2 takeaways from the Maple Leafs’ 5-2 win over the Flyers – The Hockey Writers – Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs were back in action last night against the Philadelphia Flyers in a game that was widely considered a “must-win” game. They enter this game in last place in the Atlantic Division and are off to a terrible start. They needed a bounce-back game after losing to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Wednesday night. This is what they get.
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The Maple Leafs came out strong against the Flyers to get a nice bounce-back win. Despite giving up an early goal, they held on and played a hard-fought, physical game to take the lead and never looked back. Unfortunately, they saw Chris Tanev being stretchered off the ice with what appeared to be another concussion. But other than that, they played well enough against the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 7 of the World Series that probably not too many people paid attention to them.
Still, they won, so let’s take a look at some takeaways from their 5-3 win last night.
chris Tanev stretches
As mentioned above, fans in the building witnessed a very unfortunate event last night. Maple Leafs defenseman Tanev was taken off the ice on a stretcher after colliding with Flyers forward Matvey Michkov. In what appeared to be a fluke, Tanev slid backwards, Michkov spun around and they collided. This caused Tanev to fall to the ice and appear to have his neck snapped backwards. He was holding his head as soon as he stepped onto the ice, which was worrying. He fell to the ground for several minutes before being treated by paramedics, who then put him on a stretcher. Thankfully, he did get a thumbs up as he was taken off the ice.
Last night, Tanev was playing his first game back since suffering a concussion on October 24 against the New Jersey Devils. Head coach Craig Berube gave an update after the game and said.
“He’s moving and I think he’s going to be OK. But he’s doing some tests right now. We’ll know more soon. We’ll know soon. He’ll probably come home with us.”
Unfortunately for him, the back-to-back concussions weren’t ideal. He plays a rough, physical style and gives his best for the team every night. This can be worrying. Only time will tell how long he will be out, but it does appear that he has avoided the worst-case scenario.
Easton Cowan scores the first goal
The time has finally come for Maple Leafs rookie Easton Cowan, who scored his first NHL goal last night. He has performed brilliantly since joining the club and it was only a matter of time before his hard work paid off. He now has four points in nine games with Toronto.
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The goal was the culmination of hard work by veteran John Tavares. He is able to break up passes and pick up loose pucks in the neutral zone. After crossing the Flyers blue line, he completed a spin pass in front of the right circle and found Cowan open in the center of the ice. Once it was on his stick, he made no mistake, wrenching it over Dan Vladar’s left shoulder and onto the top shelf. The goal made him look like he had been here before, but the smile on his face showed it was his first time. He spoke to reporters after the game and talked about the grind of scoring his first goal in the NHL.
“It was mental torture,” Cowan said. “You want to score points. And I didn’t score in the first eight games I played. So, keep at it in practice. Keep getting better and I’m going to keep doing that. It felt like it was just a matter of time, you know? I kept at it.”
Hopefully the goal will further spark his offensive touch and help the Maple Leafs finish well and move up the standings in the coming weeks. Regardless, there’s one thing we’ve learned about him through the first nine games of the season: He can definitely crack the Maple Leafs’ top six.
What’s next for the Maple Leafs?
The Maple Leafs will now return home to face the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday night. The game will begin at 7:30 and is a Prime Monday Night Hockey special. They will then take on the red-hot Utah Mammoths on Wednesday before taking on the rival Boston Bruins on Saturday.
