Well, that was fun!
The Toronto Maple Leafs brushed aside the weight of their sky high expectations and suppressed any opening night jitters as they grounded the Winnipeg Jets 7-2 in their first game of the NHL season.
The final score, though, doesn’t tell the entire story of Wednesday night’s game in Winnipeg. If it wasn’t for Leafs goalie Frederik Anderson, who made 17 saves in a penalty filled first period, the game probably would have ended much differently.
Anderson took about a month to find his footing with Toronto last season after he came over from Anaheim and was hampered by a training camp injury. Seeing Freddie’s stellar play right out of the gate is an encouraging sign for Toronto.
Sophomore star forward Auston Matthews didn’t score four goals like he did in his NHL debut a year ago, but he was impressive nonetheless with a goal and two assists.
Future Hall of Famer Patrick Marleau looked good in his Leafs debut, scoring twice.
For Winnipeg, if newly acquired netminder Steve Mason can’t provide A-1 goaltending for the Jets their path to the post-season will be a rocky road.
As far as the Maple Leafs go, it seems as if this team of young, hungry and talented players hasn’t missed a beat since their playoff run came to a quick end last spring. So the question is, can I position my lawn chair along the parade route on Bay Street yet?
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