TorontoMapleLeafs Archives - The Rink https://www.the-rink.com/tag/toronto-maple-leafs/ Chicago Blackhawks and NHL Salary Cap Information Tue, 15 Feb 2022 15:30:21 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0 https://i0.wp.com/www.the-rink.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/cropped-FavIcon_v3.png?fit=32%2C32&ssl=1 TorontoMapleLeafs Archives - The Rink https://www.the-rink.com/tag/toronto-maple-leafs/ 32 32 136660061 RECAP: Maple Leafs easily dispatch Kraken 6–2 https://www.the-rink.com/recap-maple-leafs-easily-dispatch-kraken-6-2/ Tue, 15 Feb 2022 15:30:21 +0000 https://www.the-rink.com/?p=22040 The Toronto Maple Leafs visited Climate Pledge Arena on Monday for their rescheduled game against the Seattle Kraken. The Leafs came into this game riding a two-game road losing streak,... Read more »

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]]> The Toronto Maple Leafs visited Climate Pledge Arena on Monday for their rescheduled game against the Seattle Kraken. The Leafs came into this game riding a two-game road losing streak, while the Kraken were 2–2 in the month of February.

The Kraken almost seemed doomed from the puck drop, as (alleged Seattle Kraken legend) Alexander Kerfoot roofed a shot past Seattle starter Philipp Grubauer just under four minutes into play on the Leafs’ second shot on goal. The Kraken tied the game five minutes later on a Calle Jarnkrok shot from the top of the circles.

The Leafs came right back with two more goals from Michael Bunting and Ondrej Kase (on the power play) to take a 3–1 lead into the intermission and chase Grubauer from the game. Chris Driedger did not fare much better either, though, behind a chaotic defense and sketchy special teams.

Seattle never gained any momentum back, giving up another power play goal to Mitch Marner in the second period and then a shorthanded goal to David Kampf early in the third period, which left them facing a 5–1 deficit.

The Kraken did add a power play goal of their own late in the third period from Maple Leafs legend Jared McCann, but this was far too little, far too late. Toronto wrapped up the scoring with a long bomb from Jake Muzzin at the 18:19 mark of the third period to walk away with a convincing 6–2 win.

Anchor points

⚓ Shots on net were 25–25. Toronto led 11–6 in the first period and the Kraken turned around an 11–6 period of their own in the third. Needless to say, that first period did the Kraken in. Not many teams are coming back from a 3–1 deficit against the Leafs…well, outside of the Montreal Canadiens, I suppose.

⚓ I was surprised to see Dave Hakstol pull Grubauer, but I support his decision. The team was flat and Grubauer was, too. Driedger looked pretty good. He was screened on the Marner power play goal and left hung out to dry on the Kampf shorthander.

⚓ Special teams just ate up the Kraken. While they scored a late power play goal, they gave up two power play goals and a shorthanded goal previous to that. If you allow three special teams goals against, you will not win many games.

⚓ Surprisingly, the Kraken led in almost all possession metrics.  Again, an enigma.

🔱 5-on-5 Corsi (total shot attempts) 59%–41%
🔱 5-on-5 Fenwick (Unblocked shot attempts) 55%–45%
🔱 5-on-5 High-danger chances for 50%–50%
🔱 5-on-5 Expected goals for 60%–40%
🔱 Face-off percentage 59%–41%

⚓ The Kraken are off until Thursday night when they face the Winnipeg Jets in Winnipeg to start a three-game road trip through western and central Canada. The puck drop is scheduled for 5 p.m. PST.

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]]> 22040 Blackhawks fall in a heart breaker to the Maple Leafs https://www.the-rink.com/blackhawks-fall-in-a-heart-breaker-to-the-maple-leafs/ https://www.the-rink.com/blackhawks-fall-in-a-heart-breaker-to-the-maple-leafs/#respond Sun, 12 Dec 2021 15:30:09 +0000 https://www.the-rink.com/?p=21509 After defeating the Montreal Canadiens in Marc Andre Fleury’s 500th career victory, the Blackhawks continued on their Canada tour. In Toronto, the Blackhawks trailed early to in the first only... Read more »

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]]> After defeating the Montreal Canadiens in Marc Andre Fleury’s 500th career victory, the Blackhawks continued on their Canada tour. In Toronto, the Blackhawks trailed early to in the first only to rally in the third period before falling short.

1st Period

In the first period, the Blackhawks jumped out to the early lead. Jonathan Toews fired a shot past Peter Mrazek for his second goal of the season. Following the Toews goal, Riley Stillman committed his first of two consecutive penalties in the first period. The Blackhawks lead evaporated as Jonathan Tavares scored the equalizer less than a minute later.

After the Tavares goal, the Leafs’ offense got going with another power-play goal from William Nylander. The Nylander gave the Leafs their first lead of the game. Later in the period, Austin Matthews put another puck past Kevin Lankiken for three to one first-period lead.

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2nd Period

In the second period, The Blackhawks outshot the Leafs 14–3 in one of their best periods of the season. Despite outshooting Toronto by a significant margin, Leafs added to their lead with a goal from Pierre Engvall. The Blackhawks answered with a goal from Connor Murphy late in the period to cut the lead back to two goals. The difference thus far has to be the play of Mrazerk who has stopped a bunch of A plus chances.

Despite the fact that the Blackhawks still trailed by two goals, the momentum was clearly in their favor.

3rd Period:

In the third period, the Blackhawks continued to build off their momentum from the second period. The Blackhawks cut the lead to one goal with a goal from Dominik Kubalik. It was Kubalik’s first goal since December 2nd and his fifth goal the season.

The comeback continued with Jake McCabe getting the equalizer to knot the game at four. After tying the game, former Blackhawks forward and newly minted Maple Leafs’ hero, David Kampf ripped the Hawks heart out with a late third-period goal. The Blackhawks fall to the Leafs’ 5–4.

Analysis

Despite getting down early, the Blackhawks showed a lot of resilience coming back from a two-goal lead to eventually tie the game at four. The resiliency of the Blackhawks has to be credited to head coach Derek King. If the Blackhawks had played his game under Jeremy Colliton, this team would have folded like a lawn chair in the summer.

Johnathan Toews:

Toews scored his second goal of the season and his second in two games. Toews needs to get going with his goal-scoring to help this team continue to improve this season.

Dominik Kubalik:

Kubalik has been missing in action on the scoring front this season after scoring 17 goals last season. The Blackhawks need Kubalik and Toews to continue to score helps to elevate some of the pressure off of Alex Debrincat and Patrick Kane.

There are no moral victories in sports but the Blackhawks should not hold their heads down after their effort tonight.

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]]> https://www.the-rink.com/blackhawks-fall-in-a-heart-breaker-to-the-maple-leafs/feed/ 0 21509 WEEKLY RECAP: Leafs go 2–0 against struggling Canucks https://www.the-rink.com/weekly-recap-leafs-go-2-0-against-struggling-canucks/ https://www.the-rink.com/weekly-recap-leafs-go-2-0-against-struggling-canucks/#respond Mon, 08 Feb 2021 01:07:40 +0000 https://www.the-rink.com/?p=18998 Game one The Toronto Maple Leafs came off their first break of the season, playing their first of three against the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night. Jason Spezza scored to... Read more »

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]]> Game one

The Toronto Maple Leafs came off their first break of the season, playing their first of three against the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night.

Jason Spezza scored to put the Leafs up 2–1 and then 4–2 before completing the hat trick in the third period. This is Spezza’s eighth career hat trick, and his first in nearly five years.

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The Maple Leafs had offense from all through the lineup this game, with 11 players collecting points. Auston Matthews also scored twice in this game, extending his goal streak.

Travis Dermott left the game after the first period with what Head Coach Sheldon Keefe described as a charley horse. It is expected to just be a minor injury, and Dermott should be able to play again soon.

Game two

With Dermott unavailable, Mikko Lehtonen drew back into the lineup for Toronto.

The Leafs dominated early, with 14 shots against Vancouver netminder Braden Holtby before allowing one to reach Frederik Andersen. Matthews and Wayne Simmonds both scored twice, and early in the third period, the Leafs had a 5–0 lead.

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With nine minutes left in the third, Simmonds took a puck to the hand and left the game.

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There is not definite recovery timeline yet for the veteran forward. When asked, Keefe only said that Simmonds was still being assessed, and there will not be an update until Monday. However, Elliotte Friedman did say he has heard it could be up to six weeks. This is a major loss for the team, as they are already without Nick Robertson and Joe Thornton.

Andersen was steady all game, stopping 27 shots.

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Unfortunately, Brock Boeser scored on the power play late in the third to end the shutout bid, and the game ended 5–1.

Matthews scored twice, again, in this game. After starting relatively slow (in relation to his normal production), Matthews is on a seven-game goal streak, with nine goals over that time.

The Maple Leafs are now 7–0–1 over their last eight games and have one point more than the Montreal Canadiens to hold the North Division lead. Toronto plays the Canucks once more on Monday before taking on the Canadiens twice on Wednesday and Friday.

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]]> https://www.the-rink.com/weekly-recap-leafs-go-2-0-against-struggling-canucks/feed/ 0 18998 WEEKLY RECAP: Leafs collect seven points on Alberta road trip https://www.the-rink.com/weekly-recap-leafs-collect-seven-points-on-alberta-road-trip/ https://www.the-rink.com/weekly-recap-leafs-collect-seven-points-on-alberta-road-trip/#respond Tue, 02 Feb 2021 02:23:33 +0000 https://www.the-rink.com/?p=18932 Game one The Toronto Maple Leafs started their first extended road trip of the season in Calgary, facing the Flames twice.  Jack Campbell started in net for Toronto. Having a... Read more »

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]]> Game one

The Toronto Maple Leafs started their first extended road trip of the season in Calgary, facing the Flames twice. 

Jack Campbell started in net for Toronto. Having a consistent backup goalie is something the team desperately needed last season and allows them to give Frederik Andersen a break. This is especially important with this year’s condensed game schedule. As well, Auston Matthews returned to the lineup after missing the previous 4–2 win. When asked about why he sat during the last game, he explained that it was an ongoing issue.

“Obviously take care of it here the next couple of weeks, but it feels a lot better, feel more than good enough to play and good enough to go out there and contribute to the team,” Matthews said in an interview.

Speaking of Matthews, his goal in this game was his first against the Flames. He has now scored against all 30 NHL teams. Wayne Simmonds also scored in this game, his first goal with the Maple Leafs.

Campbell was the Leafs’ best player in this game and stopped 31 of the 33 shots he faced. Near the end of the game, however, he went down and appeared to be in serious pain. Although Campbell finished the game, he will be out for “weeks” with an unspecified leg injury. This is massively unfortunate for the team, as they lost Aaron Dell to waivers just last week.

Game two

Going into the second game against the Flames, Toronto Head Coach Sheldon Keefe made a couple of small lineup changes. In addition to Michael Hutchinson replacing Campbell in the blue paint, Jason Spezza and Alexander Barabanov sat. Travis Boyd and Joey Anderson (both acquired over the summer—Boyd in free agency and Anderson in the Andreas Johnsson trade) drew into the lineup.

The Flames got off to a slow start, and the Leafs picked up a two-goal lead in the first period. In the second, however, the Leafs lost all their momentum and let the Flames back into the game. This team clearly still struggles with consistency. Johnny Gaudreau tied the game at 3–3 in the third period.

In the middle of the third, Matthews scored to regain the lead and the Leafs held on for the two points.

Game three

Barabanov and Spezza replaced Boyd and Anderson, and Travis Dermott filled in for rookie defender Mikko Lehtonen.

The game was back and forth for the full 60 minutes, at first the Leafs leading 2–0 and then 3–2 before finally winning 4–3. 

Through the beginning portion of this season, the Leafs have not been able to stay out of the penalty box, and it continues to cost them. In this game, they took seven penalties. Three of the penalties were back to back late in the second period—while they were holding on to a one-goal lead. The Oilers’ tying goal in the third period was also the result of a Maple Leafs penalty. Andersen was a huge reason why the Leafs pulled off the win in this game. 

Game four

In this game (and for the remaining games where the team is wearing Reverse Retro or St. Pats jerseys), Jake Muzzin and Zach Hyman served as the alternate captains.

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Early in the game, the puck slipped by Andersen, and Lehtonen barely stopped the puck from crossing the line. 

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This gave the Oilers a penalty shot, which Tyler Ennis took and missed the net on.

Dominik Kahun scored to take the lead later in the first. Although William Nylander tied it up not long after, the Oilers scored again to take the lead heading into the second. Early in the second period, Connor McDavid went end to end, evaded Jake Muzzin and beat Andersen to put Edmonton up 3–1.

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Matthews scored his sixth goal of the season and Hyman picked up a power play marker to tie the game up at 3–3.

In the third, Andersen was forced to make some big saves.

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However, McDavid got the last laugh, winning the game for the Oilers in overtime.

After the game, Keefe had a lot to say about Lehtonen’s performance, and it was not all good. Keefe pointed out that Lehtonen did not look comfortable when he was not on the power play, and that Lehtonen has a long way to go in terms of being a regular in the lineup. The Leafs’ defense situation has been interesting this year. Dermott and Lehtonen have been trading off every other game or so, and Rasmus Sandin has yet to play a game.

