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One of the ugliest displays I’ve seen from a Leaf team in a long time unfolded on Tuesday, as they were routed 9-2 by Nashville.

The Predators dominated the first period, including a goal in the first two minutes. While the Leafs were able to limit the damage in the second, a late Nashville goal, followed up by two more in the first 90 seconds of the third, triggered a complete and utter collapse, as Nashville extended the lead to 8-0 with fifteen minutes still to play.

StatusOverallEven StrengthES Close
TeamTORNSH%TORNSH%TORNSH%
151033.3%4833.3%2340.0%
26842.9%4357.1%00-
35935.7%5935.7%00-
Total162737.2%132039.4%2340.0%

It was one of those nights were the Leafs were not only outchanced, but also had a lot of breaks go against them, with poor defence and some less than stellar goaltending combining to lead to the blowout. In terms of chances, the Pittsburgh game was actually worse, though this was still a pretty terrible performance. This bears out in the Corsi numbers as well, where the Leafs were second best, but not to the margin that ended up on the scoreboard. Toronto actually did alright in ES Close, but that only lasted for ten minutes.

ClubStPTimeTScOscNoteTorontoNashville
NSHES118:5100Neal from Forsberg42812134459631865935
TORES118:1600Holland from loose puck242547351457132141435
NSHES118:0800GOAL! Beck drives23183246514528244141435
TORSH115:0501Holland from Rielly232434445-9336365935
TORES111:0601Kadri deflects Robidas shot wide26437112444528244165935
NSHES109:4601GOAL! Roy from Cullen42812134457192132035
TORES108:3302Santorelli from loose puck24254746514533631832035
NSHES107:2702Beck drives2425473444528244141435
NSHES106:5602Smith wide from Wilson26437112444515193332035
NSHES106:4902Smith deflects Volchenkov shot wide26437112444515193332035
NSHSH103:3802Ribeiro post from Smith242631245-15336365935
NSHSH103:1102GOAL! Beck from loose puck424744445-9191841335
TORES102:0903Kessel drives42812112444528244165935
NSHES101:2703Nystrom from Beck42812112444519244141435
NSHES101:2303Nystrom from rebound42812112444519244141435
TORPP219:2003Van Riemsdyk deflects Franson shot wide42812145134131965935-
TORES216:0603Bozak from Kessel42812146513415193341435
NSHSH214:1603Ribeiro from Josi264734634-15336365935
NSHSH214:1503Smith from rebound of Ribeiro shot264734634-15336365935
NSHSH213:5103Smith wide from rebound of Josi shot264734634-15336365935
TORES212:0703Santorelli from faceoff2526424446347132165935
NSHES210:3003Neal from loose puck43812112513496318145935
TORES210:0803Franson wide from Holland244771444349631832035
TORES209:3503Holland deflects Rielly shot244771444349216332035
NSHSH208:0703Weber from Josi232444434-15336365935
TORPP205:1903Clarkson drives wide244371344341928205935-
NSHPP204:1203Jarnkrok from Beck42812145134194131435-
NSHES202:0403Smith drives43812112443415193365935
NSHES201:1503GOAL! Nystrom drives24477144463413212441435
NSHES319:3904Jarnkrok from loose puck244771343415193341435
NSHES319:0704GOAL! Ribeiro deflects Ellis shot244771343415336341435
NSHES318:3405GOAL! Forsberg deflects Weber shot4381214651349631865935
NSHES316:5406GOAL! Jarnkrok from Wilson23477112443415193365935
TORES311:4208GOAL! Santorelli from loose puck254347343428244141435
NSHES309:5618Cullen wide from loose puck2543471244347132132035
NSHES309:4818Jokinen from Roy2543471244347132132035
TORES309:2718GOAL! Kadri deflects Phaneuf shot25434734347132132035
TORES306:2628Holland deflects Franson shot242632343415193332035
TORES305:3128Van Riemsdyk from loose puck4281214651347132165935
NSHES302:3228Smith from Wilson24263212443415193332035
NSHES302:3228GOAL! Wilson from rebound of Smith shot24263212443415193332035
NSHES301:2229Nystrom from Gaustad25434712443428244141435
TORES301:0529Komarov deflects Franson shot wide254347343428244141435

The player-by-player data:

PlayerOverallEven StrengthES Close
ForAgainstDiffTOIForAgainstDiffToiForAgainstDiff
Phaneuf79-219:5255013:3812-1
Franson77017:4764213:1202-2
Robidas213-1119:00212-1014:57101
Panik01-106:3901-106:3901-1
Van Riemsdyk48-418:5037-415:4202-2
Smith13-208:1402-205:5701-1
Holland78-118:2756-112:17101
Santorelli64213:5364213:44101
Winnik38-516:1234-111:28101
Leivo13-207:5513-207:5501-1
Bozak56-116:3144013:2402-2
Kadri58-317:1848-414:28101
Rielly715-820:10513-816:26101
Polak46-223:1143118:5101-1
Komarov712-518:1578-114:27101
Gardiner54120:4443117:16110
Clarkson46-211:2136-308:49101
Kessel48-418:2937-414:5002-2
Bernier510-520:0048-414:3023-1
Reimer1117-640:00912-332:18000

Phil Kessel and James Van Riemsdyk were ineffective, producing very little offense and on for both goals in the first period, as well as a series of other chances. David Clarkson also had a bad night in chances, and while Nazem Kadri did some good work in the third period, his ES chance numbers were pretty poor. Tyler Bozak was actually one of the better forwards in chances, ending up even at ES, while only Mike Santorelli ended up as a positive player among the forwards. Peter Holland, who was a -4 in goals, actually ended up close to even in ES chances.

Stephane Robidas’ struggles continue, as he was really poor tonight, a -10 in ES chances. Morgan Rielly, his regular partner, also struggled; the two had tough zone starts, but their numbers were abysmal. The other defensive pairings both ended up about even, but on a night like this, that still meant some fairly poor play all around. Cody Franson joined Santorelli as the best Leafs in ES chances, while Gardiner, who had soft zone starts, as well as Polak were both +1.

Cumulative numbers this season:

PlayerOverallEven StrengthES Close
ForAgainstDiffTOIForAgainstDiffToiForAgainstDiff
Phaneuf79-219:5255013:3812-1
Franson77017:4764213:1202-2
Robidas213-1119:00212-1014:57101
Panik01-106:3901-106:3901-1
Van Riemsdyk48-418:5037-415:4202-2
Smith13-208:1402-205:5701-1
Holland78-118:2756-112:17101
Santorelli64213:5364213:44101
Winnik38-516:1234-111:28101
Leivo13-207:5513-207:5501-1
Bozak56-116:3144013:2402-2
Kadri58-317:1848-414:28101
Rielly715-820:10513-816:26101
Polak46-223:1143118:5101-1
Komarov712-518:1578-114:27101
Gardiner54120:4443117:16110
Clarkson46-211:2136-308:49101
Kessel48-418:2937-414:5002-2
Bernier510-520:0048-414:3023-1
Reimer1117-640:00912-332:18000

Robidas’ ES overall number takes a big drop, as his play has really been bad in the last couple of games. The limited amount of ES Close time means that those rankings are pretty much unchanged.