@ Minnesota

The second period was a rare glimpse into a world where the Leafs actually enjoy scoring goals. Morgan Rielly started things off with a clean wrist shot before Bo Groulx decided to have the game of his life. Groulx scored twice in about six minutes including a nice deflection to give us a three goal lead. We actually outshot them in that middle frame and won fourteen faceoffs which felt like a strange fever dream. Anthony Stolarz was the only reason this did not turn into a typical disaster as he turned aside thirty-six shots while the rest of the team apparently decided the game ended early.

True to form the third period was a chaotic mess that nearly cost everyone their sanity. Vladimir Tarasenko scored two goals in only twenty-three seconds because our defense decided to take a collective nap. We were outshot fifteen to four in the final period and spent most of the time scurrying around our own zone like frightened squirrels. Nicholas Robertson tried to help the Minnesota comeback along by taking a slashing penalty late in the game but Matthew Knies finally iced it with an empty netter. It was a win but we should probably all apologize to Stolarz for making him work that hard for two points.

The officiating was a comedy of errors. Brandon Carlo and Mats Zuccarello took matching cross-checking penalties to go sit in the box together. Jake McCabe got sent off for interference while Kirill Kaprizov got two for embellishment which is a polite way of saying the refs thought he was acting. We finished the game zero for three on the power play despite all those chances. It was a victory on the road but let us not pretend this was a controlled performance. We survived twenty-three seconds of pure terror and that is the most we can ask for from this group.