On today’s show we break down game one of 82 we break down the Go song and we’ll be joined by former Maple Lea Frankie curado to do all of that that’s what’s coming up on today’s edition of the lock on lease podcast part of locked on podcast Network it’s your team every
Day your locked on Maple Leafs your daily podcast on the Toronto Maple Leafs part of the locked on podcast Network your team and every Day hello and welcome into the locked on leaves podcast I’m Mike to Stephano with my co-host Dave morisi uh today’s show is brought to you by FanDuel FanDuel is today sponsored and uh make every moment more right now new customers can get $5 and get $200 in bonus bets guaranteed visit band.com
Logdon to get started would may have been helpful if I had that uh little ad read blurb ready to go by the time we we went live here but we got it in nonetheless a little bit of a sloppy start that’s exactly what happened with
The bait belief so hey we’re on brand if anything Dave I was gonna say you uh you you had whatever um I pull the TJ Brody I fumbled the puck early I pull TJ bro you have the IPS you needed some you need some of that uh Michael what it
What it call it the Mike special drink oh Michael special drink yeah the uh the the Space Jam yeah secret stuff is it secret the secret stuff yeah the secret stuff that’s right uh well you know was an interesting one last night man but
Game one of 82 in the books uh it was a roller coaster that was the word that was kind of floating around about last night’s game and it it certainly was they found themselves in a TW goal uh deficit early they climbed out of it and then ended up in another two goal
Deficit only to see Austin Matthews put the team on his back and carry them uh to overtime where Mitch Marner ends up getting it done in a shootout uh nonetheless so it was a fun game it was an interesting one and we’re going to be joined by Frank curado to break it all
Down so without further ado let’s bring him in it’s Frank Cado former Toronto Maple Leaf former NHL and current analyst with TSN joining us now on the podcast is my very good friend it’s Frank curado former uh NHL or former Toronto Maple Leaf and current hockey analyst with TSN
What’s going on Frank not much not much you know first game is in the books so I don’t know if we’re overreacting or under reacting to things today but yeah it was a good good first night for all the Canadian teams well not a good first
Night for all the Canadian teams but a good first night for us watching the games of all the Canadian teams we’ll put it out yeah I would think Conor McDavid and everyone else on that Edmonton roster probably wouldn’t agree with that statement that was a a little
He was a little extra orinary after the game last night yeah which is understandable after you lose eight to one to the Vancouver Canucks um but the Maple Leafs didn’t take an 81l they got a 65 win and I believe the term that was being thrown around there was roller
Coaster and that’s exactly what that game was I we were talking about a team that went down two nothing early rallied all the way back to take the lead only to uh give it back up and come back and tie the game and win this thing in a
Shootout um what did you make of the least performance in game one of 82 last night yeah I think roller coaster is a very fitting term for what that game was and you know it just had the feel of the first game of the season where certain things aren’t ironed out yet there’s
Some sloppy play and you know the tman and I were talking last night after the game with Ralphie and if you remember last year there was all these different momentum swings and teams you know erasing deficits early on in the season it felt like in the NHL no one could
Hold a lead last year and now through night one of the NHL season and night two we’re seeing that already and we saw it in last night’s game and I think it’s just to be expected with the amount of Firepower that’s available to all these teams even the bad teams have guys that
Can put the puck in the back of the net they have skilled players um it just seems like early on in the season when things aren’t really ironed out and maybe your defensive structure isn’t as tight as you’d like it you know maybe you don’t really have a plan as far as
Exiting the zone and you’re just your second guessing a little bit and things aren’t as instinctual it allows for their you know all it allows there to be these kind of momentum swings in the games and you know when you have the the amount of offensive weapons the Leafs do
Have uh it’s reassuring knowing you’re in a game like that and you can kind of outscore whatever problems that you do have whether it’s on the power play which the Leafs get two big Power Play Goals last night for Matthews and nander and um you know later in the game when
When they pull the goal tender to tie things up and yeah you always look to your big dogs to get it done and uh regardless of how sloppy the game was leading up to that point you find a way to get your big players in positions where they can break through and and
Sure enough Matthews leads the way in that regard yeah and shades of vintage Matthews I mean you were in the building for the four goal performance to kick off his career has a hattrick last night and uh for a moment there there there’s a time and overtime I thought we were
