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Toronto finished its season series with Pittsburgh, ending up clearly second-best in chances in all three games.

In this one, though, they managed to earn a point after they scored three times in the second, as they responded well after falling behind 2-0. While the Leafs had the better of the scoring in the second, Pittsburgh still had more of the chances. The Leafs then played a tight third period, limiting Pittsburgh’s chances and holding on to earn a point.

StatusOverallEven StrengthES Close
TeamTORPIT%TORPIT%TORPIT%
16460.0%2340.0%1325.0%
261135.3%5741.7%2340.0%
32433.3%2433.3%2433.3%
4010.0%010.0%010.0%
Total142041.2%91537.5%51131.3%

The Leafs‘ ES Close numbers were really poor, as some of their better play came when they were down two in the second. The low overall number of chances is consistent with their last two games; since the Nashville game, they’ve definitely played a tighter style. In the 3 games with Pittsburgh, the Leafs had 32.5% of chances at ES overall, and 27.8% at ES Close, a pair of very low numbers.

ClubStPTimeTScOscNoteTorontoPittsburgh
PITES119:3400GOAL! Comeau from Malkin25434744514571141731029
TORES116:5601Santorelli from faceoff254347344571141731029
PITES114:1801Kunitz from Malkin2543473124571871431029
PITES111:1601Martin from Crosby2543473514513872375829
TORPP110:2501Phaneuf from Van Riemsdyk4281213445572775829-
TORPP109:5401Van Riemsdyk from rebound of Kessel shot4281213445165941029-
TORPP109:4201Van Riemsdyk deflects Kessel shot4281213445165941029-
TORPP109:1601Bozak from loose puck428171445145165741029-
PITSH107:2101GOAL! Malkin from Letang2324125545-718772145829
TORES102:3002Komarov deflects Holzer shot wide25434712554571141731029
TORES219:3202Santorelli drives254347344571141731029
PITES217:3202Downie drives428121344516592331029
PITPP215:3202Spaling from Sill4281213445133875829-
TORES214:0702Kadri wraparound25434712554571141734729
PITES212:4402Sutter from loose puck23192044514516592375829
PITES212:4202Downie from rebound of Sutter shot23192044514516592375829
TORES211:4902GOAL! Komarov from Santorelli2543471255457114173429
PITES211:3202Hornqvist wraparound242671344513877231029
TORES209:1212GOAL! Komarov deflects Phaneuf shot254347344513877231029
PITES206:4122GOAL! Comeau deflects Kunitz shot428121344571141775829
TORES205:5123Clarkson from loose puck24267144514513877275829
PITES204:4123Kunitz wide from Downie2543471255451623143429
PITSH204:3223Crosby from Malkin26473445-718772145829
PITSH203:5523Hornqvist from Crosby26473445-718772145829
TORSH203:3923GOAL! Bozak drives264235545-718772145829
PITSH202:3933Maata from Ehrhoff232444445-57231731029
PITES201:0133Kunitz drives428121344571141775829
PITES315:3433Crosby from Hornqvist428121344513877231029
PITES315:1533Ehrhoff wide from Malkin438145145-718731029-
PITES314:5633Malkin from Crosby438145145-718731029-
PITES309:0133Malkin drives wide25424731245711417105829
TORES307:1433Lupul drives wide2419203445138772104729
TORES304:3733Kessel from Kadri438121344516592375829
PITES402:4733Maata from Comeau2425515545-141731029-

The player-by-player data:

PlayerOverallEven StrengthES Close
ForAgainstDiffTOIForAgainstDiffTOIForAgainstDiff
Phaneuf911-226:3758-320:1446-2
Franson811-325:3957-218:5045-1
Robidas34-117:5533016:0203-3
Lupul12-111:4512-110:10101
Booth12-109:3312-109:33101
Van Riemsdyk45-117:0414-313:4713-2
Smith04-407:2502-206:32000
Holland24-215:0722012:19211
Santorelli66015:1666015:1126-4
Winnik23-114:0311009:52101
Bozak56-118:2905-513:5804-4
Kadri76118:4776118:4236-3
Rielly24-218:2213-215:53110
Komarov67-116:5365114:1225-3
Gardiner27-519:5917-617:0915-4
Holzer43117:5032115:0802-2
Clarkson21113:5711011:23101
Kessel57-219:2316-515:0715-4
Bernier1420-662:53915-651:33511-6

The top line had one of its quietest offensive games of the year; until the last 5 minutes, none of them was on for a single Leaf ES chance. They also weren’t able to keep the Penguins under control very well, and all ended up with substantial negatives. The Kadri-Santorelli-Komarov line was the line that drove play, but their ES Close numbers are quite bad, as the best of their offense came with the Leafs down by two in the second, including Komarov’s first goal, which got the game back to a ‘Close’ score state. The other lines both got around 10 minutes of ES ice time, and all had pretty uneventful nights, even or close to it at ES.

With Roman Polak out, Korbinian Holzer drew in for his first game of the season (actually, his first game in two seasons), paired with Stephane Robidas. The pairing actually had a decent game in terms of chances, as while they both ended up in the negative at ES close, this is partly down to their tough zone starts, the hardest on the team. In addition, they were on for some offensive chances when the Leafs were down by two, which pulls their ES overall numbers up. In fact, the defenceman who struggled most was Gardiner; while he was regularly paired with Rielly, and that pairing had a reasonable game, he was on for a lot of chances against when with someone else. The top pairing of Phaneuf and Franson also had negative numbers, though they tended to get the tougher match-ups with the Penguins’ top forwards.

Cumulative numbers this season:

OverallPos#Even StrengthES Close
ForAgainst%TOIForAgainst%
LupulF10424150.6%14:53281959.6%
FransonD201149155.6%15:16695356.6%
ClarksonF22898052.7%12:38504055.6%
ReimerG912213347.8%41:04594954.6%
PanikF20394049.4%08:42262254.2%
WinnikF20596647.2%11:52353252.2%
RiellyD2110311148.1%15:03605751.3%
KadriF2210010848.1%13:48656251.2%
PhaneufD2212813448.9%17:10838250.3%
KesselF2212513847.5%14:54778148.7%
KomarovF22767151.7%12:40384048.7%
BozakF2211212247.9%15:01657147.8%
SmithF8131743.3%07:447846.7%
Van RiemsdykF2211214343.9%15:04688145.6%
HollandF22526943.0%10:29293545.3%
BernierG1618921946.3%43:4112415145.1%
PolakD218912841.0%17:41566944.8%
GardinerD20779345.3%16:23415144.6%
SantorelliF22687348.2%12:45334542.3%
LeivoF8182146.2%07:33111542.3%
RobidasD218110244.3%15:13426140.8%
PercyD8264138.8%14:54142238.9%
FrattinF651327.8%06:5831220.0%

Booth and Holzer don’t appear above, but Lupul does stay on top after his return. Komarov sees his ES Close number drop below 50%, but is still one of three forwards above 50% at ES Overall.