Knies & Robertson 4, Maple Leafs 4 After Two Games: Awkward

Well, this is awkward. Matthew Knies and Nick Robertson have each played one game with their new teams. Between them, they've scored four goals. The Maple Leafs have scored four goals in their first two games. Everyone together.

Knies scored twice in his Columbus debut and added an assist. Robertson scored twice in Pittsburgh's opening-night win over Philadelphia. Meanwhile, the Maple Leafs lost 3-2 to Montreal and then beat the Islanders 2-1. So after two games, it's Knies and Robertson 4, Maple Leafs 4. Somewhere, Maple Leafs fans other than me are chuckling a little.

Hockey Sometimes Has a Biting Sense of Humour.

Now, before anybody gets too carried away with this little piece of scoreboard arithmetic, let's be clear. It's two games. Nobody should be calling their lawyer - yet. Knies isn't suddenly going to score 164 goals, and Robertson isn't going to keep scoring twice every night. The Maple Leafs aren't going to score exactly four goals every two games.

But it is funny. And maybe something more interesting is hiding underneath the joke. Both players left Toronto looking for something the Maple Leafs couldn't consistently give them: a bigger opportunity.

Toronto didn't trade Knies because it suddenly decided he couldn't play. The Maple Leafs made a huge decision to acquire Kirill Marchenko, and Knies became part of the price. Robertson, meanwhile, spent years trying to find a regular spot in Toronto's lineup and finally got a fresh start in Pittsburgh.

And what happens? They get to their new teams and immediately score. Of course they do. That's hockey.

It’s Not Time to Turn It Into a Toronto Got-It-Wrong Story.

The temptation is to turn this into one of those “Look what the Leafs gave away!” stories. That's probably too easy. The Maple Leafs had their reasons. Knies was part of a major trade that brought them Marchenko. Robertson simply wasn't getting the opportunity he wanted in Toronto, and eventually the organization moved him for a fourth-round pick.

Sometimes a player needs a different room, a different role or simply somebody willing to put him on the ice and say, Go play.

That's what both players have right now. And maybe that's the real story hiding behind the joke. Four goals for Knies and Robertson. Four for all the Maple Leafs. It's almost too perfect.

Give it another couple of weeks and the math will probably look completely different. But for one glorious moment, the scoreboard says exactly this: Knies & Robertson: 4. Entire Maple Leafs team: 4.

You really can't make this stuff up.