The Leafs are now 7–2–1 on the season and sit first in their division, though they have played two more games than the second-place Montreal Canadiens. Toronto starts this week on a three-day break before facing the Vancouver Canucks at home.

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]]> https://www.the-rink.com/weekly-recap-leafs-collect-seven-points-on-alberta-road-trip/feed/ 0 18932 WEEKLY RECAP: Leafs go 2–1 in trio of contests https://www.the-rink.com/weekly-recap-leafs-go-2-1-in-trio-of-contests/ https://www.the-rink.com/weekly-recap-leafs-go-2-1-in-trio-of-contests/#respond Mon, 25 Jan 2021 02:28:53 +0000 https://www.the-rink.com/?p=18849 The injury bug hit hard for the Toronto Maple Leafs this week, but still managed to post a 2–1–0 record on the week. Nick Robertson was placed on long-term injured... Read more »

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]]> The injury bug hit hard for the Toronto Maple Leafs this week, but still managed to post a 2–1–0 record on the week.

Nick Robertson was placed on long-term injured reserve, and Aaron Dell and Jason Spezza were placed on waivers. Dell was claimed (as expected, based on the desperation for goaltending this season). Jason Spezza, on the other hand, made it clear that if he was claimed by another team he would be retiring, and because of this, he cleared waivers. Toronto now has the ability to carry 19 players. The team then called up Pierre Engvall. Engvall signed a two-year deal last February, before he began having issues producing. At the beginning of this season, Engvall did not even make the taxi squad.

Monday, Jan. 18: Winnipeg Jets
Sheldon Keefe ran with seven defenders and 11 forwards, allowing Mikko Lehtonen to crack the lineup for the first time. Lehtonen signed with the Leafs over the summer, and started this year in the KHL, amassing 17 points in 17 games, before coming to North America for training camp. Connor Hellebuyck and Frederik Andersen were both sharp early, and the first period ended 0–0. The Leafs’ penalty kill also looked much better than the week prior, only allowing two shots on their first kill.

The power play has been a highlight for the Leafs so far this season, and early in the second period, put the Leafs up by one. Mitch Marner (who, to start this season, has arguably been the Leafs’ best forward) extended the lead, but Kyle Connor brought the Jets back within one at 2–1. The Leafs held on, Marner getting the empty net goal to end it. Andersen, once again, looked good. Lehtonen was excellent. While he is clearly still adjusting to the different ice size (and its effect on timing and gap control), he was skating well and made good decisions with the puck. The Leafs this season are deep on defence, almost too deep. In fact, Rasmus Sandin has yet to make it into a game.

Wednesday, Jan. 20: Edmonton Oilers
This game was expected to be a high-scoring, high-offense game. But, it really was not. The first goal of the game was an own goal that beat Andersen after deflecting off Jake Muzzin‘s skate. In the third period, Auston Matthews scored, standing on the goal line by the net, to tie the game up at 1–1.

The game-winning goal for the Oilers came after a controversial penalty call.


From this angle, it does not look like Muzzin actually takes the penalty.

A big issue in this game was the lack of secondary scoring. In fact, it has been an issue throughout the season so far for Toronto. The Leafs’ strength is their depth, especially compared to the other teams in their division. Even with Matthews’ line taking on the Connor McDavid-Leon Draisatl line (meaning other lines had more favorable matchups), there was still no production from the depth.

Joe Thornton left the game after a rough hit along the boards in the third period. After the game, it was announced he had a fractured rib and would be placed on LTIR for a minimum of four weeks.

Friday, Jan. 22: The Oilers, again
Matthews did not play in the second game against the Oilers, the team citing “upper-body soreness” as the reason why. This seems to just be a maintenance day, as Matthews is not seriously injured and is set to play Sunday against the Calgary Flames.

The Leafs struggled with zone exits early, but Andersen stood tall, and the first period ended 0–0. The first power play unit struggled without Matthews, and ended up giving up a shorthanded goal. Later in the same penalty, the Leafs tied it up, as Spezza set up Adam Brooks for the goal. Jimmy Vesey gave the Leafs the lead minutes later. In this game, the team’s depth was much more productive.

The Leafs ended up taking the game 4–2.

The Leafs start next week in Calgary, where they play the Flames twice before playing the Oilers two more times.

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]]> https://www.the-rink.com/weekly-recap-leafs-go-2-1-in-trio-of-contests/feed/ 0 18849 Toronto Maple Leafs: Week in review https://www.the-rink.com/toronto-maple-leafs-week-in-review-6/ https://www.the-rink.com/toronto-maple-leafs-week-in-review-6/#respond Mon, 18 Jan 2021 21:10:41 +0000 https://www.the-rink.com/?p=18795 Leafs stand with a 2–1–0 record at the end of the first week of the 2021 NHL season despite taking too many penalties, no consistency and shaky goaltending. Opening night... Read more »

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]]> Leafs stand with a 2–1–0 record at the end of the first week of the 2021 NHL season despite taking too many penalties, no consistency and shaky goaltending.

Opening night

The Toronto Maple Leafs opened their season last Wednesday night, the first of 10 games against the Montreal Canadiens, and came away with a 5–4 win.

One thing to note about this game is what happened with Auston Matthews on the penalty kill. Matthews was on the ice for the first penalty kill of the game and blocked a Shea Weber slap shot. After that, Toronto Head Coach Sheldon Keefe only had him out for the face-offs before waving him back to the bench.

The Leafs took too many penalties, a common theme through this week, and the penalty kill was just not good. They consistently gave Montreal too much space in the neutral zone, which allowed them to create too many chances off the rush and eventually, goal.

The Leafs, on a two-man advantage, tied the game and took it to overtime, where Morgan Rielly got the game winner.

Senators, part one

On Friday, the Leafs got to face the Ottawa Senators. The Leafs dominated for the majority of the first period, picking up an early lead. However, with minutes left in the period, they took two consecutive penalties. The Sens scored, tying up the game. In the second period (after regaining the lead), the Leafs collapsed, giving up four straight. New year, same issues with this team. 

Despite a late goal, the Senators took the game 5–3.

Frederik Andersen had an off night in net for Toronto. He was not necessarily terrible, but he was not good either. Andersen is known for being slow to start the season. Still, with only 56 games this year, hopefully that improves fast. Another player not having a good time was TJ Brodie (too many turnovers), yet that was not the most concerning part of this game. Joe Thornton played 18 minutes in this game. John Tavares? Only 15. William Nylander was not too far behind that, only playing 16. This was just bizarre, especially following their performance on Wednesday. 

Senators, part two

Saturday was the second half of the back-to-back against the Sens. There were some lineup changes going into the Hockey Night in Canada game. Keefe went with a tandem of Jack Campbell and Aaron Dell, giving Andersen a full day of rest. Nicholas Robertson subbed in for Aleksander Barabanov. Robertson joined the Leafs in the playoff bubble this August after scoring 55 goals in 46 games in the OHL. He played four games and scored his first NHL goal.

Early in the first period, the Leafs took yet another offensive zone penalty. They also gave up another 5-on-3 in the second period. Somehow, they managed to make it to the third period with the lead.

Robertson left the game early, only on the ice for two minutes before sustaining a knee injury. All that is known right now is that he will be having an MRI to assess what happened. 

Tim Stützle scored his first NHL goal late to bring the Sens within one, but the Leafs held on for the 3–2 win.

Over the course of the three games played this week, the Leafs took 39 penalty minutes, many of them in the offensive or neutral zone. This may be attributed to no preseason and being rusty after months with no hockey, but this cannot continue. Toronto managed to get off fairly easy, especially against the Senators, but will soon be facing better teams with better power play units. Considering the shortened season, giving up these opportunities is going to become a big issue. 

As for other news, on Sunday morning, Dell and Jason Spezza were put on waivers in order to be assigned to the taxi squad. With many teams in the league desperate for goaltending, it is plausible that Dell will be claimed. On the other hand, Spezza—through his agent—has made it clear that he will not be playing for any other NHL team.

The Leafs start their second week on Monday, squaring off against the Winnipeg Jets at home.

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]]> https://www.the-rink.com/toronto-maple-leafs-week-in-review-6/feed/ 0 18795 Toronto Maple Leafs: Games two and three recap https://www.the-rink.com/toronto-maple-leafs-games-two-and-three-recap/ https://www.the-rink.com/toronto-maple-leafs-games-two-and-three-recap/#respond Fri, 07 Aug 2020 13:04:21 +0000 https://www.the-rink.com/?p=17608 Game two The Toronto Maple Leafs were coming off of being shut out in game one, and were desperate to break Columbus goaltender Joonas Korpisalo. Blue Jacket blue liner Dean... Read more »

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]]> Game two

The Toronto Maple Leafs were coming off of being shut out in game one, and were desperate to break Columbus goaltender Joonas Korpisalo.

Blue Jacket blue liner Dean Kukan left game after a big hit by Kyle Clifford on the first shift.

The Leafs had some good chances early, as well as an unsuccessful power play.

Maple Leaf netminder Fredrik Andersen was forced to make a big save on a shorthanded two-on-one rush from Columbus.

With Kukan still out, Columbus defender Zach Werenski took an awkward fall and needed his hand taped up. However, both defenders would end up returning to the game.

For the first part of the second, the Blue Jackets and Leafs traded power plays, and despite a number of chances, neither goalie was broken.

Late in the period, Auston Matthews finally broke Korpisalo, tipping in a Zach Hyman pass for a 1–0 Toronto lead. 

Following the second period, shots were 28–8. In fact, throughout the period, the Blue Jackets were held to only four shots at five-on-five action.

Four minutes into the third period, John Tavares buried a breakaway chance to extend the Maple Leaf advantage.

Tavares was arguably the best Leaf player during that game and was definitely playing much better than he had been on Sunday. 

With just under two minutes left in the game, Toronto defenseman Jake Muzzin went down after being cross-checked from behind by Blue Jacket forward Pierre-Luc Dubois. 

Muzzin was then stretchered off the ice. He was in contact with medical staff and moving his limbs the entire time, which is a good sign. It appeared as though the medical staff was most concerned about the state of Muzzin’s neck. 

With 42 seconds left, Toronto blue liner Morgan Rielly hit the empty net from his own end to seal the game. 

After the game, Maple Leaf head coach Sheldon Keefe revealed that Muzzin had been brought to a nearby hospital and was responsive. Keene also mentioned that he does not know the protocol, considering Muzzin had left the bubble. 

 

Game three

The Maple Leafs entered game three missing a key defenceman in Muzzin. Muzzin was released from the hospital the day prior, but will not be available for the rest of the play-in series. Martin Marincin drew in for the first time this postseason in Muzzin’s place.

Toronto defender Cody Ceci opened the scoring late in the first period, his shot bouncing off of a skate and in for a 1–0 Leaf lead.

This goal was Ceci’s first shorthanded goal as well as his first postseason goal.

Midway through the second, William Nylander converted on the power play. This was the Leafs’ first five-on-four goal of the series, and it was in a large part due to Mitch Marner.

Shortly after, Nick Robertson notched his first NHL goal. A fun record, Robertson is the first 18-year-old to score a playoff goal for the Leafs in 76 years.

Following the Robertson goal, Elvis Merzlikins replaced Korpisalo in net.

Dubois would shorten the Leafs’ lead on the power play late in the second, and the period ended with a score of 3–1.

The Leafs became sloppy and careless in the third period, something which was a theme throughout this entire season, which lead to a number of odd-man rushes and other good chances for Columbus. Blue Jacket defenseman Seth Jones jumped on a loose puck after a scramble in front of the Leafs’ net to bring the Jackets to within one at 3–2.

Dubois then closed the gap by finishing off a two-on-one to tie the game at 3–3.

The game went into overtime, and Dubois, with his third goal of the night, on a partial breakaway, ended it.

This game looked like almost every regular season Leaf game. The Leafs have a strong first and second period, but absolutely fall apart in the third. As Keefe remarked after the game, the team did not have “any purpose or plan to (their) game.”

The Leafs and Blue Jackets return to the ice Friday at 8 p.m.

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]]> https://www.the-rink.com/toronto-maple-leafs-games-two-and-three-recap/feed/ 0 17608 The Leafs are back: Here is what you need to know https://www.the-rink.com/the-leafs-are-back-here-is-what-you-need-to-know/ https://www.the-rink.com/the-leafs-are-back-here-is-what-you-need-to-know/#respond Tue, 14 Jul 2020 18:20:37 +0000 https://www.the-rink.com/?p=17387 On Sunday, the Toronto Maple Leafs announced their phase three return to play roster prior to the start of camp. Off to summer camp. Phase 3 Return to Play roster... Read more »

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]]> On Sunday, the Toronto Maple Leafs announced their phase three return to play roster prior to the start of camp.

Nic Petan and Pontus Aberg were two of the forwards that did not make the original phase three roster. However, it was later corrected, as Petan was deemed “fit to play” and replaced Mac Hollowell. Aberg, on the other hand, has signed with the KHL’s Traktor Chelyabinsk and does not plan on returning to North America.

Nicholas Robertson is another forward who made the phase three return to play roster. Robertson, picked 53rd overall in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, certainly made himself a prospect to watch over the last year. In 46 games played, Robertson tallied 55 goals and 31 assists for the OHL’s Peterborough Petes. Following practice on Monday, his new teammates had nothing but good things to say about him. Morgan Rielly explained that “he’s a guy that’s going to continue to push,” and “it’s good to have people like that on board.”