About to see another four-g goal game um but I guess he only had to stop short at three I heard John tovaris joking after the game saying yeah it wasn’t his best opening night performance but it was quite the performance from uh from Matthews to to Really set the the tone
And and get the comeback rolling I mean how encouraging is it for the Leafs to get that guy going early on in the season after a couple of years where he’s been a little bit slow to start yeah like it it sounds so obvious but it’s it’s massive and yeah I I really
Thought last night he was going to turn back the clock and put four up on us but he he gets three but even in overtime he looked really dangerous and yeah you know there there’s a few takeaways from watching Matthews play early on in the season here for one the skating just
Just looks a little stronger like it looks like he’s able to kind of get through checks a little bit more and he’s such a big body I remember when he came into the league as an 18-year-old a lot of the guys that were on the team that year were looking at this guy
Saying this is not an 18-year-old kid like this is a Manchild who’s who’s way further developed than than most 18year olds would be and you know last year at times I know he had to battle the wrist I know he had to battle the back and he
Played through a lot of that stuff and you could tell at times he didn’t really welcome the contact he didn’t shy away from it he’s not that kind of guy that’s going to shy away from it but it seemed like last night he was playing through checks he was getting through guys’s
Arms it seemed like he was slicing and dicing his way through the neutral zone like he split the D at one point in overtime and you’re you’re thinking okay like that’s that that bull you know that we know Austin Matthews can be and even the shot like Al’s brother you and I
Have talked a lot about this at times where you know when when the wrist was bu Matthews when he was really successful when he had the wrist problem he found different ways to score whether it was like in tight on the backand he would score some tip goals but at times
The shot it just seemed like the puck would kind of Bounce over his stick he wasn’t really able to kill the momentum of the puck and dead in it and it would bounce a little bit and then that would lead to him hitting the glass A lot with
His shot I just think it and Ralphie said this last night it it’s crisp everything about Austin Matthews right now is crisp from the skating um his ability to welcome body contact and the way he’s playing with the puck um the way he has it on a string on his stick
And the velocity on the shot it just looks like the guy is healthy and ready to go and man that’s I mean it’s only going to be good news for the Leafs because you know you look back at some of the narratives that we’ve maybe talked about with Matthews over his
Career we know about the goal scoring yeah but at one point one of the conversations we had was is this guy going to be the best two-way centerman in the league and if he’s healthy and able man he’s he’s right up there with with with some of the best in that
Regard and not to mention the guy can pot 60 on any given year I think a big one too Frankie is that he wasn’t giving up those opportunities either we saw in that playoff frown against Florida he wasn’t asserting himself as much offensively I felt like last night he was uh he was
Determined yeah to get those opportunities I agree I agree and you know what like that’s that’s the thing about a guy who who going to lead the charge that way it’s almost like we talk about the word ownership a lot like there’s got to be some players lower in
The lineup that give you a little ownership but I think the leaders also need to realize that you know at times they can put the team on their back and say listen I’m not deferring to anyone else if it’s a two-on-one situation I may look to pass to make it make the
Goalie think that I’m going there but I’m not deferring to anyone right like it’s my show here and I’m going to you know have an opportunity at the net every chance I possibly get and watch Conor like watch Connor Bard this 18-year-old kid all he does is put the
Puck at the net because that’s like that’s his bread and butter first game of the year 12 shot attempts gets five on net um but the the great goal scorers they play a volume game Alex oetkin plays a volume game Steven Stam Co when he was at his best like they direct a
Lot of things to the net and I think Austin Matthews when when he’s healthy and you know the wrist is good he’s not thinking yeah I’m going to pass this because I don’t think I can get a lot on this shot he’s thinking no no no this is
Right in the Wheelhouse and I’m going to fire this pill on the net Today’s Show is brought to you by FanDuel snap into action this NHL season with FanDuel it’s North America’s number one sports book right now new customers get $200 in bonus bets guaranteed when you place a
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Visit fan.com lockon and kick off the NHL season FanDuel official partner of the lockdown Network we’re chatting with Frankie curado um so Austin Matthews he looked chisp he looked good and uh powered this team to a victory last night someone who may not have looked very crisp I think was elas Samson up
Between the pipes allowed five goals on 24 Shots was that a concerning start for him given that he also didn’t look all that sharp during the preseason either yeah it is concerning because you’re right he didn’t look great in the preseason he was injured to finish last
