So the Maple Leafs answered back -- holding on to a third-period lead against a good team -- and everyone seems happy again.

It looks more and more like this season will be a roller coaster, with bandwagon jumpers loving the winning, hating the losing and debating what's best: Make the playoffs? Or get a high draft pick?

Coach Mike Babcock's choice is to make the playoffs. Certainly he want's his young players to learn what it takes to win when the game gets tighter, when the league gets tougher, when every point is fought for.

Leaf fans haven't seen that kind of hockey in some time, nor have the players on the roster.

It looks like it will be an interesting ride.

Some post Leafs-Caps notes:

-The Maple Leafs are 6-1-2 when leading after one period and 8-1-4 when leading after two periods.

-Toronto is 8-3-3 when scoring first.

-The Maple Leafs are 6-0-4 when scoring four or more goals.

To the Sunday Have Your Say.

COMMENT: Watched the game last night vs Devils. Matthews Breakout Game apparently according to Leaf reporters. Was it my imagination that I noticed a fight or scrum if you will in the corner and Matthews was on the ice?

Was it my TV or poor coverage that I noticed Mathews standing well back out of the fight and not getting involved and being supportive? Did I not see him in a previous game a while back standing on the outer edge ? Not getting into it??

Was there an error on TSN game status which showed that Mathews had absolutely zero hits and.... Absolutely zero blocked shots ???? A breakout game??? In what category ?

Certainly not a Crosby or O V. Type of player. Looks like just one of those.... Just Give Me The Puck type of players.

An individual of sorts. Doesn't look very enthused on the bench. Better change his game a whole lot.

No Hits ... No Blocked Shots. Seriously ??? Just a supposedly power play guy with lots of ice time doing nothing else so it appears .

At least in the stats figures. Did we not trade Kessel ??

PS: Greg Millen was never a Leaf. Why is he so partial ? Needs a job maybe ? Foster Hewitt was the only announcer who could ever call a game and not be partial,

Just saying.....

Want to know why teams lose games? Check out the so called Game Stats. Will tell you all you need to know. No Show...... No Go !!!!

Judy C

RESPONSE: Judy, I fully appreciate your love of tough hockey, and likely your admiration for gritty players. But let's be clear on something: There wasn't a single scout who said: Matthews should be No. 1 because he'll win all the fights. He's not a fighter. Never fought in his life. Leafs will be happy if he never fights. (Remember what happened to Connor McDavid's hand in his one and only and ill-advised fight). ... As for reading the stats sheets and seeing no hits and no blocked shots, the reason is simple: He, or his linemates, have the puck in the other end. If you have the puck as much as he and his line does, you cannot register a hit. You're the one being hit. .... And if you're taking the shots, it's the other team that's blocking them. Honestly, the Matthews line is not in their own zone long enough to register significant hits or blocked shots. That's a GOOD thing.

COMMENT: Hi Kevin,

Bottom line is it’s the same result as under Carlyle. Near the top in goals for and near the bottom in goals against. After starting with Shanny & 2 years with Babber, you would think that personnel changes would fix the old issues that stood out…

Very poor defence (Gardiner causes most of the mistakes), mediocre to poor goaltending, no toughness or puck strength along the boards, ill-timed penalties and OMG, the shorthanded goals.

Defensively, it’s been the same thing for decades. Until somebody figures out that Morgan Rielly, Jake Gardiner and the rest of the crew back there just don’t come anywhere near cutting it, playoffs are not coming anytime soon.

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Frank S

RESPONSE: Missing the playoffs wouldn't be the worst thing in the world for this team. Drafting a defenceman in the top five might be a better plan.

COMMENT: It’s a great time to be a life-long Leaf fan and for you not a bad time to be a journalist with the Leaf beat. As a fan I fully endorse the learn as you play model. Seven to nine rookies on the team at one time this season seems to be the best way to move forward. So in that context I think its time to build a line around William Nylander. He’s a natural centre and not as good a 2IC. I wouldn’t touch the Bozak, van Riemsdyk, Marner line. Mathews is stronger playing with Hyman and Brown. Hyman and Brown are more inclined to support Mathews then compete with him for the dominant role of puck handler on the line. Kadri isn’t looking for an equal partner on the wing. He is a take charge, its my puck, its my game sort of guy. Nylander doesn’t work as well in that reality. Kadri, Komarov and Martin would be a heck-of a shut down line with Kadri providing the offence while the other two get him the puck and play an aggressive forechecking/backchecking role. A Nylander, Soshnikov, Leivo line could/would be a third scoring line much in the model of the Penguins. Funny as it sounds Nylander would be the “senior” leader on that line combination. BTW I live in Calgary and get to see lots of Flames games, some live, some on TV. I can tell you, without doubt, that Dougie Hamilton makes more mental errors in any given game then Martin Marincin. Be careful what you ask for fellow Leaf fans. Like Marincin, Hamilton is a not a #1 or #2 shut down defenseman. He’s the kind of bloke that needs to be playing third paring minutes against the weaker opponents on any given team. There’s a reason first Boston and now Calgary think he’s a moveable player. Giving up valuable assets for a third pairing d-man makes no sense to me. Let someone like Vancouver overpay. They are so good at that! Dave C

RESPONSE: Thanks for the insight. I'm not sure where Nylander fits in long-term, but No. 2 centre is probably it (two or three years down the road). But it wouldn't surprise me if Nylander was the Taylor Hall of the group, the one guy traded to get the missing piece somewhere else (again, two or three years down the road). And I think we'll see more of Soshnikov in a bigger role eventually.

COMMMENT: I would first like to point out that I am not suggesting anything relating to my question. But for you, at what point do we evaluate Auston Matthews and consider if he is a pure talent, an average player, or a bust? For me, I say give the kid 3 seasons. But boy oh boy, if he ends the year with under 40 points, there will be lots of talk about this early on, especially if that other kid Laine gets 60+ points. You take out game one and the 4 goals, and he's on pace for around 40ish points. Still not bad though.

Regards,

Justin P

RESPONSE: To paraphrase Pierre Trudeau: Just watch him.

COMMENT: Hi Kevin I usually love your columns but the the one on John Scott and the all star game really made my blood boil. I think you need to look up the definition of "all star". Last year was a

Joke carried out right to the end from the players letting him score to him

winning MVP!! It was so disgusting I couldn't watch. Players like John Scott need to take a lesson on class from Rory Fitzpatrick.

Craig McC

RESPONSE: The true all-stars don't show up. Let's let the game/event be fun without being harmful.

COMMENT: How many times have they blown leads and Babcock is supposedly a coaching savant more like coaching idiot. That doesn't happen under Scotty Bowman Jacques Lemaire, Ken Hitchcock, Toe Blake Punch Imlach Vince Lombardi Don Shula Billy Martin Tom Landry Gregg Popovich, Phil Jackson Steve Kerr and I can go on. Write about Babcock being crap!

David D

RESPONSE: Speechless.

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