Jeremy Bracco was a name that did not appear on the roster. Back in May, when the AHL season was canceled, the Toronto Marlies’ general manager described Bracco’s season as “interesting,” which may actually be the best way to describe it. At training camp prior to the 2019–20 season, Bracco was coming out of his best season in the AHL yet. He had led the Marlies with 79 points, had played at over a point-per-game pace during the playoffs and had seen his defensive game start to improve. However, even with the injuries that plagued the Leafs this year, Bracco failed to crack the roster. The closest he came to playing for the NHL team was a day spent in the press box. Over the season, his stats dropped and his defensive game—a reoccurring criticism—somehow became worse.

The right wing has not played a game since early February when he took a leave of absence for “personal reasons.” While it is entirely possible that Bracco is not ready to return to hockey yet, there is also the question of where Bracco will go next. He is currently heading toward restricted free agency without arbitration rights.

Andreas Johnsson also did not appear on the roster. The left wing was on a six-month recovery timeline after his knee injury back on Feb. 13, of which surgery followed. As Maple Leafs General Manager Kyle Dubas noted during his press conference on Monday, Johnsson has done well with rehab back home and the club is waiting to see where he is at in the coming weeks.

Ilya Mikheyev has also rejoined the Leafs after sitting a large part of the season out due to injury and has become a stronger, faster player. Mikheyev has been put back with his previous linemates, Mitch Marner and John Tavares.

On Monday, Timothy Liljegren was deemed “unfit to play.” However, he has been seen at the arena watching practice and speaking to a medical trainer. This meaning his absence is likely injury related rather than coronavirus related. On Tuesday, it was announced that Hollowell would be replacing Liljegren on the roster, at least for the time being.

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]]> https://www.the-rink.com/the-leafs-are-back-here-is-what-you-need-to-know/feed/ 0 17387 Maple Leafs sign Alexander Barabanov https://www.the-rink.com/maple-leafs-sign-alexander-barabanov/ https://www.the-rink.com/maple-leafs-sign-alexander-barabanov/#respond Tue, 07 Apr 2020 18:53:05 +0000 https://www.the-rink.com/?p=16874 The Toronto Maple Leafs signed Russian forward Alexander Barabanov to a one-year, entry-level contract worth $925,000 on Tuesday morning. This is following weeks of speculation as to where the forward... Read more »

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]]> The Toronto Maple Leafs signed Russian forward Alexander Barabanov to a one-year, entry-level contract worth $925,000 on Tuesday morning. This is following weeks of speculation as to where the forward would sign, as it was reported that there was interest from many NHL teams. 

Barabanov spent the 2019–20 season (prior to the cancellation) with SKA St. Petersburg of the Kontinential Hockey League (KHL). 

He also participated in the 2018 Winter Olympics, which is where teams first began to notice him.

Toronto General Manager Kyle Dubas spoke about the team’s interest in Barabanov during a media call last week.

“He’s a winger, he’s strong, he’s not tall but a very strong player,” Dubas said in the media call. “(He has) great playmaking ability (and is) very good in tight.”

Dubas also pointed to the player’s ability to make plays under pressure and his ability to produce in the net-front area as additional reasons why the Leafs were interested. 

This signing has caused some controversy. As Sean Tierney pointed out, Barabanov’s point totals in 2019–20 (20 points through 43 games) would translate to approximately 28 points over a full NHL season. For context, in his last KHL season prior to joining the Leafs, Ilya Mikheyev scored at a pace of approximately 44 points.

However, in 2018–19, Barabanov played a career-high 58 games and notched 46 points, which would translate to about 49 NHL points. As well, it is important to remember that Barabanov was signed as a cheap, skilled option to round out Toronto’s bottom six. 

In recent years, the Maple Leafs have been successful at signing KHL free agents to cheap entry-level deals. Although there have been some misses (remember Igor Ozhiganov?), there have also been triumphs, most recently with Mikheyev. In 39 games prior to his injury (Dec. 27 versus the New Jersey Devils), Mikheyev notched eight goals and 15 assists for 23 points. Interestingly, both Barabanov and Mikheyev have the same agent, Dan Milstein.

Despite the difficulties in making the right decision when signing these players (with the different ice size, different pace and style of play, different quality of competition, etc.), it will continue to become more important for teams to pursue these free agents. Indeed, heading into what should be the beginning of playoffs but is instead the middle of week four with the season on pause, there is uncertainty surrounding next year’s salary cap—especially for the Maple Leafs, who have a large portion of the current salary cap being filled by the top six. Cheaper bottom-six options are essential.

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]]> https://www.the-rink.com/maple-leafs-sign-alexander-barabanov/feed/ 0 16874 Toronto Maple Leafs: Week in review https://www.the-rink.com/toronto-maple-leafs-week-in-review-5/ https://www.the-rink.com/toronto-maple-leafs-week-in-review-5/#respond Tue, 10 Mar 2020 01:52:36 +0000 https://www.the-rink.com/?p=16705 Tuesday vs the San Jose Sharks Keefe decided to start Jack Campbell against the Sharks, with Calle Rosen drawing in and Rasmus Sandin sitting.  Keefe admits he’s worried about putting... Read more »

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]]> Tuesday vs the San Jose Sharks

Keefe decided to start Jack Campbell against the Sharks, with Calle Rosen drawing in and Rasmus Sandin sitting. 

The Leafs struggled early. Less than a minute in, a giveaway in their own zone forced Campbell to make a big save on Timo Meier. Although the Leafs had their fair share of chances, the Sharks struck first on the powerplay, Evander Kane tipping in Brent Burns’ point shot. The score going into the first intermission was still 1–0. Early in the second period, Auston Matthews picked up a loose puck to score goal number 46, tying the game up at one. Following a weird bounce off both the glass and an official, BLANK Suomela managed to beat Campbell, making it 2–1. The Sharks continued their barrage, and with the shots on the period 9–1 for the California team, Campbell was forced to make this save.

Mitch Marner managed to tie the game at two with a highlight-reel goal.

The game went into the second intermission with the score stuck at 2–2. Less than six minutes into the final frame, the Sharks retook the lead, once again following an odd bounce. Try as they might, the Leafs simply could not break Martin Jones.

Kane scored his second of the night and Radim Simek potted the empty netter. The Sharks downed the Leafs by a score of 5–2.

Thursday vs the Los Angeles Kings

Sandin drew back into the lineup (Rosen the healthy scratch), and Frederik Andersen started in net. This was also the first time the Leafs and Kings have faced off since the midseason trade that sent Campbell and Kyle Clifford to Toronto and Trevor Moore to LA.

The Kings had chances early on, but Andersen shut the door.

Despite opportunities both ways, neither team managed to score. The game went to first intermission 0–0 with shots on goal in favour of LA, 11–5. The most notable part of that period was Drew Doughty laying a huge hit on his former teammate.

Early in the second period, the Leafs had a flurry of shorthanded chances, but could not beat Jonathan Quick.

The rest of the period was mainly in favour of the Leafs but the second intermission came with the score frozen at 0–0. Neither team scored in the third period, and regulation ended. After an overtime in which neither team scored, the game went into the shootout. Neither team scored in the first round of the shootout. In the second round, once again, neither team scored (Auston Matthews whiffing on the puck). In the third round, both Anze Kopitar and William Nylander scored, making a fourth round necessary. Adrian Kempe scored, Mitch Marner did not, and the Kings beat the Leafs by a score of 1–0.

Friday vs the Anaheim Ducks

Prior to the game, the Leafs activated defenceman Cody Ceci from injured reserve. Ceci missed over a month with a high ankle sprain. In a corresponding move, the club sent down defensemen Timothy Liljegren. Keefe made the decision to scratch Sandin, while Ceci slotted in next to Calle Rosen.

Just over three minutes into the game, a miscommunication between Ceci and Rosen led to the Ducks taking the lead, with Carter Rowney left alone and getting the goal.

There were some shaky moments early in the game, including a sequence which led to Travis Dermott preventing a goal.

However, Jack Campbell was called upon to make some difficult saves in the latter part of the first period and he delivered.

The game went to first intermission with the Ducks up 1–0. The Leafs came on strong to start the second period but could not beat John Gibson. 

With the Ducks on the powerplay, Campell made a save point blank to keep the score 1–0

On the Ducks’ second shot of the third period, Adam Henrique doubled up the lead. Directly after the goal, Gibson left the game, Ryan Miller coming into the game in relief. Sheldon Keefe pulled Campbell early, and with three minutes left in the game, William Nylander beat Miller blocker side.

The Leafs could not find the equalizer, and the game ended 2–1.

 

Quick facts

  • The game on Thursday against the Kings was Zach Hyman’s 300th regular season game as well as Kasperi Kapanen’s 200th. 

  • In accordance with one of the NHL’s most confusing rules, both Jonathan Quick and Frederik Andersen were awarded shutouts following Thursday’s game.
  • Thursday night marked the first time the Leafs have been shutout this season.
  • Kevlar/Cutproof material will be readily available for players to prevent skate cuts (similar to what happened to Ilya Mikheyev earlier this season) 

  • William Nylander hit 30 goals on Friday night for the first time in his career. 
  • There were many updates on the injured Leafs this week. Cody Ceci returned on Friday night, Morgan Rielly is now listed as day to day (has not played since January 12th when he sustained a fractured foot) and Mikheyev is expected to play again this season.

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]]> https://www.the-rink.com/toronto-maple-leafs-week-in-review-5/feed/ 0 16705 Toronto Maple Leafs: Week in review https://www.the-rink.com/toronto-maple-leafs-week-in-review-4/ https://www.the-rink.com/toronto-maple-leafs-week-in-review-4/#respond Mon, 02 Mar 2020 17:53:42 +0000 https://www.the-rink.com/?p=16583 Heading into the trade deadline, it was unclear if the Leafs were going to be sellers or buyers. The standings are tight this season, and the trade deadline saw the... Read more »

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]]> Heading into the trade deadline, it was unclear if the Leafs were going to be sellers or buyers. The standings are tight this season, and the trade deadline saw the Metropolitan division loading up, the Florida Panthers (at that moment, two points out of a playoff spot) selling and perplexingly, the Buffalo Sabres buying. 

The Detroit Red Wings picked up Dmytro Timashov off of waivers. Timashov hasn’t regularly been in the Leafs lineup and has not played since Denis Malgin was acquired. Following the pickup, there was some speculation as to whether Timashov had requested a trade.

At 11:30 AM, the Toronto Maple Leafs re-acquired Calle Rosen from the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for Michael Hutchinson. Rosen was originally sent to the Avalanche in the blockbuster deal that saw Alexander Kerfoot, Tyson Barrie and a sixth round pick come to Toronto, while Rosen, Nazem Kadri, and a third round pick were sent to Colorado. Rosen is a good depth pick up for the team,  especially with the injuries to the Leafs’ blue line. Both Morgan Rielly and Cody Ceci are still injured and have no clear timeline for return to gameplay.

Michael Hutchinson had a difficult start to the season. In his first seven games, all losses, he let in at least four goals, and in five of those games, he let in five or more. Although he appeared to be improving as the season went on, when Frederik Andersen was injured, the Leafs simply could not buy a save from Hutchinson. Hutchinson played his last game with the Leafs on February 5, a 5-3 loss where the goaltender greatly struggled. Following the game, Kyle Dubas made a move to acquire Jack Campbell and, once Andersen was healthy, Hutchinson was put on waivers. Although Hutchinson has struggled in Toronto, the Avalanche need depth goaltenders as they deal with a barrage of injuries.

The Leafs also re-signed Jake Muzzin to a contract that will pay him $5,265,000 for the next four years. 

Tuesday vs the Tampa Bay Lightning

Nikita Kucherov beat Andersen early to give Tampa the 1-0 lead. Minutes later, with the fourth line hard at work, Jake Muzzin blasted the puck by Andrei Vasilevsky to tie the game. On the powerplay, John Tavares tipped Tyson Barrie’s shot to give the Leafs the lead. The score held at 2-1 for the rest of the period. Patrick Maroon tied the game up 11:54 into the second period, but less than a minute later, John Tavares got his second goal of the night and the Leafs regained the lead. William Nylander gave the Leafs a 4–2 lead, putting the puck between his legs and beating Vasilevsky over the shoulder.

During the second intermission, it was announced that Muzzin will not return to the game due to a hand injury.

Just under ten minutes into the third, Yanni Gourde cut the Leafs lead in half. Tampa came on strong to start the third, and it took half the period for the Maple Leafs to register a single shot. Despite that, Andersen managed to shut the door and the team held on for a 4-3 victory.

Thursday vs the Florida Panthers

Just prior to the game, Head Coach Sheldon Keefe decided to scratch ex-Panther Denis Malgin in favor of playing seven defensemen, with Rosen and Martin Marincin slotting in. Muzzin was still injured.

The Leafs gave up the first goal yet again, with Mark Pysyk getting the tally. However, 70 seconds later, Zach Hyman tied the game off of a backhand pass from Auston Matthews.

Soon after, Mike Hoffman buried an awkward rebound to put the Panthers back on top. Despite the Leafs putting on pressure, Noel Acciari beat Andersen from a bad angle to extend the lead. That was the third goal Andersen let in on six Panthers shots.