Year he went through arbitration in the summer and you kind of look back at his track record and anytime he’s kind of been given the keys in Washington he didn’t really put the car in drive and and drive it you know like he he’s kind of struggled with with getting those
Opportunities and coming into this season compared to last year where we knew it was going to be a 1A 1B between him and Matt Murray and you know he wasn’t essentially the starter to start that year he’s been given the keys this year and I know Joseph wall is a good young
Goenda like I think there’s expectations there that he’s going to be the guy it is a little concerning um and and we might get an opportunity to see Joseph wall kind of take the ball and run with it sooner rather than later if it’s going to continue that way um but with
That being said we do need to caution that a little bit it’s early in the season it’s one game you look back at last year and he was really really good especially at home as you know Al’s brother he was really good in high danger situations he was the best goalie
In the league as far as facing High danger chances so you have to kind of keep that in mind and know that there’s a good chance to win games on any given night but you look at if you’re the Leaf’s brass and you’re looking at things now
You start to go okay wasn’t a great preseason wasn’t a great night one maybe we get an opportunity to get Joseph wall in there sooner rather than later but it just I’m not not trying to defend him but it was a weird game for a goalie like he gets the Breakaway early on
There’s a tip goal uh the lilligren one where he flubs the pass and there’s there’s another you know that’s another partial Breakaway it’s like a back door goal and you know in the second period the guy only had two shots like he only had two shots he only had to make one
Save he’s 500 save percentage in the second period it’s easy for for him to go to sleep I guess the one redeeming thing would be that in overtime he made a couple saves in the shoot out he made you know he made the saves he needed to
Make in the shootout and your team wins the game but it wasn’t a warm and fuzzy feeling watching him in that last night yeah it was funny I was thinking to myself how different would the Sheldon Keef press conference be if they would have lost that game right like they won
The game they got the two points so I guess they don’t got a harp on it and and you’re right I mean it was a a weird game you look at every single one of the goals it was either off of a defensive breakdown uh an odd man rush or it took
A deflection so he wasn’t really beat cleanly there was no terrible gouls that were given up it was just kind of a a weird weird night but anytime you do give up five on on home ice it is a little uncharacteristic you don’t love to see that uh Dave I know that you
Wanted to ask Frankie a question about uh the blue line and the defensive structure last night anyway yeah I felt it felt like you know obviously minus the Breakaway one like it felt like the leaves had a struggle with like transition you know the Hales transition
Which is always like kind of the Hales bread and butter um but like you know I looked at the I think it was the second goal the new hook the First new hook goal where it was obviously the two-on-one and Tavaris just couldn’t get to New hook in time like it just felt
Like that’s something the Leafs are going to have to work on throughout this year yeah and you know what watching them break the puck out of Their Own Zone last night the the word I would use to describe it was slow like it felt like things were just a little slow
Developing when the Leafs are at their best it’s organized and because it’s organized it’s not frantic but things move a little faster the puck gets up the ice a little bit faster last night it just felt like it was a little choppy going from the dzone and through the
Neutral zone and you know there’s one play that kind of comes to mind for me last night and so the Leafs are in the defensive zone tarz is down low as the centerman he sends this really long stretch pass all the way up the ice to
The far Blue Line right on the tape of nander and I turn to taddy and I go that’s why nander is a Winger right there because he has no because he has the presence of mind to realize that things are a little choppy they’re not breaking out in crisp fiveman units so
What do you do you stretch the zone out a little bit and you get in and next thing you know it was one pass two seconds later you’re playing in the offensive zone and so one that tells me Will’s a Winger good understanding of the game and and a little bit of like
Offensive smarts um but you know adapting to things and yeah I I would say this about the the Leafs in their dzone last night time’s a little bit sloppy and this is to be expected at early on in the season just the the the instincts of knowing what our exit plan
Is when you’re under duress right like you’re not it’s not always going to be smooth and easy to get out of your zone so what do you do when you’re under pressure like where’s our default play and our guys following that up all the way up the ice that’s not quite there
Yet that will get there it’s something they’re going to practice a lot as the season goes on um but that was one of my bigger takeaways as far as the dzone and then the other thing you know the the new hook goal where he tips it in like
