Prior to puck drop, Leafs PR announced that Patrick Marleau reached yet another milestone in his illustrious career:
Patrick Marleau will skate in the 1613th regular season game of his career tonight, moving him past Ray Bourque for sole possession of 10th place on the NHL’s all-time games played list. #LeafsForever
— Leafs PR (@LeafsPR) December 28, 2018
Currently playing in his 21st NHL season, Marleau will be passing #9 on the all-time list, Larry Murphy at 1615, in a few games time.
First Period
It would’ve been easy to excuse a slow start from a Leaf team playing its first game in five days coming off the holidays, with Columbus coming off of a win the night prior.