Kasperi Kapanen beat Sergei Bobrovsky on the powerplay under the right pad. Matthews tied the game with just over a minute left in the period. Following a hit from behind on Travis Dermott, Kapanen dropped the gloves with Mackenzie Weegar. 

The first period ended with the score tied at 3-3. The Leafs put on the pressure at the beginning of the second period, forcing Bobrovsky to make some spectacular saves. 

Despite chances at both ends, no goals were scored in the second period, and the game remained 3-3. Following a scramble in front of the net, Nylander found the loose puck and beat Bobrovsky to give the Leafs the lead. That goal is number 29 on the season for Nylander who is having a season full of career highs. Justin Holl potted the empty netter with 20.8 seconds left in the game to seal it.

Saturday vs Vancouver Canucks

Sheldon Keefe elected to play six defencemen and 12 forwards on Saturday night, with Timothy Liljegren the odd man out. Liljegren struggled in the last game against the Panthers, particularly in his own zone. 

On the first shot of the game, Frederick Gauthier beat Thatcher Demko, giving the Leafs an early lead. The Canucks fourth line came right back, Tyler Motte tying the game up. Less than a minute later, Matthews came back to regain the lead, streaking down the wing and beating Demko from a sharp angle.

With this goal, Matthews hit  45 on the season and is now on pace for 57 goals. Off a draw won by the Leafs in the defensive draw they could not clear the puck, and following a scramble in front, Tanner Pearson tied the game at two. Despite chances both ways, the second period remained scoreless. 18 seconds into the third period, Marincin collected his own rebound to put the Leafs up 3-2. That goal is Marincin’s first goal since March of last season.

Andersen was called on to make some big saves throughout the third, and while there were some close calls, the Canucks did not score. Zach Hyman scored the empty netter. Hyman now has 21 goals on the season, tying his career high from last season. Tyler Toffoli took a hooking penalty with less than a minute left in the game, and that ended the game. The Leafs downed the Canucks with a final score of 4-2.

Quick facts

  • Jake Muzzin is expected to miss four weeks following a hand injury sustained in the game against Tampa Bay on Tuesday night.
  • Zach Hyman is a key part of the Leafs’ penalty kill and is often on the ice at 5-on-6, late in games. Despite only playing 47 games this season (he spent the first part of this season recovering from surgery to repair a torn ACL) Hyman currently leads the league in empty net goals with six.

  • The Leafs have averaged 31.51 shots against throughout the season. However, in the last three games, with both Frederik Andersen struggling and the defense decimated by injuries, the team has given up less than 30 shots per game.

  • Cody Ceci, who missed a large amount of time with an undisclosed ankle injury, is nearing a return. He participated in the morning skate on Saturday and will join the team on the California road trip next week.
  • The Maple Leafs are now five points ahead of the Florida Panthers for third place in the Atlantic division. They are also tied with the New York Islanders (currently in the first Wildcard position in the East) and two points up on the Columbus Blue Jackets (in the second Wildcard position)

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]]> https://www.the-rink.com/toronto-maple-leafs-week-in-review-4/feed/ 0 16583 Toronto Maple Leafs: Week in review https://www.the-rink.com/toronto-maple-leafs-week-in-review-3/ https://www.the-rink.com/toronto-maple-leafs-week-in-review-3/#respond Tue, 25 Feb 2020 14:36:21 +0000 https://www.the-rink.com/?p=16460 The Toronto Maple Leafs started the week third in the Atlantic Division, being chased by the Florida Panthers and chasing the Philadelphia Flyers, the Columbus Blue Jackets, and the New... Read more »

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]]> The Toronto Maple Leafs started the week third in the Atlantic Division, being chased by the Florida Panthers and chasing the Philadelphia Flyers, the Columbus Blue Jackets, and the New York Islanders.

Tuesday vs. Pittsburgh Penguins

In a controversial decision prior to the game, head coach Sheldon Keefe scratched Timothy Liljegren and Egor Korshkov, playing Martin Marincin and moving Frederik Gauthier to centre the third line. Evgeni Malkin left due to injury after a quick circuit in warmup, and Anthony Angello was called to fill in. 

https://twitter.com/tictactomar/status/1229919613758181376?s=21 

The Leafs got an early power play, but did not capitalize, and in fact, barely got a set up. On a Pittsburgh power play later in the period, Sidney Crosby threaded a pass tape to tape to Bryan Rust through three players to beat Frederik Andersen. With 2:57 left in the period, Angello tipped a puck by Andersen for his first NHL goal and a 1–0 Pittsburgh advantage. Just before the end of the period, the referees called a high sticking minor on Jake Muzzin. However, in part of the rule changes for this season (which came in response to last year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs) the refs were allowed to review the call for “friendly fire” and it was determined that there was no penalty on the play. The Pens lead 2–0 heading into intermission. Three minutes into the second, Crosby fed Jason Zucker on the power play to extend the Pens’ lead to 3–0. The Leafs took yet another penalty and the Pens capitalized, with Hornqvist sliding a cross-crease pass past Muzzin and Andersen, leaving Crosby with an empty net to push the gap to 4–0. The Leafs got a five-on-three power play for 1:18. The Leafs did not capitalize and just after killing the penalty, Teddy Blueger beat a sprawling Andersen for the Pens’ fifth goal. Auston Matthews scored his league leading 43rd of the season and Kyle Clifford collected his first goal as a Leaf, a deflection with his foot, minutes later to cut the lead to three at 4–1. 

https://twitter.com/tictactomar/status/1229919613758181376?s=21 

The period came to a close with the Leafs beginning to put on pressure for the first time all game. The score remained the same throughout the third period, and the Leafs fell to the Pens by a final score of 5–2.

On Wednesday, the Leafs acquired forward Denis Malgin from the Florida Panthers and forward Max Veronneau from the Ottawa Senators. https://www.the-rink.com/leafs-make-a-series-of-depth-moves/ 

Thursday vs. Pittsburgh Penguins

Keefe once again chose to scratch Liljegren in favour of Marincin, and started Andersen over Jack Campbell. Keefe explained starting Andersen as “going with (their) guy.”

Amongst a line shuffle in which only the Matthews’ line stayed intact, Malgin slotted in on John Tavares’ right wing and Alexander Kerfoot dropped back to the third line. 

In the first minutes of the period, the Leafs came out strong, with particularly noticeable contributions from their fourth line. Just prior to the end of the first, the Leafs took a tripping penalty. Despite some close calls, Andersen stood tall, in contrast to Tuesday night’s game where the Penguins’ power play dominated. 

https://twitter.com/jxcquelineoh/status/1230654062321979392?s=21 

The period came to a close with the game tied at 0–0. The beginning of the second period was all Leafs. Off an offensive-zone draw less than 10 minutes into the period, Muzzin fired a shot right past Matt Murray for a 1–0 Toronto lead. The Penguins took two consecutive penalties, similar to Tuesday night, but this time the Leafs capitalized. William Nylander, with all the time in the world, beat Murray cleanly five-hole to double the gap to 2–0. Minutes later, Kerfoot found a streaking Kasperi Kapanen, who beat Murray low to the stick side, pushing the Toronto advantage to 3–0. After Rasmus Sandin was rocked with an arguably late hit by Hornqvuist, Kapanen dropped the gloves with Jared McCann. The second period ended 3–0 Toronto. Early in the third, Zach Hyman outworked Justin Schultz in front of the net to score goal No. 19 in game No. 43. Hyman’s career high is 21 goals, achieved in 71 games last season. The rest of the game was dominated by the Leafs. Although the Penguins applied pressure in the last minute or so of the game, the Leafs only allowed four shots in the third period, two of those coming in the last minute. Though there was a debate as to whether starting Andersen was the right decision, he had an excellent game and has likely regained some confidence.

Following the Pittsburgh game, the Leafs loaned Korshkov to the Toronto Marlies.

Saturday vs. Carolina Hurricanes

There were no lineup changes for the Leafs heading into Saturday night’s Hockey Night in Canada game. Eight scouts from different NHL teams and a scout from Seattle were in attendance.

The game was off to a quick start, with Andersen making a huge save on Andrei Svechikov.

https://twitter.com/tictactomar/status/1231372578406772737?s=21 

Early on in the game, James Reimer was pushed into his net and appeared to injure his knee on the way down and left the game. Petr Mrazek came into the game in relief, and Hyman received a two-minute penalty for goaltender interference. Minutes later, Svechnikov caught Tyson Barrie in a vulnerable position, and sent him head-first into the boards. Barrie went directly down the tunnel, but would return for the second period.

https://twitter.com/tictactomar/status/1231374948343648257?s=21 

On the ensuing power play, the Leafs struggled to gain a zone entry and barely created any pressure. Despite this, the Leafs struck first, with Kerfoot burying the rebound of a shot from Muzzin for a 1–0 lead. Early in the second period, with Andersen outside of his crease and looking lost, the Canes tied the game up at 1–1 before Nino Niederreiter and Warren Foegele scored two consecutive goals to make it 3–1. With Mrazek out to play the puck near the top of the circle, Kyle Clifford reached for the puck and knocked the goalie down. Clifford was originally given a five-minute major, but after review it was changed to a two-minute penalty. Mrazek was forced to leave the game. As this was Carolina’s second goalie of the night to get injured, the emergency goalie was called in. David Ayeres, the emergency goalie at the game, is 42 years old, often practices with the Leafs and is the Zamboni driver for the Toronto Marlies. On the Canes’ ensuing power play, Travis Dermott proceeded to put the puck into the back of the wrong net, and the score became 4–1 Carolina. The Leafs went on to score two more goals on two shots, with the goals coming from Tavares and Pierre Engvall, cutting the gap to 4–3, which held at the end of the period. The Leafs could not get anything going in the third, with the Hurricanes’ defense barely allowing any zone entries. Foegele netted his second of the night to increase the lead to 5–3, and soon after, Martin Necas also piled on. The Leafs fell to the Hurricanes by a final score of 6–3, with Ayres becoming the first emergency backup to earn a victory.

Postgame, Keefe remarked that it was another embarrassing night for his team. In fact, this game was a humiliating effort from a team that should, and can be, much better. As the playoff push begins in earnest, this Leafs team needs to find some sort of consistency if they want to be playing past April. 

Quick facts

  • The Leafs expect to have both Morgan Rielly and Cody Ceci back within the regular season
  • Headed into trade deadline week, Tyson Barrie has skyrocketed to the top of the “trade bait” board. It was reported that there was a deal almost reached with the Calgary Flames that would send defender T.J. Brodie back to Toronto. However, Brodie has now added Toronto to his no-trade list.
  • Another team with interest in Barrie is the Vancouver Canucks
  • William Nylander has become the highest-scoring Nylander in a single season with 27 goals so far
  • In the middle of Saturday’s game, the Leafs acquired Miikka Salomaki from the Nashville Predators in exchange for defenceman Ben Harpur. Harpur has played exclusively with the Marlies this season.
  • Ceci is now the last remnant of the Ceci-Zaitsev trade, with the third-round pick going to the Los Angeles Kings, Aaron Luchuk headed to Ottawa and now Harpur with the Predators organization.
  • On Saturday night, the Florida Panthers also lost (5–3 against the Vegas Golden Knights), so the Leafs have maintained their playoff spot
  • The Leafs placed Dmytro Timashov on waivers on Sunday and he was claimed by Detroit on Monday

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]]> https://www.the-rink.com/toronto-maple-leafs-week-in-review-3/feed/ 0 16460 Leafs make a series of depth moves https://www.the-rink.com/leafs-make-a-series-of-depth-moves/ https://www.the-rink.com/leafs-make-a-series-of-depth-moves/#respond Thu, 20 Feb 2020 13:18:06 +0000 https://www.the-rink.com/?p=16387 On Wednesday, the Toronto Maple Leafs made two consecutive trades to acquire Denis Malgin and Max Veronneau. Denis Malgin was acquired in a trade with the the Florida Panthers. In... Read more »

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]]> On Wednesday, the Toronto Maple Leafs made two consecutive trades to acquire Denis Malgin and Max Veronneau.

Denis Malgin was acquired in a trade with the the Florida Panthers. In return, the Panthers picked up Mason Marchement. This trade follows a dismal effort against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night. Malgin is primarily a centre, but can play on the wing as well. He will likely be playing centre, particularly if Alexander Kerfoot, who was acquired to centre the third line, continues to play on John Tavares’ wing. Malgin has four goals and 12 points in 36 games. This season, the 23-year-old Swiss native has a low expected goal share, has been great in the past and decent recently at managing shot quality and has been good in transition. Malgin carries a cap hit of $750,000 and is scheduled to be a restricted free agent in July.

https://twitter.com/chartinghockey/status/1230163103461056512?s=21

Marchement has established himself as a reliable, skilled AHL forward. The forward has appeared in four games with the Leafs this season. He was undrafted and joined the Toronto Marlies in 2016. Marchement has played 24 games with the Toronto Marlies this season and has amassed 18 points. The reason he has struggled at the next level is that his skating is under average, and facing better competition, he has not been able to keep up.

It is important to note that Marchement has not been able to regularly make it into the Leafs lineup, while Malgin, who is two years younger than Marchement, has considerable NHL experience.

