Toronto Maple Leafs beat Los Angeles Kings 3-2: Observations

Roman Polak made his triumphant return to the lineup and paired up with the fourth line, to carry the Toronto Maple Leafs to victory on Monday night.

After what could be considered their worst game of season against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night, the Toronto Maple Leafs bounced back in a big way, beating the Los Angeles Kings 3-2 on home ice Monday.

The Kings came into the contest as the only team in the NHL to not lose a game in regulation. This was a huge test for the Leafs, who lost to the Kings 7-0 at the Air Canada Centre last season.

There were a lot of talking point surrounding the game and even more to discuss once it was over. With that, let’s take a look at what transpired:

1) Jonathan Quick shenanigans

I don’t know what took place at the end of the first period in Monday night’s game, and I’m probably not the only one.

Jonathan Quick was hit in the head during a scramble in front of the net near the end of the first frame. He fell to the ice and looked to be in distress. Depending on the camera angle, it looked as though he was either caught by Zach Hyman’s shoulder, or Derek Forbort’s stick. It might have been a mixture of both.

What happened next was pure silliness. Ray Ferraro asked immediately why the concussion spotter did not remove Quick from the game after the contact to the head. The spotter wasn’t able to relay the message for the Kings to remove Quick until there was 1:11 left in the first.

Quick was clearly unimpressed by the decision, but eventually made his way down the tunnel to be evaluated. Darcy Kuemper entered the game and was midway through his stretches in the crease, when the Kings starter returned to the ice.

That is by far the least thorough evaluation of a concussion I’ve ever seen. At a time where head injuries are such a major talking point in the sports world, it’s hard to believe Quick would get off the hook so easy. He only had to sit out the next play, then he returned.

Jeff O’Neil made the point that this type of play could deter goaltenders from grabbing their heads to draw penalties, because of the risk of being removed from the game.

The only plausible reason for Quick not being removed for the remainder of the period has to be he was trying to draw the call. However, if that’s the case, how does he avoid a penalty for diving?

It’s just a bad look overall, but it wasn’t the only questionable play Quick was involved in during the game.

The goaltender was knocked over by a sliding Matt Martin. Mitch Marner got the puck and waited until Quick got up and then shot the puck into the net. The goal was immediately called off, to the dismay of the Leafs and their fans.

From the looks of it, Quick recovers and gets back to his post to stop the initial shot, then he pushes out to contest Marner in the slot and slides out of the way.

There’s a good chance that if Quick doesn’t slide out of the crease so aggressively, that goal would have counted. Regardless, the goal should have counted after the refs got a look at it during the review.

Quick had every chance to make that save and was over aggressive and it cost him. Let us know you’re thoughts on the call in the comments. Would love to get some opinions on this.