{"id":308,"date":"2022-10-04T17:58:05","date_gmt":"2022-10-04T17:58:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/?p=308"},"modified":"2022-10-04T21:41:14","modified_gmt":"2022-10-04T21:41:14","slug":"maple-leafs-good-bad-and-ugly-in-5-1-win-over-canadiens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/index.php\/2022\/10\/04\/maple-leafs-good-bad-and-ugly-in-5-1-win-over-canadiens\/","title":{"rendered":"Maple Leafs Good, Bad, and Ugly in 5-1 Win Over Canadiens"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Stan Smith<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Toronto Maple Leafs pushed their preseason record to 4-1 with a 5-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Monday night. Once again, we will look at the game’s good, bad, and ugly takeaways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ugly<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The ugly part of last night for me was me. I was not a happy camper. I pay for a sports package and the NHL Live package with my television. I live in the combined Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens region. The game last night was on TSN2, TSN4, RDS, and NHL Live. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I discovered that my sports package gives me TSN1, TSN3, TSN4, and TSN5 but not TSN2. TSN4, which is not my region was blacked out. NHL Live was blacked out because the game was available on TSN2 and RDS. I don\u2019t have RDS on my package (something I plan to change).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was not able to watch the complete game last night. I listened to some of it on the radio but I cannot analyze what I can\u2019t see. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am basing my report on the highlights I was able to watch from the Maple Leafs\u2019 and the Canadiens\u2019 feeds. As a result, I am sure I missed things from this game and for that, I apologize.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Related: Three Takeaways from Maple Leafs\u2019 5-1 Win Over the Canadiens<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Good<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

From what I saw there was lots of good in this game if you are a Maple Leafs\u2019 fan. It involved more NHL players and players who will most likely start the season for each team. While still not an NHL game that counts, it is the closest thing to it we have seen in the preseason. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and Michael Bunting line was intact.\u00a0 With John Tavares out head coach Sheldon Keefe had Alex Kerfoot between William Nylander and Nick Robertson. <\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Nick Robertson, Maple Leafs<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The third was made up of Pontus Holmberg, Nicolas Aube-Kubel, and Zach Aston-Reese. The fourth line was Adam Gaudette, Denis Malgin, and Alex Steeves. Matt Murray got the start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nylander, Robertson, Kerfoot Dominant<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Kerfoot, Nylander, Robertson line stole the show. Nylander led the way with two goals and an assist, Robertson had three assists and Kerfoot added two snipes. That line combined for 13 of the 31 Maple Leafs\u2019 shots in the game. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

From what I saw in the highlights that line did not just rely on talent and fortuitous bounces, they worked hard with the puck and worked hard to get the puck. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Robertson started things off by taking a tip-pass from Kerfoot in the first minute of play and drew a hooking penalty that led to the power play where Nylander opened the scoring from Marner and Bunting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Robertson followed that with a relentless forecheck in the Montreal zone to get the puck to a wide-open Nylander who went skate, forehand, backhand, roof, for his second goal.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
William Nylander, Maple Leafs Rookie Card<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Shortly after, the Canadiens scored a power-play goal of their own to make the game 3-1 Maple Leafs Nylander won a battle in the corner to get the puck back to Robertson who relayed the puck to Kerfoot. Kerfoot scored from an impossible angle as Habs\u2019 goalie Jake Allen must have expected him to pass the puck. Allen moved away from his left post leaving the short side wide open.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the fifth Maple Leafs\u2019 goal, which was a power-play goal, Kerfoot corralled the rebound of a Robertson shot and backhanded it over a sprawling Allen.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Related: Maple Leafs News & Rumors: Robertson, Murray & Muzzin<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Murray Was Solid<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Matt Murray had another solid outing for the Maple Leafs. After stopping all 16 shots over two periods in his first outing, he stopped 29 of 30 shots in this game, allowing just the one power-play goal by Jonathan Drouin when the Maple Leafs were up 3-0.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Murray’s best save of the night was a glove save on Montreal\u2019s first pick in the 2022 entry draft, Slovakia\u2019s Juraj Slafkovsky. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both Murray and Ilya Samsonov have looked sharp to this point in the preseason. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Bad<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I hate to pick on Justin Holl, but there were some plays in the game where he was either a step behind or way out of position. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Holl was at center ice, nowhere near the puck, or any Canadien\u2019s player, creating the two-on-one where Murray made the big save on Slafkovsky.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

The Maple Leafs haven't won a playoff series since 2004 and will be relying heavily on Ilya Samsonov and Matt Murray, but who should start the season as the No. 1 goalie?https:\/\/t.co\/b48bHeS5Yu<\/a><\/p>— NHL.com (@NHLdotcom) September 27, 2022<\/a><\/blockquote>