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Really exciting night for Leafs fans on a day that was otherwise full of depressing lockout news.
Tonight’s action saw a 4-point performance from Sudbury Wolves forward Josh Leivo (1 goal, 3 assists) who is now scoring at better than a point-per-game pace on one of the weaker offensive teams in the OHL. Leivo will be taking part in both OHL games during the Subway Super Series so clear your schedule. He’s been a really determined player this year, has added a lot of strength, and may end up being one of those rare 3rd round selections who has an impact at the NHL level.
Morgan Rielly was his usual dominant self tonight — stripping the puck from opponents at will, creating transition offense for his team, and skating circles around a fairly strong Prince Albert team. Rielly picked up a pair of assists; one of which was an impressive pass from the blueline to the opposing corner of the crease which led to a one-time goal. Rielly is now sitting at 18 points in 14 games and isn’t showing any signs of slowing down from his torrid start.
Connor Brown continues to throw points on the board with a hattrick in Erie’s 6-5 loss. Brown has 17 points in 14 games and at 18 years old, has to be considered one of the statistical surprises of the year among Leafs prospects. After putting up a green jacket worthy -72 last year, it’s nice to be able to talk about Brown’s stats in a positive way — we’ll see if he can keep it up as the season wears on.
As for the Marlies, we saw single-point efforts from Gardiner, Ashton, McKegg and Kadri in their 5-4 OT win over in Hamilton. Colborne had a solid game and created some chances but couldn’t get on the scoresheet. The Marlies‘ next game isn’t until Wednesday so it’s all CHL until then, folks.
That’s it for now. Check me out on Twitter here if you want immediate, in-game info or if you just want to chat hockey.
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