at 5v5 where the Avalanche did whatever they wanted, with each member of that line finishing around 30% puck possession and 43% Expected Goals.
The top line, however, was incredibly dominant, and as much as the Leafs "deserved" to win, it was because of their effort. Although I like the lines Sheldon Keefe has been using the last few games the new-look Tavares and Domi lines were both awful last night.
But again, they won, on the road, and their unluckiest player scored a hattrick. Not too shabby! Intereatingly enough, Bertuzzi became the first Toronto Maple Leafs player to score a hattrick on his birthday. Here's hoping he also gets a book or two for a present this year as well.
One final note: Mitch Marner has another two points, which makes ten games in a row for him with a point. More impressively, he has multiple points in seven straight games.
They still need to trade for a goalie, and hopefully also a defenseman, but this lineup is looking pretty good. (stats naturtalstattrick.com).
manual
Next up: rematches against Las Vegas and Phoneix on Tuesday and Thursday, respectively.