Later that day, Kyle Dubas acquired Max Veronneau in exchange for Aaron Luchuk and a conditional 2021 sixth-round pick. Veronneau has played four games with the Senators this season, and 33 with their AHL affiliate, the Belleville Senators. Veronneau is due for a new contract in July. He is set to join the Marlies as soon as he is in Toronto. On the other hand, Luchuk has spent the majority of his time in the ECHL. Although he has played three games with the Marlies this season, Luchuk has spent 45 games with the Newfoundland Growlers, amassing 19 goals and 31 assists for 50 points. Luchuk has been assigned to the Belleville Senators. As for the conditional pick, the Senators receive the pick if Veronneau plays in 10 games for the Maple Leafs in 2019–20 or 10 games for the Leafs in 2020–21 if he re-signs with the club.

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]]> https://www.the-rink.com/leafs-make-a-series-of-depth-moves/feed/ 0 16387 Toronto Maple Leafs: Week in review https://www.the-rink.com/toronto-maple-leafs-week-in-review-2/ https://www.the-rink.com/toronto-maple-leafs-week-in-review-2/#respond Tue, 18 Feb 2020 05:07:31 +0000 https://www.the-rink.com/?p=16356 On Monday, Ilya Mikheyev was on the ice with skating coach Barb Underhill. He’s on track after suffering a severe injury in New Jersey Devils on Dec. 27. We have... Read more »

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]]> On Monday, Ilya Mikheyev was on the ice with skating coach Barb Underhill. He’s on track after suffering a severe injury in New Jersey Devils on Dec. 27.

Tuesday vs. Arizona Coyotes

Jack Campbell started for the Leafs on Tuesday night, with Michael Hutchinson backing him up. Frederik Anderson, day-to-day with a shoulder injury, skated the morning of but the decision was made that he wasn’t quite ready yet. 

Leafs gave up an early goal due to blown coverage and Christian Dvorak taking advantage. They drew a penalty minutes later, yet could not get a zone entry. The club battled back to tie it up with a blast from the point by Tyson Barrie, tipped in by Zach Hyman. The score remained the same throughout the rest of the period. In the second period, both goalies were called upon to make some great saves. 

However, neither goalie broke until the last minute when Coyotes retook lead, the goal coming from Carl Soderberg. That goal marked Soderberg’s 100th NHL tally.  The Leafs tied it up early in the third, with John Tavares making a no look pass from his knees to a wide open Hyman. Hyman now has 27 points in 27 games. The rest of the third period, and the game headed to the extra frame with a score of 2-2 with the Leafs needing to kill the last portion of a penalty called on Hyman at the end of the game. Just as the penalty expired, it appeared as though the Coyotes had scored. However, the play was reviewed for goaltender interference. 

It was determined that there was indeed goaltender interference on the play, and the goal was called back. Soon after, Kasperi Kapanen came streaking down the wing and beat Adin Hill glove side, capping off the best game he has had in some time. 

After the game, the Coyotes head coach Rick Tocchet, speaking on the goalie interference call, remarked that “it’s Toronto’s call in Toronto.” 

 

On Wednesday, the Leafs re-signed forward Pierre Engvall to a two year deal with an annual average value of $1.25 million. The former seventh round pick has registered 14 points (seven goals, seven assists) in 35 games with the Maple Leafs this season, and is currently centering the third line.  

Wednesday vs. Dallas Stars

Andersen made his return to the crease to face the Dallas Stars on Thursday night. Denis Gurianov made the Leafs pay for an early turnover, beating Andersen five-hole to give the Stars the lead. Andreas Johnsson, who just returned from a broken foot, collided with Kapanen, and immediately left the game.

Radek Faksa scored on the first shot of the second period, and the Leafs followed that up by taking two consecutive two minute minor penalties, which they managed to kill off. Right off of a subsequent draw, Kyle Clifford dropped the gloves with Jamie Oleksiak. 

After the fight, the Leafs seemed to gain momentum and the ice tilted in their favour. On a delayed penalty for the Stars, captain Jamie Benn had some creative measures to attempt to gain possession.

Auston Matthews cut the Stars lead in half, and the score remained 2-1 for the rest of the period. Within the first 90 seconds of the third period, Tyler Seguin broke his 17-game goalless drought to extend the Stars lead. With just 1:19 left in the game, Hyman brought the Leafs within one. However, the effort was too little too late, and the Leafs fell to the Stars by a final score of 3-2. Post-game, Sheldon Keefe made it clear that Johnsson’s knee injury is “not going to be short-term.”

The Leafs headed into the weekend with a Saturday Sunday back-to-back, with Campbell set to start the first game and Andersen the second. 

Saturday vs. Ottawa Senators

Prior to the Battle of Ontario on Saturday night, Ottawa Senators head coach DJ Smith made headlines by announcing that ex-Leaf Nikita Zaitsev would be hard matched to Auston Matthews.

Matthews opened the scoring less than five minutes into the game, streaking down the wing and beating Marcus Hogberg. With this goal, Matthews tied David Pastrnak for the league lead in goals, and hit the 70 point mark.

Despite great chances both ways, the score stayed stagnant until first intermission. 

Muzzin broke Marcus Högberg with a point shot early in the second. Timothy Liljegren recorded his first NHL point with a secondary assist on the goal. 

Minutes later, William Nylander piled on, getting a lucky bounce off of a John Tavares shot. Connor Brown got the Senators back into the game, but the second period ended 3-1. Cody Goloubef tipped a Thomas Chabot shot to cut the Leafs lead to one. At the other end, Zach Hyman was robbed by a sprawling Craig Andersen. 

Campbell was called to make some key saves in the last minutes before Mitch Marner sealed the game with an empty netter. The Leafs toppled the Senators by a final score of 4-2. 

Late Saturday night, the Leafs recalled Egor Korshkov and Mason Marchement from the Toronto Marlies. 

Sunday vs. Buffalo Sabres

Marchment and Korshkov drew into Sunday’s game, their third game in as many days. Early in the game, Rasmus Sandin blocked a shot. He immediately returned to the bench and soon after disappeared down the tunnel. Andersen stood steady in the first, bailing out the team in front of him. One save in particular was very close, but upon review it was determined that there was no goal on the play. 

Near the end of the period, Muzzin took a puck to the head, and immediately went down the tunnel. The score remained 0-0 after the first, with the Sabres quadrupling the Leafs’ shot totals. 

Jake Muzzin returned to start the second period. Just over a minute into the second, Johan Larsson collected Andersen’s rebound and gave the Sabres the lead. Sandin returned to the bench halfway through the period. The Leafs began applying pressure, with Carter Hutton being forced to make some great saves. 

Directly following this save, the Sabres trapped a tired Leafs group in their own zone, leading to Conor Sheary tipping the puck past Andersen. Egor Korshkov dropped to one knee to snap the puck past Hutton for his first NHL goal in his first NHL game. 

Hyman tied the game early in the third frame, tipping a shot from Muzzin on point. 

The Sabres got a powerplay off of a questionable call on Jake Muzzin. Jack Eichel got his 33rd of the season to grab the lead back. After the powerplay goal, the momentum shifted in the favour of the Sabres, and they scored two more goals in the next two minutes. The Sabres held on, and the Leafs were downed by a final score of 5-2. 

Quick facts

  • Andreas Johnsson has been put on LTIR, and is expected to miss at least eight weeks following surgery on his knee.
  • The win over Ottawa was the club’s first regulation win since Jan. 29.
  • Jack Campbell is 3-0-1 in his starts with the Leafs, meaning that Frederik Andersen can hopefully get more rest in the latter half of the season .
  • The Leafs are four points up on the Florida Panthers, but the Panthers have two games in hand. However, the Leafs are one point behind the Philadelphia Flyers, and two points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets and the New York Islanders.
  • Auston Matthews and David Pastrnak are tied for the league lead in goals with 42. Alexander Ovechkin sits just behind them with 40.
  • As reported by James Mirtle, the Leaf’s are now on a 97.3 point pace, quite close to last year’s total of 100, which is surprising due to their dismal start.
  • According to Chris Johnston, the Leafs are nearing a four-year extension for Jake Muzzin that, for CBA reasons, will likely not be finalized until after March 1.

 

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]]> https://www.the-rink.com/toronto-maple-leafs-week-in-review-2/feed/ 0 16356 Toronto Maple Leafs: Week in review https://www.the-rink.com/toronto-maple-leafs-week-in-review/ https://www.the-rink.com/toronto-maple-leafs-week-in-review/#respond Mon, 10 Feb 2020 20:31:17 +0000 https://www.the-rink.com/?p=16242 The Maple Leafs began the week third in the Atlantic division, and riding a three-game win streak coming out of the All Star break.  Monday vs. Florida Panthers Toronto’s first... Read more »

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]]> The Maple Leafs began the week third in the Atlantic division, and riding a three-game win streak coming out of the All Star break. 

Monday vs. Florida Panthers

Toronto’s first game of the week was a Monday night battle against the Florida Panthers. Kasperi Kapanen slotted back into the lineup after a healthy scratch in the last game, due to “internal accountability”. According to Kapanen’s media the morning of, he was late to practice on Friday morning because he overslept.

The Leafs began the game strong and did not allow a shot within the first ten minutes. However, Mark Pysyk capitalized off of blown coverage in front of the Leafs’ net to give the Panthers the lead, which they held until the end of the first frame. Michael Hutchinson started the second period in relief for Frederik Andersen, who left the game with upper body injury following two severe collisions. The Leafs overcame the early first period deficit off of goals from John Tavares and William Nylander, with both goals coming in the second frame. Nylander had goals in six of the Leafs last seven games and was on an eight-game point streak.

Auston Matthews added to the lead in the third, but the Panthers came back to tie the game 3-3 with a second goal by Pysyk and a powerplay goal from Jonathan Huberdeau. The Panthers then took back the lead with a Mike Hoffman goal. Pysyk finished the hat trick with an empty netter. Despite the Leafs playing one of their best defensive games under Sheldon Keefe, every mistake ended up in the back of their net. The Panthers downed the Leafs by a final score of 5-3, grabbing the important two points against a divisional rival. As Tavares remarked after the game, “we got sloppy early in the third” and they didn’t have “good response or momentum”.

Wednesday vs. New York Rangers

The next morning, the Leafs embarked on a single game road trip to face the New York Rangers for the third time this season. Andersen was listed as day-to-day with a neck injury, and did not travel with the team. Kasimir Kaskisuo was called up from the Leafs’ AHL affiliate, the Toronto Marlies, to back up Hutchinson. This was also the club’s first ever “mentor’s trip.”

Travis Dermott returned to the lineup, and to a struggling defence corps, after missing two games due to food poisoning. The Leafs grabbed an early lead off a goal from John Tavares. Nylander picked up an assist on the tally, extending his point streak to nine games. Filip Chytil scored just over a minute later to tie the game at one. Off of a faceoff in the Leafs’ end, Mika Zibanejad to give the Rangers the lead. Six seconds later Chris Kreider, a game time decision for the Rangers, added to the lead, which lasted until first intermission. The Leafs came out strong in the second period. Igor Shesterkin made some key saves, but a rapid fire sequence by the Marner-Matthews-Hyman line drew a cross checking call. Despite some good looks on the powerplay, Shesterkin wasn’t beaten. The leafs finally broke Shesterkin with an incredible backhand shot by Matthews.

The Rangers came right back, with Pavel Buchnevich capitalizing on the opportunity provided by a scrambling Hutchinson, to restore the two goal lead. After a lackluster third period, Matthews struck with his second of the night coming on the powerplay, and bringing the Leafs within one with just over three minutes left in the game. The effort was too little, too late, and Greg McKegg potted the empty netter. Once again, the Leafs fell 5-3. As Keefe said post-game, they “dug themselves into a hole they couldn’t get out of.”

Directly following the game, Kyle Dubas made a trade to acquire Jack Campbell and Kyle Clifford from the LA Kings in exchange for Trevor Moore and two picks. More in depth on the trade here.

Cody Ceci, who left the game against the Rangers with an ankle injury, was placed on LTIR and will be re-evaluated in a month. The club also called up Timothy Liljegren, who lined up for Friday’s game alongside his former Marlies defence partner, Rasmus Sandin. Keefe informed the media that Andersen would be unavailable for the weekend games, a back-to-back where they face the Anaheim Ducks and the Montreal Canadiens.

Friday vs. Anaheim Ducks

The Leafs came into the game against the Anaheim Ducks with two new additions who had not yet practiced with the team, and looking to get back in the win column. The Leafs grabbed the first goal, Andreas Johnsson capitalizing off of a nice passing play. The Ducks tied it up but the Leafs came back to grab a 3-1 lead. However, they fell apart in the third. After the Ducks tied the game up at three, Jason Spezza went end to end, finishing with an incredible fake shot goal.

The Ducks tied up the game with the puck being batted out of midair to beat Campbell, and the game went to overtime. On the powerplay in overtime, Mitch Marner set up John Tavares for the game winner, earning his 200th career assist. Campbell saved 26 of 30 shots, and the Leafs salvaged a blown lead in order to move back into third in the Atlantic Division.

Saturday vs. Montréal Canadiens

Against the Canadiens, Keefe made the decision to start Campbell back-to-back and Nylander was absent due to illness for the second consecutive game. This is also captain John Tavares’ 800th NHL game. The game quickly took a physical tone, notably with Jake Muzzin taking down Max Domi. 

https://twitter.com/leafsalldayy/status/1226306878164131840?s=21

The two teams traded chances, but the first frame ended with the score stuck at 0-0.

