Maple Leafs send a message to Mike Babcock in tonight's first period.

Leafs look like a new team through the first 20 minutes.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 4 years ago
Maple Leafs send a message to Mike Babcock in tonight's first period.

It was just a single period of play but there was a distinctly different feeling around the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night when they opened the game against the Colorado Avalanche on the road. 

The Maple Leafs got out to about as poor of a start as you could have hoped for with the Avalanche find the back of the Leafs net after less than two minutes of play, including an assist from former Maple Leafs forward Nazem Kadri on the play. That could have been enough to deflate the Leafs were former Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock still behind the bench, but instead of trying to tighten things up newly appointed Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe let his boys loose and boy has it ever paid off after 20 minutes of play so far.

First here was the goal from the Avalanche, a pretty weak one for Maple Leafs goaltender Frederik Andersen.

The Leafs however would quickly bounce back thanks to a last minute change in the lineup from Sheldon Keefe, the addition of Nick Shore to the lineup.

That was followed by another Leafs goal, this one off of a great wrist shot from Auston Matthews.

Another Sheldon Keefe change led to the third goal of the period for the Leafs, this time the addition of Tyson Barrie to the team's first powerplay unit.

The fourth and final goal of the period for the Leafs came on a break away from Kasperi Kapanen.

It's a very small sample size, but this really did feel like the Leafs sending a clear message to their former coach.


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