Box outs in front of the net and tying up sticks are such a big thing in today’s day and age in the NHL like I’m watching guys try and block the shot and the forward’s got to try and block the shot for sure if you’re the defenseman
In front of the net you can’t be playing goalie like you got to try and cross check someone get them out of the way if not you got to lift their sticks so that their blade is touching the ceiling and that didn’t happen so it’s those little
Details that will get ironed out as the season goes out in their own zone are you surprised that this was the opening night blue line that Brad trilling came into the season with like what he first got here there was a lot of discussion about how he’s going to completely make
Over that blue line and you look at what he did in Calgary there was a lot of Hulks out there some big dudes uh who played out out out west didn’t really do a whole lot BR in John kingberg obviously but in terms of finding you know some some you know big rugged
Defenseman that didn’t really happen to that surprise you well I I would look at it this way it didn’t surprise me because we we knew the cap crunch that the Leafs were going to be in and those kinds of players right now Al’s brother as you know are being paid a premium
Guys like Eric Branson are getting $4 million a year Luke Shen’s getting 275 the same as Elia lbushkin you know rad kudas getting $4 million a year with term like with term attached to it so if you looked at if you looked at the P priorities on the Leafs Blue Line the
First priority for sure was going to be have a big rugged robust defenseman maybe two of them if you possibly could the second priority was going to be can we find a little more offense from the Leafs boo line because if you’re not going to bring in the big hulking guy I
Don’t think you’re just going to bring in just a guy like the the the Jack of all master of none guy you might as well bring in someone who’s going to give you a little more scoring punch from the blue line and that paid off last night
With John kingberg he keeps that puck in you know on the backand deadens the puck right at the Blue Line next thing you know Pucks in the back of the net and and we saw kingberg and his ability to walk the blue line to run a power play I
Thought he got better and more comfortable as the game went on I thought early on the power play was a little tentative as we got into the second period there the leaf started scoring a couple Power Play Goals you could see him get comfortable in his
Game he makes a nice long stretch pass to Noah Gregor who’s coming off the bench to score the first goal of the game like um so I’m not surprised Al brother because you just kind of go second priority but I would be surprised if this is what the Leaf’s Blue Line
Looked like come trade deadline time like I I I would imagine it’s going to look very different at that time and uh you talk about Brad TR living and his ability to bring in good defenseman like he’s got a great track record he brought in douge Hamilton he brought in no
Hanahan in in Calgary he brought in McKenzie weager he signed Chris tanv he brought in Nikita zadorov um like this he’s he’s found ways to bring in good defenseman with some cache around the NHL and I would expect he does that at some point this
Year Al a couple of things I also wanted to ask about Frankie the ISS coach Bank Arena if felt that was a talking point after the game with Marner saying it wasn’t great and it it kind of impacted guys uh you know especially in the shooto how many of them were deaking
Versus how many were shooting was that something you noticed last night right away yeah we we noticed it right away and I wasn’t sure if maybe guys just were stepping on the Ed of their skates because that can happen a lot because you know at scoa Bank Arena there’s fans walking
Around in the in the Platinum area and people have you know little rocks or stones on the bottom of their shoes and you can step on it um but guys were fall early on TJ Brody fell that led to the the first goal the Jake Evans breakaway
Goal the lilligren kind of flubbing on that pass although something about lilligren like he’s good for one of those every once in a while it’s like a weird flex and curve on his stick and it just it happens every once in a while but yeah I saw Marner fall we saw some
Habs players fall it it was really strange to see that and then you know Nick Suzuki in in the shootout just completely misses the puck and I don’t know if that one has to do with the ice but there was enough examples last night that would indicate the ice wasn’t great
That’s something that’ll get cleaned up very quickly they’re very good down there they know exactly what they’ve doing they’ve been making ice for a long time I blame Drake quite honestly like that’s that’s who I I blame is because Drake was in there he was doing his
Concerts who knows who knows what kind of shenanigans were going on in there at the Drake concert that’s who I would blame I do know mlsc employees on the ice also before the game there was like a little shining going on some of those people on the ice to before the game so
Yeah you know what that one that one doesn’t that one’s not so bad because when I played for the Marley’s we would play the odd afternoon game um and then the Leafs would play a couple hours after us so that wasn’t it wasn’t out of the ordinary for guys to skate and then