Early in the second period, Justin Holl hit iron off of a beautiful and following that, Carey Price reached back to bat the puck out the crease. Soon after, Jonathan Drouin took a slashing penalty and the Leafs power-play went to work. Artturi Lehkonen blocked a shot with his open palm off the first draw and after the next whistle went to the locker room. He would return the game in the third period. The Leafs power-play was unsuccessful and directly after, Campbell was forced to make an aggressive save. The teams continued trading chances and power-plays, with Price being the busier of the goalies, but both netminders making some excellent saves.

The Leafs did a great job at keeping possession and reducing high quality chances, holding the Canadiens to four shots through the second period. John Tavares opened the scoring just over a minute into the third, beating Price with a quick wrist shot following a deceptive passing play. That tally was Tavares’ fifth goal and seventh point in the last four games. After the goal, Montréal came out flying, and the Leafs held on with some scrambly saves by Campbell and a good defensive effort by Sandin and Liljegren. Campbell stood tall in the third period as the Habs started to apply pressure.

Toronto took a late too many men call, and Campbell was forced to make a huge save following a cross-seam pass by the Canadiens first power-play unit. The Leafs took their foot off the gas in the third, going over 14 minutes without a shot following the goal. The Canadiens broke through with just over two minutes left. A high shot on Price rang around the boards and down to the Leafs end, resulting in Marco Scandella blasting the puck through a screened Campbell. The game headed to extra time. After an impressive poke check save by Campbell on a Nick Suzuki breakaway, Matthews failed to clear the rebound, and Ilya Kovalchuk buried it. As was the theme this week, the Leafs fell short in the third period and blew yet another lead.

The Leafs emerged from a week, in which they faced serious third period issues, with three of eight possible points. Looking at recent results, the team endured the back-to-back, with their backup starting in both games, and collected three of four points.

Quick Facts

  • The Leafs ended the week as it began, third in the Atlantic division. However, the Panthers are now only two point behind them with two games in hand.
  • Auston Matthews tied Alex Ovechkin with a league-leading 40 goals on the season. 
  • Sandin has established himself as an integral penalty killer with Ceci injured, and is beginning to prove himself to be more than capable in his own zone.
  • In all, Campbell’s second game was an improvement on his first. He was much calmer in the net throughout the game and never gave up on a play. However, the Leafs defensive effort on Saturday night in the first two periods was much improved, following a post-game scrum where Keefe called out his team’s effort. 
  • We unfortunately saw William Nylander’s point streak come to an “end” after he missed two games due to illness. However, the winger is expected to make his return on Tuesday against the Arizona Coyotes. 
  • Jason Spezza has been excellent throughout the week. 
  • The Leafs are waiting on injury updates on Morgan Rielly and Cody Ceci before making a decision on whether or not they will trade for help on defence.
  • Lastly, there is no definite timeline for Andersen’s return. As of now, he is still day-to-day, although there is hope he makes his return on Tuesday night.

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]]> https://www.the-rink.com/toronto-maple-leafs-week-in-review/feed/ 0 16242 Leafs acquire Campbell, Clifford https://www.the-rink.com/leafs-acquire-campbell-clifford/ https://www.the-rink.com/leafs-acquire-campbell-clifford/#respond Thu, 06 Feb 2020 20:29:19 +0000 https://www.the-rink.com/?p=16209 Late last night, the Toronto Maple Leafs acquired Jack Campbell and Kyle Clifford, with Trevor Moore, a 2020 third round pick as well as a 2021 conditional third round pick... Read more »

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]]> Late last night, the Toronto Maple Leafs acquired Jack Campbell and Kyle Clifford, with Trevor Moore, a 2020 third round pick as well as a 2021 conditional third round pick heading back to LA.

This trade comes on the heels of Michael Hutchinson’s less than stellar last two games, while filling in for Frederik Andersen. Andersen left the Monday night battle against the Florida Panthers during the first intermission, following two severe collisions, and is listed as day to day with a neck injury. Andersen did not travel with the team, who faced the New York Ranger’s last night. Hutchinson has had his fair share of troubles this season. Under Mike Babcock at the beginning of the season, Hutchinson started seven games. In those games, he gave up at least four goals and in five of the games, Hutchinson gave up five or more goals. However, he appeared to be turning over a new leaf.

Going into last night, Hutchinson had won each of his last four starts, including a shut-out against the New York Islanders. He struggled in relief against the Panthers, though, which was a game the Leafs ended up losing 5-3 after surrendering a two-goal lead in the third. After an unsuccessful attempt in yet another game last night, where Hutchinson gave up two goals in six seconds and the game winner was a weak shot that slid five-hole, it was clear a change needed to be made. At around 10:55pm, the trade was announced.

Jack Campbell has been described as a butterfly-style goalie with quick reflexes and good lateral movement. A former first round draft pick of the Dallas Stars, Campbell had an excellent 2018-19 campaign, posting a .928 save percentage in 31 games for the Kings. This season, Campbell has seen his numbers drop, with a .900 on the season. Though there is speculation about whether he can return to the goalie he was in 2018-19, so far in his career, Campbell has been fairly consistent. It is reasonable to believe that he has had a slightly off year, which has not been helped by playing for a struggling LA Kings team. It is also important to note that, as Chris Johnston reported, Campbell is signed for two years following this year at $1.65 million, and can fill the requirement to expose a goalie for the Seattle expansion draft.

The other acquisition in the deal was forward Kyle Clifford, who is on the last year of a five-year deal which had an annual cap hit of $1.6 million. The Kings retained 50% of his salary in the transaction. While Clifford brings so-called “grit” to the team, he is not a liability otherwise.

Trevor Moore is a token to the Leafs development program. He signed with the club as an undrafted 21-year-old, and in a short period of time rose from an AHL fourth-liner, to an AHL All-Star to a regular in the NHL lineup. However, when Moore was injured, it became clear that other ex-Marlies, particularly Pierre Engvall, could slot into his position and make an impact. Due to that and the fact that said players could fill the gap at centre with Kerfoot playing the wing, Moore became expendable.

The conditions on the 2021 pick are as follows. The third becomes a second if either Clifford re-signs with the Leafs or if Campbell wins six regular season games and the Leafs qualify for the playoffs.

While Campbell is clearly not a long-term solution if Andersen is out for a substantial period of time, hopefully he can be an effective “band-aid” and eventually, an effective backup who can take part of the load off of Andersen’s shoulders.

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]]> https://www.the-rink.com/leafs-acquire-campbell-clifford/feed/ 0 16209 Recap: Blackhawks outlast Leafs, 5-4 in regulation https://www.the-rink.com/recap-blackhawks-outlast-leafs-5-4-in-regulation/ https://www.the-rink.com/recap-blackhawks-outlast-leafs-5-4-in-regulation/#respond Mon, 11 Nov 2019 02:52:51 +0000 https://www.the-rink.com/?p=15159 Sunday night’s game at the United Center featured an Original Six matchup between the young and (perhaps) ascendant Toronto Maple Leafs and the declining/rebuilding (you might say “schizophrenic”) Chicago Blackhawks.... Read more »

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]]> Sunday night’s game at the United Center featured an Original Six matchup between the young and (perhaps) ascendant Toronto Maple Leafs and the declining/rebuilding (you might say “schizophrenic”) Chicago Blackhawks.

To be fair (and honest), the Hawks are coming off a couple of their stronger outings this season. Last night in Pittsburgh, Chicago gave a fairly solid effort, but in the end hung Corey Crawford out to dry one time too many, blowing a lead then falling and losing the second point in the Gary Bettman Marketing Gimmick known as “the shootout.”

The game may also go down in history for NBCSN color man Ed Olczyk’s summarization of the talents of Erik Gustafsson: “his strength is not defense.”

Robin Lehner would take the net for Chicago Sunday night for the first time in 3 games, 190 feet from ex-Winnipeg Jet Michael “Don’t Call Me Hutchence” Hutchinson for Toronto.

The Hawks’ lines and pairings were:

Brandon Saad — Jonathan Toews — Alexander Nylander
Alex DeBrincat — Dylan Strome — Patrick Kane
Zack Smith — David Kampf — Dominik Kubalik
Drake Caggiula — Kirby Dach — Andrew Shaw

Duncan Keith — Adam Boqvist
Calvin de Haan — Brent Seabrook
Olli Maatta — Erik Gustafsson

FIRST PERIOD

Call it old time hockey or Meatball Stuff, but :32 in to the game, Jonathan Toews did what an NHL captain does, by going hard after Toronto defenseman Jake Muzzin who had taken a big time run at a defenseless Brandon Saad, dropping Saad hard to the ice behind the Toronto net. The refs stepped in quickly and Muzzin took a two-minute minor, with Toews getting an extra two minutes, resulting in a Toronto power play, which the Hawks successfully killed.

At 5:18, Patrick Kane capitalized on an odd bounce and Cody Ceci involuntary redirect to put the Hawks out in front 1-0. Alex DeBrincat got the assist.

The action was fairly fast and furious throughout the first 11-12 minutes or so, with Dominik Kubalik just missing an opportunity to put the Hawks up 2-0, when he hit a post on a wide open side of the net.

At 12:00 in, Calvin DeHaan corraled a Muzzin turnover and blasted it off Hutchinson’s pads. Kirby Dach swooped in on the fat rebound and did not miss. 2-0 Chicago.

Just ten—ten—seconds later, with the Leafs in full disarray, Kane stepped out between the circles and delivered arguably the league’s best backhand into the top of the Leaf net. 3-0 Hawks.

The Leafs started coming on around the 15 minute mark but Lehner delivered some big saves to protect the Hawk lead. Former Hawk property Justin Holl took a badly called penalty at about the 17 minute mark, which the refs then, in classic NHL fashion, immediately “made good” with a slashing call on Dylan Strome. Three seconds later, Auston Matthews won a draw clean to William Nylander who beat Lehner. 3-1 Chicago.

Muzzin then took a tripping penalty at 17:17, giving the Hawks a 4-on-3. Sure enough, Toews immediately capitalized on a tic tac toe passing play. 4-1 Chicago at 17:28 and that was how the period would end—leaving NBCSN viewers to wonder just how “Gizmo” would break this one down between periods. Shots were 15-12 Toronto.

SECOND PERIOD

This period was a bit more tightly checked but about 6-7 minutes in, the Hawks started getting a little sloppy wth the puck, leading to turnovers and prime scoring chances for Toronto. Fortunately, Lehner repeatedly rose to the challenge.

Morgan Reilly took a hooking penalty at 8:01, putting Chicago back on the man advantage, which the Leafs easily killed. Ceci then took a hooking penalty at 13:08. This also was killed off by Toronto, although the Hawks launched several shots on goal on this power play.

Strome took another penalty at 17:05, and Toronto quickly won a face-off and set up shop. But the Hawks did their job and eventually killed it off. The period ended scoreless. Shots were 16-15 for Toronto.

THIRD PERIOD

A weak Erik Gustafsson turnover along the wall led to another William Nylander tally for the Leafs at 2:27. 4-2 Chicago

Alex Nylander took a high-sticking penalty at 3:55, giving Toronto even more life. However, Auston Matthews evened it out by high-sticking Calvin deHaan a minute later.

Toronto continued to keep pressure on Lehner (which he was more than up to), surpassing 40 shots midway through the third.

Gustafsson took a penalty at 12:37, leading, sure enough, to the Leafs third goal that appeared to injure Lehner in the collarbone or neck area. Lehner remained in the game, which was a good thing because it appeared the Hawks would need him with just a 4-3 lead.

However, after the Hawks converged on a loose puck in front of a down and out Lehner, Toews and Saad combined on a high speed goal, putting Chicago ahead 5-3 at 16:26.

Toronto then pulled Hutchinson, followed by a Zack Smith hooking call at 18:23. Lehner continued to stand tall under withering pressure, until Andreas Jonsson broke the spell at 19:18. 5-4 Chicago. The Hawks withstood the Leafs attack over the remaining seconds, sealing the win.

THE GOOD

Kane (2G) and the Kane/Strome/DeBrincat line. Dach, Toews, Saad, Lehner (especially) and Calvin deHaan all had nice games.

THE BAD

The Hawks continue an ongoing theme of poor puck management that they have gotten away with of late due to superior goaltending.

THE UGLY

57 Toronto shots on goal. Consider also that the Hawks are getting excellent play from deHaan and solid play from Olli Maatta. You want 2 “forwards” in your six-man defense rotation because . . . “pointz?” Careful what you wish for.

All we have on this one. Please comment below.

