After defeating the Vancouver Canucks 4-2 on October 31, the Toronto Maple Leafs return to action on Tuesday, November 3, to face the Utah Mammoth at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.
After reports that Sergei Bobrovsky will start again, considerable discussion has emerged about the veteran’s disappointing performances so far this season.
During Tuesday’s pregame edition of Daily Faceoff’s “The Leafs Morning Take,” Nick Alberga and Jay Rosehill discussed the situation.
While addressing the general disappointment surrounding Bobrovsky among Leafs Nation this season, Rosehill offered an optimistic prediction, saying he expects the goaltender to improve and believes fans will, sooner or later, see the competitive edge and elite ability he still has on the ice.
Jay Rosehill Predicts Sergei Bobrovsky Will Improve With Maple Leafs
Alberga first said, “He’s had moments, but he hasn’t been that guy who’s been average who they needed desperately throughout this year.”
“And it’s pretty amazing to suggest this because it’s November 3rd, but this seems like a really, really big start as you talked about for Sergei Bobrovsky. Like, they need a good start; they need an important start. He can’t let sh—y goals in, or they’re screwed.”
“Utah’s coming off a loss against Philadelphia on Sunday. They’re going to be fired up. I think they’ll be ramped up in the first couple of minutes of this game. You need some stops early. You need Bob to set the tone for this hockey game tonight.”
Rosehill responded, “Yeah, for this team in particular and just any team in the National Hockey League, you’re letting in a couple of softies a game, you’re not winning the hockey game. And yes, Bob needs to be better.”
“If you had a crystal ball and you saw him playing the way that he has so far this season, you never would have signed him. Let’s just call a spade a spade. But he has better inside of him, I’m sure. I’m sure we’re going to see better.”
“How much better and how sustainable is it, and how consistent can he be with his better? That’s all the questions that people have in this market.”
“There was a healthy faction of people that said, ‘I don’t like this Bob thing. I watched him last season. I know what age he is. I know why Florida moved on from him.’ And there were people who said that. So out of the gate, people were saying it; then the start was average, and it wasn’t the talking point.”
Maple Leafs Handed Blunt Sergei Bobrovsky Prediction Before Mammoth Game