Have a game afterwards like that ice that ice is busy because on those days we would have Leafs morning skate Marley’s would play after the Leafs morning skate a full game plus warm up all that stuff and then the ice would sit a bit and then we would play you
Know like later on that night um so yeah it’s it’s not out of the ordinary for that ice to get a lot of use on a game day did you get a call from Drake when he came into town I mean it looked like he was trying to get some former Maple
Leafs he got Max doy or got Tai DOI Frankie Cado get a call no no ‘s brother you want to get the crowd going not the not get the crowd going home any fun stopping chats in press row yesterday uh couple stopping chats you know like talk well obviously you know
We’re up there with with bonesy and Ralphie talking to them our boy CJ you know getting up to speed on all the latest Insider news it was it’s a big night in the Press row when the Habs are in town because you have the the two pronged media you have the French media
You have the englishe speaking media for Montreal it’s a big deal when they come to town and um there was you know Brian Burke was at the game there was you know there was a lot of uh a lot of your regulars but you know a lot of lot of
People that would you you would know would signify it’s a big night it’s opening night in in the National Hockey League at Scotia Bank Arena yeah a lot of people come out of the Woodworks for opening night uh especially here in Toronto what was the chatter though
Around the goal song up there after you finally heard it Pursuit of Happiness the remix by uh by Steve Aoki yeah so first of all I’m a big fan of it I think it’s fantastic thank you I’ve been saying for the longest time a goal song needs to
Have energy it needs to be something because you know the way that building can get it can get quiet at times it needs to be something that that can get people get a little more energy into the people watching the game I think it does that I think it’s current enough that
Young people get it I think it’s kind of old enough that people that are in their 30s probably were partying when that song first came out so you keep them involved as well and the old people listen we love you guys but you know some of your suggestions had H not for
Five years yeah you had all you had hul and notes like some of the suggestions it’s like bring ACDC bring this I’m like guys it’s 2023 I love ACDC but um you know we need something with a little more energy so I like it a lot of the
People in press row seem to like it um so and it sounds like they’re going to do a couple different goal songs this year for some different games so I’m looking forward to that as well but I think they I think they hit it out of the park yeah little Bieber little Drake
Perhaps some some ties to the maple leafes the the the six and thought like before the game My take was because Bieber was Tweeting or or put an Instagram about it and I thought he was just trolling everyone and then I was like well what would it have been
Though like for a Bieber song well nothing nothing that he has written my take was going to be maybe Bieber wrote a song specific for the leap scoring a goal right there’s a few teams that have that like the Rangers have that um the Dallas Stars like panta
Wrote that song and sings that song that the Dallas Stars have when they score so so could have been like a world debut Austin Matthew scores it’s the world debut of the song and then today it releases the full song releases on iTunes or whatever right see you’re a businessman you’re you’re already
Thinking about it you’re already yeah but hey they I I like I prefer what they picked to anything Justin Bieber was probably gonna write about the Leafs scoring a goal yeah yeah I I’m a big fan too I you know what though I will say this I think it plays better live I
Didn’t hear it live obviously but knowing that song really well I think it sounds better live when you’re in the building than it did across the TV because it took a little bit to actually hear what the song was at first um butum like it sounded awesome yeah
Really good good tune uh well that’s uh that’s game one in the books uh it’s the first victory of hopefully many um and Frank really appreciate taking the time this morning to uh to join us to break it all down hopefully we can get you back on the show soon anytime boys we’ll
Talk later appreciate it today’s episode is brought to you by sleeper the NHL season is finally here I absolutely love the NHL and I know that you do too and that’s why I want to tell you about the sleeper app the sleeper app is the official daily app uh fantasy app of the
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Conditions apply that’s locked on NHL see terms for sleepers use for details welcome back into the locked on Lea’s podcast I’m Mike dno with my co-host Dave morisi uh good chat with Frank Cado really appreciate him taking the time out of his day to uh to join us
Um I know that uh you know we don’t typically get a whole lot of guests on this show but I think this season we’ll try and get some more people I I did see in the YouTube comments about a week or so AG go got some people asking uh
People want to hear from Joe Bowen Dave so might have to reach out to bonesy and see if he can come and join us on the show but it was nice to get Frank on to uh you know talk about that game that was last night and I think obviously it