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]]> https://www.the-rink.com/recap-blackhawks-outlast-leafs-5-4-in-regulation/feed/ 0 15159 Preview/Game thread Chicago Blackhawks vs Toronto Maple Leafs https://www.the-rink.com/preview-blackhawks-maple-leafs-2/ https://www.the-rink.com/preview-blackhawks-maple-leafs-2/#respond Sun, 10 Nov 2019 17:17:44 +0000 https://www.the-rink.com/?p=15125 Toronto Maple Leafs (9–5–4) at Chicago Blackhawks (5–7–4) 6:00 p.m. CST United Center TV/Radio: NBCSN/WGN Projected starting goaltenders Chicago — Robin Lehner (3–3–2, .935 save percentage, 2.33 goals-against average) Toronto — Michael... Read more »

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]]> Toronto Maple Leafs (9–5–4) at Chicago Blackhawks (5–7–4)

6:00 p.m. CST
United Center
TV/Radio: NBCSN/WGN

Projected starting goaltenders

Chicago — Robin Lehner (3–3–2, .935 save percentage, 2.33 goals-against average)
Toronto — Michael Hutchinson (0–3–1, .885 save percentage, 4.25 goals-against average)

Team statistics

Power play
Chicago (14.0%, 25th)
Toronto (16.4%, 21st)

Penalty kill
Chicago (81.1%, 17th)
Toronto (76.9%, 24th)

Shots for/against
Chicago
-30.6, 21st
-35.5, 30th
Toronto
-32.3, 13th
-33.0, 23rd

Shooting percentage
Chicago (6.28%, 29th)
Toronto (8.84%, 13th)

Face-off percentage
Chicago (48.3%, 25th)
Toronto (53.1%, third)

Average height and weight
Chicago — 6-foot-1, 196 pounds
Toronto — 6-foot-1, 200 pounds

Projected lines and pairings

Chicago Blackhawks

Brandon Saad — Jonathan Toews — Alexander Nylander
Alex DeBrincat — Dylan Strome — Patrick Kane
Dominik Kubalik — David Kampf — Kirby Dach
Drake Caggiula — Ryan Carpenter — Andrew Shaw

Duncan Keith — Adam Boqvist
Calvin de Haan — Brent Seabrook
Olli Maatta — Erik Gustafsson

Toronto Maple Leafs

Andreas Johnsson – Auston Matthews – William Nylander
Trevor Moore – John Tavares – Kasperi Kapanen
Ilya Mikheyev – Alexander Kerfoot – Jason Spezza
Dmytro Timashov – Nick Shore – Frederik Gauthier

Morgan Rielly – Cody Ceci
Jake Muzzin – Tyson Barrie
Travis Dermott – Justin Holl

Analysis

No rest for the wicked for either team.  Both lost last night in shootouts and are looking for rebound wins.  The Leafs came back and tied the Flyers but ultimately weren’t able to hold on in the shootout.  The Blackhawks jumped out to a 2–0 lead and were not able to hang on against the Penguins.  For what seems like the twenty-fifth time this season, the Blackhawks failed their goaltender.  They were, however, able to grab that coveted “loser point”.

With all the hype surrounding the Leafs and their offensive circus of high paid players, they sit at eighth overall and second in the Atlantic division.  If you count OT losses as standings losses (we do), the Leafs are a .500 team.  Statistically, they sit in the middle or bottom third of the league in most categories.  Where they do excel most is faceoff percentage and puck possession metrics.  Basically, if they win the faceoff, they will generate some lethal offense.  They are, though, without one of their top scorers, in Mitch Marner.  He was injured last night at the opening faceoff of the second period and was forced to leave the game  Coach Mike Babcock said that he will undergo an MRI today to determine the extent of the injury.

The key for the Blackhawks will be to hanging onto puck possession long enough to keep John Tavares, Auston Matthews, and William Nylander out of Robin Lehner‘s face, which is a problem they have faced in just about every game this season.  The Blackhawks will also have a prime opportunity to take advantage of another Leafs shortcoming, their backup goaltender.  While Frederik Andersen has been outstanding early on this season, Michael Hutchinson has been abjectly awful this season.  That said, Hutchinson has always had Chicago’s number, beating them several times with the Winnipeg Jets and going 3–1–1 with a .961 save percentage and one shutout in six career games. This could be the slump buster that Hutchinson needs.

Will the Blackhawks finally break the Hutchinson jinx or will the Leafs simply overwhelm a tired and struggling team?

Comment below in our live game thread tonight!

And, be sure to look for the internet’s most robust recap of the game right here on The-Rink.com.

The post Preview/Game thread Chicago Blackhawks vs Toronto Maple Leafs appeared first on The Rink.

]]> https://www.the-rink.com/preview-blackhawks-maple-leafs-2/feed/ 0 15125 RECAP: Blackhawks Squeak Out Win Against Leafs https://www.the-rink.com/recap-blackhawks-leafs/ https://www.the-rink.com/recap-blackhawks-leafs/#respond Thu, 14 Mar 2019 12:53:41 +0000 https://www.the-rink.com/?p=12301 The Blackhawks came into Toronto on Wednesday night looking to pick up more points in order to make a push for the playoffs in the last 13 games of the... Read more »

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]]> The Blackhawks came into Toronto on Wednesday night looking to pick up more points in order to make a push for the playoffs in the last 13 games of the regular season.

The Maple Leafs were looking to regain their form after a dismal showing on Monday night versus the Tampa Bay Lightning. They got shellacked in that game, 6-2, and Auston Matthews had a strong opinion on what the team did wrong. A potent offense led by Matthews, Mitch Marner, and John Tavares looked to inject some life into their home rink after Monday’s ho-hum game from their offense. For the Blackhawks, Brendan Perlini was fresh off the first hat-trick of his career, and looking to continue a productive run he has had in the last few games with six goals in the last five games. Patrick Kane looked to add more points to what has been an impressive season in terms of keeping the Blackhawks in the playoff hunt despite “iffy” play on the back end. As a team, the Blackhawks handled the Arizona Coyotes very well, allowing only one early goal in what was a dominant 7-1 win. Corey Crawford stopped 24 of 25 shots in another quality start since returning from his concussion.

The lines were as follows:

Brandon Saad– Jonathan Toews – Dylan Sikura

Alex DeBrincat – Dylan Strome – Brendan Perlini

Dominik Kahun – Artem Anisimov – Patrick Kane

Chris Kunitz – David Kampf – Marcus Kruger

Erik Gustafsson – Duncan Keith

Brent Seabrook – Gustav Forsling

Carl Dahlstrom – Connor Murphy

Corey Crawford

first Period:

After a barrage of shots in the first three minutes, and maintaining possession for quite some time, the puck found its way back to Duncan Keith, who fired a slap shot towards the net that redirected off of the Maple Leafs’ William Nylander’s stick and squirted through Frederik Andersen and into the net at the 3:19 mark, 1-0 Blackhawks.

The Blackhawks kept generating chance after chance, and got plenty of time inside of the Leaf’s zone. Corey Crawford wasn’t tested very much at all early on, with most of his work helping keep the puck moving. At the 12:55 mark, Dylan Strome got the puck into the zone and passed it from the side boards to the middle. Brendan Perlini made a nice juke on the Maple Leafs’ defenseman and shot a wrist shot past Andersen, 2-0 Blackhawks.

The Maple Leafs’ best chances of the period came under 5 minutes remaining. Connor Brown couldn’t corral a pass across from him, with Brent Seabrook managing to get in the way enough to get a piece of the shot at a moment when Crawford was down and out. Then, William Nylander got a good chance when the puck was partially blocked by the referee, and he was able to get a good shot off that Crawford stopped. At the 17:13 mark, Patrick Kane then got the Blackhawks off on a 2 on 1 down the ice, drawing the defense towards him and then passing it in front to Domink Kahun, who put the puck past Andersen, 3-0 Blackhawks.

Dylan Sikura then got the puck out in front to Brandon Saad, who was able to put the puck past Andersen at the 18:46 mark of the period. That put the Blackhawks up 4-0 going into the locker room.

Second Period:

The Blackhawks ended up chasing Andersen after the first period, as Garrett Sparks came out in goal to begin the period. The Leafs came on strong to, showing much more energy that they had in the first period. Corey Crawford stole a goal out in front after the Leafs got the puck there after some good passing from Auston Matthews to William Nylander, who was stymied by Crawford at the 2:20 mark of the period. The Hawks fourth line stood tall in their assignments in the period, and putting a lot of pressure on Sparks and the Leafs’ defense. John Tavares broke into the zone on a turnover caused by Trevor Moore along the side boards and ripped a puck on net that rang off the pipe. Shortly thereafter, Crawford made a few more good stops on a surge of pressure by Toronto, who weren’t able to get any pucks past him. At the 12:32 mark, Brendan Perlini came storming up the wing and fed it over to Alex DeBrincat streaking down the middle of the ice for another Blackhawks goal, making it 5-0.

https://twitter.com/HabsCorner/status/1105991172433084418

With some more good chances at the end of the period, the Blackhawks weren’t able to put any more by Sparks. With under 2 minutes left in the period, the Maple Leafs finally got a goal past Corey Crawford on a tip in front by Andreas Johnsson off of a Morgan Rielly shot from the point. The period ended the same way it began, with the Blackhawks still leading by a lot, 5-1.

Third Period:

Corey Crawford left after the second period due to an illness, so Collin Delia stepped in to relive him and was tested very early on. He had to make several good stops in the opening few minutes of the period, and was successful in stopping the Leafs’ initial chances. The Maple Leafs found the back of the net at 7:57, however, after Collin Delia sprawled out to stop Johnsson on a chance out in front and couldn’t get back to stop Auston Matthews on the rebound chance, making it 5-2 Blackhawks. Shortly after, Patrick Kane slashed Jake Muzzin on a light tap to the hands, putting the Maple Leafs on the power play against the league’s worst penalty kill. The Leafs got a give and go together, with Mitch Marner finding Morgan Rielly at the point to make the score 5-3.

https://twitter.com/HabsCorner/status/1106002060254822403

Delia was tested time and time again after that, and managed to stop almost everything else put his way, even a Trevor Moore chance out in front of the net that knocked him over. John Tavares managed to force one more past Delia in the last furious surge from Toronto, making the score 5-4. Despite every effort to make the comeback complete, and some efforts to thwart it, including Collin Delia bumping into the net to knock it off its moorings.

The Blackhawks hung in there to win their fourth game in a row. They head to Montreal next to take on the Canadiens on Saturday night, looking to pick up more key points in hopes of making it back to the playoffs. Puck drop is at 6 pm CT.

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]]> https://www.the-rink.com/recap-blackhawks-leafs/feed/ 0 12301 Preview/Game Thread: Blackhawks at Maple Leafs https://www.the-rink.com/preview-blackhawks-maple-leafs/ https://www.the-rink.com/preview-blackhawks-maple-leafs/#respond Wed, 13 Mar 2019 15:00:39 +0000 https://www.the-rink.com/?p=12290 Toronto Maple Leafs (42–22–5) vs Chicago Blackhawks (30–30–9) 6:00pm CST Scotiabank Arena TV/Radio: NBCSN/WGN PROJECTED STARTERS Chicago – Corey Crawford (10–15–2, SV%: .901, GAA: 3.22) Toronto – Frederik Andersen (33–14–4,... Read more »

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]]> Toronto Maple Leafs (42–22–5) vs Chicago Blackhawks (30–30–9)

6:00pm CST
Scotiabank Arena
TV/Radio: NBCSN/WGN

PROJECTED STARTERS

Chicago – Corey Crawford (10–15–2, SV%: .901, GAA: 3.22)
Toronto – Frederik Andersen (33–14–4, SV%: .922, GAA: 2.62)

TEAM STATISTICS

Power Play
Chicago (20.9%, 12th)
Toronto (22.5%, 7th)

Penalty Kill
Chicago (73.3%, 31st)
Toronto (80.3%, 17th)

Shorts for/against
Chicago (32.4, 11th; 34.8, 30th)
Toronto (32.2, 14th; 33.1, 25th)

Shooting %
Chicago (10.4%, 8th)
Toronto (11.1%, 3rd)

Faceoff %
Chicago (49.4%, 20th)
Toronto (52.8%, 2nd)

Avg. height/weight
Chicago 6’1”, 195lbs
Toronto 6’1” 202lbs

PROJECTED LINES/PAIRINGS

Chicago Blackhawks

Brandon Saad–Jonathan Toews–Dylan Sikura

Dominik Kahun–Artem Anisimov–Patrick Kane

Alex DeBrincat–Dylan Strome–Brendan Perlini

Chris Kunitz–David Kampf–Marcus Kruger

Duncan Keith–Erik Gustafsson

Carl Dahlstrom–Connor Murphy

Gustav Forsling–Brent Seabrook

Toronto Maple Leafs

Zach Hyman–John Tavares–Mitch Marner

Andreas Johnsson–Auston Matthews–William Nylander

Patrick Marleau–Nazem Kadri–Connor Brown

Tyler Ennis–Frederik Gauthier–Trevor Moore

Morgan Rielly–Ron Hainsey

Jake Muzzin–Nikita Zaitsev

Martin Marincin–Igor Ozhiganov

 

Analysis

A big 7-1 victory over the playoff-hopeful Arizona Coyotes certainly has boosted the morale of the Chicago Blackhawks as they head to Toronto to take on the Maple Leafs. After a huge game by Brendan Perlini, it is clear that the “tryout period” for some players on this roster is paying off. It’s hard to imagine the Blackhawks not trying to retain Perlini, especially after Bowman traded for Perlini and Dylan Strome after giving up, at the time, prized piece Nick Schmaltz. Dominik Kahun is another player who is taking his opportunity and using it properly after a solid showing on Monday.

