Yesterday, Brandon Carlo came of of IR, and Marshall Rifai was returned to the AHL to make roster space. Rifai was on the Leafs roster for a day.

This is a very scary looking thing:

Fleury was conscious and moving extremities, so sometimes this looks bad when it is less serious, so hopefully that's the case here.

Read the whole thing, this is a story that is about the league as well as the Ducks:

Former employee files lawsuit against Ducks, NHL
The NHL and the Ducks were named in a lawsuit filed by a former employee who says she faced sexual harassment, bullying and discrimination from 2022 to 2025.
ESPNKristen Shilton

About last night...

First the ceremony:

I missed almost all of the second period, so I'm a bit hazy on what actually went on there, but this was a very interesting game. The Leafs started out really struggling to get out of their own zone, and then they just... were fine (until the third period).

This might be just a tiny bet too aggressive a PK from Florida:

Goal number one in the last minute of the first:

Nick Robertson was a force in this game. A big statement from him about how he'd like to have a go at playoffs.

Number two in the first minute of the second.

Number three:

Joe Woll had a few adventures clearing the puck, mostly not his fault, but this time he could not get all the way back in position in time.

There was a long review on this one, but the puck did not cross the goal line.

And Bobby McMann added an ENG to make it 4-1 Leafs. Overall, it was a very good game, with a bad scenario in the third period where Florida started with four minutes of power play time, and the Leafs struggled to get back in the flow.

Imagine this team the way they played last night with a top-quality winger as well? But where to find one? Oh, yeah, on IR.

If the Leafs play at .563 for the rest of the season, they will hit 92 points (this is the number I picked for likely make playoffs, but it may take more this year). They are currently playing at .560. This is the lowest that first number has been since I first calculated this at 25 games played after Brad Marchand said the first time the Leafs should make the playoffs. That's also the closest the goal points pace has been to past realilty.

In reality they need to play at something about .600 before I take them seriously. But no, they aren't tanking, they aren't selling off all the players or getting that lottery protected pick back.

And yes, they may fail. But never trying isn't really the comforting safe world it seems.

Next game is Thursday and then it's Vancouver coming to visit on the weekend.

From The Branches