Leafs Lose to Flyers, 2-1

Michael Nylander came out of retirement for one game last night to score the only goal for the Leafs in a loss against the Flyers.

The standings are so tight in the Eastern Conference that teams are wildly moving up and down the standings, and in and out of the playoff slots. After last night’s loss to the Flyers, the Leafs are back on the outside.

Mike Babcock is not concerned about this, and thinks the Leafs kids should go out and get some burgers and fries.

The Leafs now head into the All-Star break, still with a few games in hand. Speaking of the allegedly all-star game, it’s this weekend.

By the way, SB Nation now has a staff photographer located in Philadelphia. Check out some of the fantastic photos from last night’s game here.

The 2017 Honda NHL® All-Star Weekend kicks off tonight with the NHL100 Event, presented by GEICO, at the Microsoft Theatre. You may recall some of the ‘NHL100’ were revealed back during the Centennial Classic on New Year’s Day. The remainder will be announced tonight. Katya has bravely committed to watching this and writing about it. It’s probably somewhere on your TV at 9:30PM EST, but I really can’t figure out which channel after searching the NHL and Sportsnet websites for several minutes.

The skills competition is tomorrow at 7pm EST. The ASG itself is Sunday at the odd time of 4:30pm EST.

Meanwhile the AHL continues through to Saturday before their all star break starts, with the games next Monday. The Marlies are squeezing in two games against the St. John’s IceCaps today and tomorrow. These are crucial games to squeeze out some extra points to move back up in the division standings as they wind up this brutal road trip.

Kerby Rychel will head to the game in place of Brendan Leipsic who is still recovering from injury.

The Solar Bears have the weekend off.

The Furies are playing in Boston on Saturday and Sunday.

Martin Marincin Should Be Part Of The Plan - EiL
“Although he looked a little shaky at first in his return against the  Senators on Saturday, Marincin soon picked up his play after being  absent for over a month.”

Other News

There was a lengthy goal review in the Stars vs. Sabres game. There was no call on the ice, and, based on a few of the replay angles, it probably went in, but there’s the question of when the whistle was blown and what time it crossed the line.

But, forget all that. Watch this video instead to see the hilarity as the crowd quickly becomes pissed off by the delay, but then it goes on so long to become comical all while the arena plays Enya’s Only Time on a loop through the whole 5 minute review.

Nesterov trade an immediate win for the Canadiens - EotP
Acquired for next to nothing, the defender brings value to the Habs.

Colin Miller got pulled into a fight and absolutely rocked Scott Wilson - SCoC
Chiller serves these punches ice cold

Little Rangers fan wakes up, starts chanting ‘Let’s go Rangers!’ - Blueshirt Banter
Poor kid must have been having a nightmare.

Tomas and Tommy: The Beauty of Friendship - Fear the Fin
Trading Tommy Wingels to Ottawa broke up one of the top bromances in the NHL.

An introduction to the Universiade - The Ice Garden
Russian Olympians and Canadian national development players headline one of women's hockey's most curious tournaments.

From The Branches