On Saturday night I had the luxury of attending the Maple Leafs game versus the Pittsburgh Penguins. It had been a number of years since I had been to a game with my Dad so I thought it would be a lot of fun to take him and enjoy a father/son outing.

It was just like any other game as we started our venture on the GO train with a couple travelers to keep our mouths moist as we talked shop (hockey). After arriving at Union Station and making our way over to a local pub, a couple more brews down the hatch and off we were to the Air Canada Center in time to grab a couple slices of pizza and another beverage for the first period.

After a couple of National Anthems were blasted out the game begun and the Leafs were hungry. They have shown up in just about every game this season but they really came out to play on Saturday night against the defending Stanley Cup Champions, the Pittsburgh Penguins. I had said to my old man that I was glad we were playing against Fleury as opposed to Matt Murray who’s been incredible for the Penguins since taking over last year. Oddly enough Fleury got caught up with a skate and had to leave the game for a bit. Murray took over and magically enough the Leafs were able to squeeze one past him as the puck bounced its way into the back of the net and Toronto got themselves on the board. The goal was Nikita Zaitsev’s first NHL goal and goal as a Maple Leafs player.

Zaitsev’s goal led to Fleury returning to the game and he was actually very good for the Penguins but at the end of the day came up short when Gardiner tucked in a loose puck in overtime. Marner just about tucked her home when Fleury came out with the poke and put himself out of position for when Gardiner swept in for the rebound. The Air Canada Center erupted; it was as loud as I’ve heard it since the playoffs a few years back. It seems the young guns have increased the spirit level of the Leafs faithful.

Something that I noticed at the game was the number of Matthews, Nylander, and Marner jerseys. They were everywhere, it was great to see, the turnover has finally begun where the number of Sundin, Gilmour and Clark jerseys are not the top three most common. After all those years, it seems there are finally players who stick out so much that they have won the hearts of many fans in the early goings of their career and they have pulled the trigger with the fancy new Maple Leafs logo. They sure are sharp, both the blue home and white away jerseys.

The Penguins fans at the game were somewhat shocked with the Leafs crowd on Saturday night. With the way the Leafs were playing and the number of chances and questionable penalties the fans were really ripping into Hornqvist and Malkin.

Hornqvist sold a penalty in the third period on a high stick that gave the Penguins a four minute man advantage. His stick got lifted and his own stick came up and got a piece of him, after flopping like a seal into the water the ref hoisted his arm and called the penalty. He was about 25 feet behind the play and couldn’t see what happened, that’s when the crowd let Hornqvist and the Penguins fans know their displeasure.

Malkin just seemed to float around and seemed like an easy target for the fans to pick on as he scored the lone goal for Pittsburgh. Kessel had a good boo’ing every time he touched the puck and took some good razzing when he broke his stick on a breakaway.

Some of my favorites:

“Nice kids stick you are using out there Phil”
“Lay off the double dogs Kessel”

Then some old timer leans over from the seat beside me and says “I sure don’t miss Kessel, he really chapped my ass.” There were still a number of Kessel jerseys on the back of Maple Leafs jersey’s which was somewhat mind blowing but hey, to each their own.

The Go Leafs Go chants out did the Go Penguins chants every time they begun to erupt. The Leafs fans were a bit more rambunctious than they had been in the past. Perhaps the new surge of talent will help bring the Air Canada Center up to snuff with one of the most electric buildings in the game. They certainly have a ways to go but things are trending up, just as they are in the NHL for the Leafs.

Leafs vs Ducks

Tonight the Leafs square off against Anaheim at the ACC and then play Thursday (Colorado) and Friday (Arizona). Wouldn’t that be a nice way to finish off before Christmas; four wins in a row.

Look for the Leafs to pepper Gibson tonight as they go for two in a row. It’s likely Bernier will be back-up as he got lit up by Detroit on Saturday night, which is too bad; I’d enjoy the red light shorting out from so much use.

Frederik Gauthier has been called up to the Leafs for tonight’s game. The ‘goat’ as Leafs Nation likes to call him has played in seven NHL games and has one assist. Gauthier was selected 21st overall in 2013 and will get his first taste of action this season with the big club.

Have a great week, thanks for reading!

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