The Maple Leafs have an outstanding 19 goals in their first three games of the season and don’t look to be slowing down any time soon. They have three lines that can all score goals and a fourth line that has some offense to it as well.

Connor Brown had a fantastic game as he was a standout whenever he was on the ice. Babcock must love having a second line player on his fourth line. That’s the depth the Leafs have this season and when an injury occurs to a winger I feel he will bump Brown up and bring in one of Leivo or Kapanen to fill the void. Leivo seems better suited for secondary power play time and less defensive responsibility whereas Kapanen can kill penalties and skate with the big boys.

Matthews you just knew was going to capitalize on that overtime game winning goal. I could feel it in my body as he soared down the ice and rifled the puck over the shoulder of Chicago’s goalie Anton Forsberg. As Matthews made his way down the ice my body automatically stood up as it sensed a big moment coming. Sure enough Matthews didn’t disappoint and number 34 secured two points for the Leafs with a big overtime game winner. The Leafs battled back from 3-1 versus a solid Chicago team and kept their record perfect with three wins in a row to start the season.

This team is resilient and have more offense than any Maple Leafs team I have seen in my life. They are for real! They absolutely dominated Chicago in the big picture, but a couple squeaker goals got by Andersen and Forsberg played a very good game for the Hawks. The game changer was when it was 2-0 and Andersen made a huge pad save on a breakaway to keep the game 2-0, that could have been a dagger to the Leafs in the early going. They will need to tighten up their play defensively as the season continues. We saw a number of third period fur ball cough ups last season and that could be the difference in where they seed come playoff time.

The reffing and linesmen have made me quite frustrated as they always do at the start of a season. The hit Borgman laid on Debrincat was thunderous. There was a ref standing no more than 3 feet away and he was staring directly at the play, and then a ref standing outside the blue-line puts his arm up and calls a penalty. That is pathetic, let’s play some hockey here. Panik scored a goal for the Hawks on a lucky bank shot and then decided to raise his arms and give it to the Toronto fans. Still upset you were tossed on waivers by the Leafs there Richard?

Anyhow, back to the Matthews goal. What a thing of beauty it was, and I really liked how he celebrated the goal, was a very similar celebration that Patrick Kane does. I wonder if he did that on purpose? Matthews is an absolute stallion and I could see him cashing in ten game winners this season the way he’s playing; he’s hungry!!

With Carrick still banged up we will see the Rosen-Borgman third pairing tonight which is great news. I have really liked the addition of the two Swedes on the back end. They each bring a different element to the Leafs defense and seem to be able to get the puck out and with some quality crisp passing.

The Leafs have also been great on the draw which of course gives them more puck time. It’s the little things that Babcock strives for his players to do and it seems right now the Leafs are doing those things. Just need to tighten up on giveaways and penalties which I’m sure will go down as the season moves forward.

One player that I feel has improved his speed and hands this season from last year is sophomore Zach Hyman. He has been flying out there and certainly looks like he’s packed on a few pounds of muscle and injected some butter into his gloves to keep them soft. Babcock has continued to mix in Patrick Marleau to the first line here and there (perhaps after Hyman killed a penalty) and it won’t be long before we see him pot his third goal of the season.

The Devils won’t be a push over like they were last season. They are 2-0 out the gates and will certainly have their confidence up as they come into Toronto for a 7:30 start time tonight.

Enjoy the game; let’s hope the boys in blue come out with another win!

Go Leafs Go!

Thanks for reading.

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