Was a roller coaster that was certainly the word to to use to describe it that is for sure um but before we get to our three stars of the game we were talking about the goal song cuz yeah we could talk about the game all we want but a
Big topic of conversation about last night was the choice of the Go song uh no longer is it holl notes after five years they decided to finally retire that one which thankfully that did happen because I think a lot of people were just super annoyed and look the
Team never did anything with that song anyway so there was no reason to keep it so in comes New Management out goes Hollow notes and incomes uh Pursuit of Happiness by kid cdy it’s the remix version though from Steve Bei and you were in the building last night Dave so
What was your uh opinion of the Leaf’s new Go song what did do you think uh I I did I do agree with what Frankie said is that it did bring a different energy to the building than Hollow notes did like I I’ll say this the hollow notes one sounded gimmick it
Was starting to sound gimmicky forever right and um I mean also I still don’t like how on the scoreboard they do these they’re trying to be cute and like get this like family like atmosphere like throwing different like scenes of different movies I don’t know why like
Just point to the crowd that’s reacting to the goal happening that’s my opinion but um I I think the goal song works is it my my favorite choice no but I think it is an improvement over Hall notes and actually Frankie when he mentioned like
The people who don’t like the song I say good portion of those people were in my mentions last night when I posted the video of the goal song um yeah let us know down below what your thoughts are on the goal song because I am curious
Because I also you know took to Twitter to say that I liked the song Choice it’s a throwback song for me uh brings me back to to my partying days in in high school and University so for me it’s it’s it’s you know a song that I grew up
With and that I really enjoy um obviously I think the song was very much popularized by Project X like I think everybody kind of has an association to that song from that movie um and it when that song plays during that movie it’s a
Banger of a scene to the break AO um but for me I I I think that was a good choice and I’m I’m gonna be curious to see what the other songs are in the rotation because as Frankie said it sounds like there’s going to be a few
Different songs uh that they’re going to be featuring throughout the season based on the specialty nights that they’re going to have uh but I would imagine Pursuit of Happiness is going to be the the main stay for the majority of the season and I mean that’s what this year is
Right this is the pursuit of happiness it’s kind of a new mindset New Philosophy with Brad trilling so I think it’s kind of you know it says something about where the team’s at and you know what their their main goal is their goal is the pursuit of happiness to
Eventually win a Stanley Cup uh maybe I’m I’m reading too much into it and getting a little too deep on it but um I’m a fan and I can’t wait to hear it live because I do think that it probably does sound better live as the Go song
Than it did on TV um because it did take a couple of couple of seconds before you could actually hear it and understand what what the song was but I’ll give it a solid eight out of 10 on the on the song Choice there and with that Dave
Let’s get into the three stars from last night’s game wasn’t sure if we were going to do a three stars or a good bad and ugly based on how that one went obviously uh um but uh you know they pulled out the victory uh with a a 65
Shootout win uh let’s go through our three stars of the night Dave you can start things off who’s your third star in that game yeah I was struggling with this one for for a bit trying to like even during the game I was figuring out
Who I was going to do my three stars for so I I kind of landed on uh the the fourth line I cheated a little bit I do I did the mic to St no cheat I went with the line in said instead of one player
So I I like the fourth line I thought they had a purpose in this game each one did their job almost to a te right like Ryan Rees was the physical presence uh had the fight obviously with Jacky and then no Gregor his speed was apparent especially on the goal that he scored
And David Camp was a was a beast especially in overtime killing that penalty I think he was on for that entire penalty kill or like a major of it like he was he was crucial to that pen kill so I think all those guys deserved and Sheldon ke gave them uh you
Know some good graces after the game one of the few positive compliments he had and I think they were deserving of it uh well it wouldn’t surprise you to know that I also cheated and also went with the fourth line as my uh my third star I mean yeah they they did their
Thing last night right like they got the ball roll Noah Gregor started things off with uh with the the team’s first goal of the year I did not to have that on my bingo card but there it is the the guy who was last to make the team just
Signed a contract 24 hours prior to the game opens up the scoring for the Maple Leafs uh they’re the most consistent line out there you mentioned it Camp you know did his thing and and and was instrumental and bringing that thing to shoot at with a great performance on The
Penalty kill there at four on three and then uh Ryan Reeves as much as I maligned that signing and look I don’t you know I’m not going to overreact to one game but he did exactly what he was brought in to do last night right give
