The Maple Leafs lost 4-3 in overtime to the Bruins. The good, bad and ugly.The Boston Bruins forced overtime in this game after the Toronto Maple Leafs rallied twice, losing 4-3 in the end. This is the tenth time this season that a Maple Leafs game has gone into overtime, and the fifth time in the previous six games.
The Ugly
Since the ugly in this game was a plus, I’ll start with that. The Maple Leafs have a reputation for scoring goals that are practically highlight reel material. And many of those lovely goals are scored by Auston Matthews. In this game, Matthews scored twice. After falling behind 2-0 at the first goal, the Maple Leafs tied the score with a second goal with 5.9 seconds remaining in regulation, forcing overtime.
Neither of the objectives was particularly attractive. They were the kind of tough, grind-it-down goals that are rarely scored by the Maple Leafs.With the first goal, Matthews Knies outplays Linus Ullmark, the goalie for the Bruins, and gets a good down low scoring chance that Ullmark stops. Knies drifts back into the slot after failing to score, and Matthews blocks a Boston clearing attempt. Matthews transfers the puck to Simon Benoit at the left point from the right point. Knies is in the slot when Benoit enters the area with a few steps.
As Ullmark exits the crease, he reduces Knies’ shot angle, but William Nylander receives the rebound to Ullmark’s right.Charlie McAvoy outmaneuvers Ullmark to block Nylander’s shot, but Matthews gets the rebound and makes no mistake.
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Tavares enters the Bruins’ zone from the far left and drives the ball straight into Ullmark. Boston defenseman Hampus Lindholm assists Tavares when he runs into Ullmark, causing him to topple over. Mitch Marner picks up the loose puck and coolly dumps it over the Matthews.To tie the game, Matthews scored again from the same spot where he had scored his first goal.
The Bad
The Maple Leafs were behind 2-0 at 7:31 in the first period, despite controlling the play for the majority of the first half.David Pastrnak scored the first goal for Boston with a laserbeam wrist shot that Morgan Rielly may or may not have gotten a piece of.It is difficult to tell if Rielly gets his stick on it or not, even with a slow-motion replay.
Still, the shot passed over Woll’s right shoulder. Although Woll was at the top of his crease in the replay, it was mentioned during the broadcast that he might have been too far back in his net. For me, the shot simply outclassed him. Rielly’s stick might have changed the puck’s trajectory or at the very least made it more challenging for Woll to read the shot.
In the second goal, Pastrnak picks up a shot from Jake DeBrusk that Woll has guided into the right corner of the Maple Leafs zone and skates toward the point to Woll’s right.Kevin Shattenkirk is a Maple Leafs skater who slips under the radar by coming from the opposite point. Knies, in particular, has the duty of covering him.
The five Maple Leaf skaters can be seen focusing on Pastrnak just before he passes the puck to Shattenkirk. Nobody notices him until the puck is headed toward Shattenkirk. Shattenkirk shovels the puck into the net over Woll’s left shoulder after going forehand and backhand. This season, Woll has performed better than the other goalie. Until this game, he had only let up more than three goals four times in 13 appearances. I can honestly say that, of the 35 goals Woll had conceded before this game, I cannot remember any where I thought, “That was a stinker” or “He has to make that save.”
The third goal scored by Boston might have been the worst that Woll has allowed this year. Derek Forbort hit a point shot with little force that ended up in Woll’s glove pocket. But Woll was unable to hang on to it. After bouncing off Woll’s glove, the puck fell to his feet in the crease. Trent Frederic had already shoveled it into the net when Woll realized he didn’t have it. Woll losing it out of the glove could have been caused in part by the shot’s lack of speed. I’m sure Woll would like to see that objective accomplished.
It was more luck than skill that led to the overtime winner. Nylander was knocked down to cause the puck to flip over. Woll stopped Pastrnak on his initial breakaway attempt and attempted, but was unable, to stop Pastrnak’s pass to Brad Marchand.
But I do have one question. As soon as there was a turnover, Rielly entered the rink and made an effort to rejoin the play.He also attempted to block Pastrnak’s pass attempt.Where was Tavares, is the one question I have. The other player on the ice was him.Ten seconds passed between Nylander turning the puck over and it went into the Maple Leafs net.Tavares did not come onto the screen until after the goal was scored.Where had he been all along?