The Blackhawks have played very well defensively the last three games. Although still allowing 39, 27 and 25 shots, respectively, during their three game win streak, they are finding ways to allow Corey Crawford to make the routine save. There has been some encouraging play from a few members on the defense over these last three games. The Blackhawks will look to carry that momentum into Wednesday’s game against one of the league’s best, the Maple Leafs.

The Maple Leafs currently sit third in the Atlantic division, despite being on pace to have the best regular season ever in club history. The Eastern Conference has been very strong this year with teams such as Tampa, Boston and Toronto all looking like Stanley Cup favorites heading into mid-March. The Maple Leafs are 3-1-1 over their last five games, with a 6-2 regulation loss to Tampa being their last game played on Monday. Nonetheless, the Maple Leafs are one of the best teams the Blackhawks will play all season long.

The first time these teams met, it was a shootout with the infamous Auston Matthews mockery of Patrick Kane’s famous celebration, only for Kane to play hero and score two goals to tie the game. The Blackhawks still lost in overtime, but that game was quite an offensive showing for both squads back in October.

Toronto will look to keep pace with the Bruins, who are four points ahead of the Maple Leafs, with a win over the Blackhawks. The Maple Leafs have quite the cushion with eight points separating them and nearest challenger Montreal. The Blackhawks can easily call this a must-win game, as they currently sit six points out of the playoffs with three teams to jump.

 

Comment below in our live game thread tonight!

And look for the internet’s most robust recap of the game tomorrow morning on the-rink.com.

The post Preview/Game Thread: Blackhawks at Maple Leafs appeared first on The Rink.

]]> https://www.the-rink.com/preview-blackhawks-maple-leafs/feed/ 0 12290 Home Opener Recap: Leafs Beat The Blackhawks 7-6 in OT https://www.the-rink.com/blackhawks-vs-toronto-game-3-recap/ https://www.the-rink.com/blackhawks-vs-toronto-game-3-recap/#respond Mon, 08 Oct 2018 11:30:34 +0000 https://www.the-rink.com/?p=9028 No rest for the wicked, as the Chicago Blackhawks had no time to celebrate their exciting overtime win in St. Louis, the previous night.  The team travelled home to meet... Read more »

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]]> No rest for the wicked, as the Chicago Blackhawks had no time to celebrate their exciting overtime win in St. Louis, the previous night.  The team travelled home to meet the Toronto Maple Leafs at the United Center for the Blackhawks 2018 season home opener.

Going against Joel Quenneville‘s usual routines, Goalie Cam Ward got his third straight start in net (including a back-to-back) for the Blackhawks, facing Elmhurst native Garret Sparks for the Leafs.  Also going against the usual routine Quenneville made a lineup change.  Andreas Martinsen was in the press box for the first time of the year with Brandon Davidson, as John Hayden took Martinsen’s spot.

This was your Blackhawks starting lineup:
Alex DeBrincat– Jonathan Toews – Dominik Kahun
Brandon Saad – Nick Schmaltz – Patrick Kane
Chris Kunitz – Artem Anisimov – David Kampf
Marcus Kruger – Luke Johnson – John Hayden

Duncan Keith – Henri Jokiharju
Brandon Manning – Brent Seabrook
Erik Gustafsson – Jan Rutta

Not to be overlooked, the Blackhawks had their “red carpet” walk, and introduction ceremony for the home opener.  The very special highlight of the night was the Stan Mikita memorial that was put together to honor the fallen former captain and all-time Blackhawks great.

As with all special ceremonies, there was still a game to be played.  A game that could have given the Blackhawks a three game winning streak to open the season.  In their way was the NHL’s “new hotness“, the Toronto Maple Leafs.  The “old busted” Blackhawks seemed to be defying the odds, but their first major test was issued. They hung in for the ride.

The emotion from the Mikita memorial carried right into the play of the Blackhawks. Brandon Saad, and John Hayden both had excellent chances to open the game against the young Leafs netminder. Just about everyone in attendance and watching on TV, including the visiting team, was surprised when the Hawks jumped out to a 7-2 shot advantage in the first five minutes of the game.

With exactly nine minutes gone in the first period, Jonathan Toews continued his red hot play to open the season, giving his team a 1-0 lead. After a Duncan Keith shot was (surprise!) blocked, Dominik Kahun picked up the loose puck and flung it at the net. Toews located the puck and redirected it down, into the net. After a short look from the Toronto war room the goal was confirmed. This was Toews’ fifth goal in under three full regular season games.

The Blackhawks jumped out to a 2-0 lead just a couple of minutes later. The red-hot line of Debrincat-Toews-Kahun played a nice little game of tic-tac-toe that ended with Debrincat slamming home a backdoor pass into an open net. This play was certainly worthy of the evening highlight reels. This goal marked Dominik Kahun’s second point of the period and of his young NHL career.

The good fortune did not last long for the home team. Toronto took advantage of some sloppy play by the Blackhawks defense which resulted in Kasperi Kapanen getting a break-a-way from the blue line in. Kapanen made pretty easy work of Cam Ward, cutting the Hawks lead to 2-1.

Just thirty-four seconds after the Kapanen goal, young superstar Auston Matthews erased the Blackhawks two-goal lead. Other than the Blackhawks turnover in their own end, there was nothing of note on the goal. Just a dirty goal, from a dirty area.

The period ended with the Blackhawks leading in shots 14-8. A better window into the action of the first period was the high danger chances, which were tied at seven a piece.

Just over four minutes into the second period, a failed Alex Debrincat clearing attempt turned into the Leafs’ third goal of the game. Debrincat had a chance to clear the Blackhawks zone and seemed to hesitate. That hesitation led to the puck softly sliding to defenseman Morgan Rielly, who let a shot go towards the Blackhawks net.  On the way to the net the puck changed direction off Zach Hyman and landed at the feet of John Tavares.  Tavares buried puck for a 3-2 Leafs lead.

A couple of minutes after the Leafs took the lead, the Blackhawks fourth line answered the bell. Henri Jokiharju sent a long shot from the point on net that Sparks saved. John Hayden found the rebound and jammed it past the Toronto goalie. The puck barely slid over the goal line. The war room in Toronto took a look at this goal but it stood, as well.

Two minutes after the Hayden goal, the Leafs snagged the lead back on a powerplay goal by John Tavares, his second of the night. Patrick Kane took the holding penalty which put the Leafs on the man advantage. Thirty-two seconds after the powerplay began, the Blackhawks were fishing the puck out of their own net. Tavares tipped a long Mitch Marner shot through Cam Ward.

It seemed as though the Blackhawks had a major opportunity to tie the game back up with a four-minute powerplay. Unfortunately, we were talking about the historically anemic Blackhawks powerplay. They generated exactly zero shots on net in those following four minutes.

As a result, the teams finished the second period with the Leafs leading 4-3 and the teams tied in shots at 21. With all the action, there were only four high danger chances between the two teams (two a piece).

Just over two minutes into the third period, the Blackhawks were able to pull even with the Leafs. Defenseman Brandon Manning took a pass from Brent Seabrook and unleashed a long shot towards a screened Garret Sparks. The Artem Anisimov screen was enough to distract the Leafs netminder, and the puck was in the back of the net.

Once the score was tied, it seemed as though the pace of the game seemed to slow down to a manageable speed…

Until the 10:30 mark of the third period, when John Tavares completed his hat-trick. The Saad-Schmaltz-Kane line could not hold possession in the neutral zone leaving Erik Gustafsson and Jan Rutta to attempt to start the rush from the Blackhawks end. After a couple of false starts, Mitch Marner nearly caught Tavares breaking into the zone for a nice cross-ice goal. Instead, the puck rattled around at the half-boards and eventually ended up on the stick of Tavares again. He turned and snapped a shot over Cam Ward’s right shoulder to give his team a 5-4 lead.

Both teams turned the intensity up to “11” in the final five minutes of regulation. The Leafs had a majority of the good scoring chances but Chicago was not without a couple of their own.

Finally, with a minute and thirty seconds remaining, Patrick Kane decided to take the shot himself and beat Sparks from a tight angle. The game was tied and everyone in the arena thought this game was going to overtime.

It was going to overtime, but not just yet.

Less than thirty seconds after Kane ties the game, Auston Matthews picked up a puck that bounced off a group of players and rolled towards the slot area in front of Ward. He snapped the puck by a startled Blackhawks netminder.

Matthews’ Team USA teammate, Patrick Kane, had a little game of trash talking to throw back to the young Leafs forward who had given a “let me hear you” celebration after his goal.

Thirty seconds after Matthews gave the Leafs their lead, Henri Jokiharju set the plate for a Patrick Kane one-timer that Sparks just whiffed on. After the goal, Kane gave an entertaining little “let me hear you” celebration right back at Matthews.

NOW, the game was going to overtime.

It only took Toronto nineteen seconds to win the game, on a very stoppable Morgan Rielly shot that Cam Ward gave up. Shots finished 34-31 in favor of the Leafs.  The Blackhawks will have three days off and play the Minnesota Wild Thursday at the United Center.

Pluses

  • What more needs to be said about the start of Jonathan Toews.  He is making a lot of meatballs eat their words.  I know I speak for all Hawks fans when I say that I hope to see a lot more of this play.
  • John Hayden had an alright game.  He got himself a goal in the dirty area, but had a pretty clear path for a partial break-a-way in the third period and melted into a puddle of goo.
  • While I mention the defense below, at least the offense is keeping the games close.  Six goals on 31 shots is more than admirable.

Minuses

  • The power play is hysterically bad.  Something has to give.  They just cannot realistically be this bad for this long with this list of talent on their roster.
  • I know Brandon Manning scored a goal, but watching him in his own end must give Cam Ward a panic attack.
  • That said, this entire defensive corp is scary bad in their own end.  Keith and Jokiharju have been “OK“, and the rest is a complete crapshoot.
  • There were 13 goals scored on 64 shots which is sub-.800 goaltending.  That is not good enough for either team.
  • Tell me all you want about possession, Corsi or Fenwick but that third line is “just there“.  They don’t do much especially well.  They are not especially dangerous or fast.  Possession does no good if it is not resulting in goals.
  • I know goal scoring is fun and this is what the fans supposedly want but if the Blackhawks want to keep up at this pace, they will eventually run out of steam.  They are one of the older teams in the NHL (tied for third oldest) and they cannot have track meet style games all season.

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]]> https://www.the-rink.com/blackhawks-vs-toronto-game-3-recap/feed/ 0 9028 Preview: Maple Leafs at Blackhawks https://www.the-rink.com/preview-maple-leafs-at-blackhawks/ https://www.the-rink.com/preview-maple-leafs-at-blackhawks/#respond Sun, 07 Oct 2018 13:29:18 +0000 https://www.the-rink.com/?p=9008 Toronto Maple Leafs (1-1-0) at Chicago Blackhawks (2-0-0) 7PM Eastern/6 Central United Center TV/Radio: NHL Network, NBCSCH/WGN   Goalies: Chicago Anton Forsberg (.000 save%, 0.00 GAA) Toronto Garrett Sparks (.000... Read more »

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]]> Toronto Maple Leafs (1-1-0) at Chicago Blackhawks (2-0-0)

7PM Eastern/6 Central

United Center

TV/Radio: NHL Network, NBCSCH/WGN

 

Goalies:

Chicago

Anton Forsberg (.000 save%, 0.00 GAA)

Toronto

Garrett Sparks (.000 save%, 0.00 GAA)

 

Team statistics:

Power play

Chicago (0.0%)

Toronto (40.0%)

Penalty kill

Chicago (66.7%)

Toronto (83.3%)

Shots for/against per game

Chicago (36.5, 27.5)

Toronto (31.5, 30.0)

Shooting%

Chicago (12.3%)

Toronto (9.5%)

Faceoff%

Chicago (45.8%)

Toronto (54.4%)

Avg. height/weight:

Chicago:  6’1”, 196

Toronto:   6’1” 195

 

Lineups:

Chicago

DeBrincat-Toews-Kahun

Saad-Schmaltz-Kane

Kunitz-Anisimov-Kampf

Kruger-Johnson-Martinsen

Keith-Jokiharju

Manning-Seabrook

Davidson-Rutta

 

Toronto:

Marleau – Matthews – Ennis

Hyman – Tavares – Marner

Leivo – Kadri – Brown

Johnsson – Lindhom – Kapanen

Reilly – Hainsey

Gardiner – Zaitsev

Dermott – Ozhiganov

 

Analysis:

The charter flight home from St. Louis had to be an enjoyable one. After back-to-back wins on the road to open the season, the Blackhawks take on the Toronto Maple Leafs tonight on home ice.

Jonathan Toews sparked a great win against a divisional rival with his fifth career hat trick last night. Toews has four goals already on the season. His first two games have been outstanding.

Toronto’s off-season acquisition of center John Tavares was the talk of the summer around NHL circles. Tavares combines with Auston Matthews to give the Leafs quite a punch up the middle.

With both teams playing back-to-back, Anton Forsberg and Garrett Sparks will both see their first action of the season in net. Sparks, an Elmhurst, IL native, flashed enough potential to make the team out of camp. Forsberg must prove he can be consistent at the NHL level.

Comment below in our live game thread tonight!

And look for the internet’s most robust recap of the game later tonight or early tomorrow on the-rink.com. 

The post Preview: Maple Leafs at Blackhawks appeared first on The Rink.

]]> https://www.the-rink.com/preview-maple-leafs-at-blackhawks/feed/ 0 9008