The Leafs some energy open the the game throwing a couple of big hits he had that fight with Arbor Jacky which should have been on the bingo card I think everybody thought that was gonna happen right he came in with with the yeah like right from the GetGo comes in off of the
The introductions and gives the crowd a little I’m here to bring the muscle let’s get the party started and he did that exactly in the first period and showed everyone why he got paid 1.3 times three uh to be a maple leaf so um
You know I I got to tip my cap to to Revo he earned his money last night hopefully you know I want to eat my words on that signing I do want to hopefully that does turn out to be a worthwhile deal for the Maple eafs and
It works out last night it certainly did that the fourth line was great so they are much deserving of this uh third star honor in uh in my opinion second star Dave who you gave too second star I’m going to give it to William neander I thought he was the second best
Forward in the game I think he um you know watching him skate with with the puck is such a treat he was slicing through the defense like it was nothing yeah um like there it’s just one of those like you you watch him play and
Like you kind of get to the edge of your seat that’s the type of player he is and I thought saw that quite a a bit uh the goal he scored you know just world class shot on the power play I think he’s going to enjoy some opportunities on the
Left side there with Matthews on the right but yeah I thought I I I liked a lot of his game probably a good reason why you’d want to keep a William neander around look around yeah yeah definitely gave you a a reason or two to think yeah
Maybe this guy should be a long-term fixture with this club um I gave it to the the least power play which William neander is obviously a big part of he’s scored one of the two Power Play Goals that they had last night a couple of big
Goals to get them right back into the game they they end up taking the lead there in the second period off of of a couple of those goals so very timely for them but you know John kingberg I think is going to be a a big addition to that
Power play and it’s it’s not because I think he’s going to be you know a ridiculous threat from the point to to shoot a he is more so than than Morgan Riley is but I think having a right shot up there just kind of makes it opens up different possibilities and
Opportunities and you kind of saw that happen last night with William neander right they had a little bit of a give and go type play but because you know kingberg was on his right side and he had was kind of facing neander with his stick open he was able to get the puck
Back to him and neander on the left side able to fire it in the way he did um I think we can see that happen a lot this year and it allows neander to be a big time trigger man and then that allows you know for um Matthews to set up where
He wants to get set up and that allows him to be a big-time cross siiz contributor like we saw happen so I think that this power play they wenton two for four last night I think uh it’s a group that was operating at a 26% clip
A season ago I see no reason as to why they can’t match that or better at this year so kudos to the least power play big part played a big part in that Victory last night and with that uh it’s time to praise Austin Matthews I would
Assume with the first star of the game yeah there’s no question just you you talked about it in the pre um in our preview show just this guy loves playing opening night he brought it the leavs looked like they were de in the water when they’re down
53 and then he’s like no that’s not happening like we’re not losing this game dude’s got 12 goals in seven season openers 12 it’s insane he should have had four or five goals last night dude he almost ended it in overtime could you imagine if he ended that thing in overtime like
Just and that was an extended shift right like probably was thinking about going to the bench but said all right let me pop up into the play maybe I can make one play and end this game but uh you know Jake Allen made a couple of
Nice stops Matthew ni said chance to end at not as well and uh you know he he robbed him pretty good so uh but still I mean you he netted three past J pass Jake Allen um and and look Austin Matthews when this guy is is rolling
This team is at its best right when those when those two big guns are are going Matthews and Marner this team’s I don’t want to use the term Unstoppable but I mean they’re they’re hard to beat and you know I know that there was a lot
Of mistakes last night that need to be cleaned up they spoke on it at nauseum during their postgame press conference they didn’t take that win um you know and and say yeah we played great they knew that there’s a lot to clean up um but you look at what they were able to
Do offensively when they needed goals they got goals and they got them from the guy who uh does it better than anyone else in the game quite honestly in Austin Matthews you know you look at the game as a whole his line won 77% of their minutes I thought they really came
Alive in that second period and then toward the end of the game so uh good to see that happening obviously and Austin Matthews to get off to a good start is massive for this team it’s big for him and uh Hey only 57 away from notching 60