Among all the Maple Leafs players, Morgan Rielly has the most difficult assignment.His responsibility was to cover Pastrnak.Rielly was on the ice for all four of Boston’s goals, and Pastrnak assisted on three of them.The Maple Leafs’ incapacity to stop Pastrnak was a major contributing factor in their defeat in this game.A portion of the blame must fall on Rielly.
The only defensive duo for the Maple Leafs to record negative overall statistics was TJ Brodie/Rielly. In five-on-five play, they had 32% of High-Danger Scoring Chances and 30% of Expected Goals.
The Good
In this game, the core four players of the Maple Leafs were the team’s best players.The two goals we talked about earlier were scored by Matthews.Nylander, Marner, and Tavares each contributed significantly to a goal.
With 16 goals in 22 games this season, Matthews is one goal behind Brock Boeser for second place in the NHL scoring.Matthews is on pace to score 60 goals this season, despite having only scored one goal in his previous nine games.13 of Matthews’ 16 goals have been scored in just five games, which is an odd statistic.He has two two-goal games and three hattricks. Matthews has scored three goals in as many games as he has scored one. In eight games, he has scored goals; in fourteen, he has not.
At last, Max Domi found the net for his first goal as a Maple Leaf. Growing up, Domi, a die-hard Maple Leafs supporter, had to dream of scoring a goal for his team. His dad was Tie Domi. It took him twenty-two games, but in the end, he succeeded. His excitement was evident from his celebration. Since the third line of him, Domi has been playing well. Nick Robertson and Jarnkrok are now together. After just 21 games, he has 11 points, and in his last 11 games, he has seven. Still, everyone wants to score. This must be a significant burden removed from his shoulders.
The top three defensemen who are still playing have had to shoulder a lot of the load because of all the injuries the Maple Leafs have had on the back end.Over the past five games, Rielly has played nearly 27 minutes per game on average.In that same time frame, Brodie and Jake McCabe have each played more than 22 minutes per game.
Simon Benoit, William Lagesson, and Conor Timmins were all instrumental in this match. Five-on-five Timmins had nine High-Danger Scoring-Chances For and just one High-Danger Scoring Chance Against while on the ice, according to Naturalstattrick.com. The Maple Leafs scored 83.5 percent of their expected goals when he was on the ice. In addition, Benoit was in the game for 67% of the expected goals, one against, and nine high-danger scoring chances. Five High-Danger Chances For, one Against, and 56% of the Expected Goals were scored while Lagesson was on the ice.
Should those three players continue to perform as they did in this match, management may feel less pressure to make any kind of rash defensive move.
Whatโs Next?
The Ottawa Senators are the only team in the Atlantic Division with more games played than the Maple Leafs, but they will be off for the next four days. Following the game, Keefe announced that they would practice on Sunday before taking a day off on Monday. After that, they would spend Tuesday and Wednesday getting ready for their Thursday trip to Ottawa to play the Senators. After that, they’ll play three games over the following four days and six over the following ten. There are three away games and three home games.
The Maple Leafs have only lost in regulation once in their last nine games, despite all the drama in Leafs Nation and the criticism of their performance. They have won 14 of a possible 18 points in those contests, going 6-1-2.
Another Question:ย Why McCabe?
Sheldon Keefe’s record supports my belief that he is a competent NHL coach. That does not imply that I support every choice he makes. Keefe has been feeding McCabe a consistent shift in the three-on-three overtime during this run of games, where five of their last six have ended in overtime or shootouts.
McCabe excels in both physical play and defensive strategy. In his eight-year career, he has only twice had more than 20 points in a season and has never scored more than four goals in a season.
I understand Keefe’s situation is limited by injuries and other factors. Brodie is the only other experienced option available to him. For a 33-year-old, Keefe needs to be careful not to abuse Brodie, who is playing significant minutes in regulation.
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In my opinion, Timmins would be a far better option if Keefe decides to use a defenseman in overtime. Alternatively, three forwards could be used.