So it’s uh it’s it’s doable like I saw he’s on Pace for well let me do the math here something 246 yeah 246 or 241 or something we got 82 time 3 246 goals might not hit that Mark you know might not hit 246 but uh I think with him
Getting off to the start that he got off to uh last night I think bodess very well for this Maple Le te and also like just the way that he was playing last night the way that he was playing with with the the type of dogged determination um you could so tell that
That guy was was beaten down in the playoffs he didn’t look like that at all in that florer series he looked like a different person he was way better last night and he could tell that he was healthy and um well look what happens when the guy’s healthy and able to play
At the top of his game uh he’s he’s one of the best players on the planet when that’s the case so uh Austin Matthews gets the first uh gets the first star I think he ended up with the championship belt after the game as well which obviously he very much deserved um
Anything else you want to quickly chat about this game any other notes um that’s that’s maybe you know looking at like the mistakes like I think right now if you’re looking at what’s going on with this leas and like what you I didn’t like from the game was that
Montal wasn’t imposing their will on the Leafs it was more so the other way around like the least were giving the Habs those those opportunity so I think that’s something they’re going to have to fix going forward yeah I mean buch had two shots in the second period like
There was a stretch there where they were pretty much neck and neck in uh in in the shot department and then Toronto just completely uh took things back into their hands in that second period and you know it continued on throughout the game so um yeah we’re the shots there so
After the first period let me blow this up after the first period it was 1110 and then 16-2 were the shots on goal in the second and 139 were the shots on goal in the third period so uh yeah 29 to 11 were the shots on goal I guess 32
To 13 were the shots on goal for the rest of the game after the first and yeah Toronto definitely controlled play couple of key mistakes that were made and that also I do want to get your opinion quickly before we leave on like samsonov game I I saw a lot of people
Out there saying oh no not great samsonov give up five goals it’s terrible and even after the game he was thinking to himself I just want to forget about this one it was a weird game and it was but if you look at every one of those goals they all either came
Off of a defensive breakdown a turnover um or an odd man rush off of those defensive breakdowns not it’s it’s it’s tough to really fault Sam on a lot of those goals because I think the least put him in a bad spot more often than uh
More often than they should yeah I know they definitely did I I do agree with that to a degree you know again you would like to see your goalie make a save in certain situations um but yeah like the Breakaway I I thought maybe he could have tried to be a little more
Aggressive in trying to trying to stop uh Jake Evans there I don’t think Jake Evans is someone you should really be woring to about and respect it too much you have to go deep into your net um yeah like it’s it’s tough again as you said like we’re he’s getting all the
Shots that were kind of gam were Prime scoring chances right back door you know back door chance on a two onone things like that not much you can really do so I think it’s just it was just the the more so was the frustration in the times
Of the goals that were allowed five when you give up five everything’s going to get magnified but I would put all five on him that’s for sure but you know he’s got to get back he’s just got to get himself back on track and you know give
His team a chance right the team put up they were they did their best to keep the play on the other side of the ice you got to be ready for those opportunities where you know things are not going to go exactly their way yeah
And I I would hope you know it’s just early season rust because you know he was really good last year especially on on home so a bit of an uncharacteristic start at Scotia Bank Arena for El samsonov I I bank that he’ll uh have himself a bit of a comeback in in the
Next one uh against Minnesota all right buddy we’ll uh we’ll leave it there solid Show game one of 82 Plus in the books let’s hope uh game two is uh is v a victory as well this weekend and maybe a little less sloppy uh would be nice as
Well all all right that’ll do it for us here today in the podcast like to thank you all for listening and supporting the show you can subscribe to the lockon Le podcast on all podcast and platforms and receive daily Leafs content follow myself on Twitter Mickey conu follow
Dave Dore Mori follow the show as well at locked on Leafs if you enjoyed Today’s Show go ahead leave a like on this video if you’re watching on YouTube leave a comment down below your thoughts on uh the opening night performance of the mapel Leafs and your thoughts on the
Pursuit of happiness the song Choice the new goal song for the Maple Leafs uh and with that we’ll be back another episode for yall tomorrow we’ll tea up Saturday night’s game between the mate beliefs and the Minnesota Wild game two uh that’ll be going down on Saturday but
Until then keep it locked right here on lock down leaves
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