Game 31 Scoring Chances: Maple Leafs 6 vs. Ducks 2

While the score line was different, there was a lot similar between the Leafs’ back-to-back wins against the teams from Southern California.

Much like Sunday, the Leafs went out to a 2-0 lead, despite being out-chanced in the first two periods, and, also just like that game, Anaheim responded with a goal late in the second, putting some pressure on Toronto. The Leafs showed some good resilience with another great third period; despite holding a lead, they were even in chances. Of course, the difference was that they turned four of those chances into goals, making the final score pretty lopsided.

It was a busy game, with the most combined chances for a Leaf game since the game against Dallas. While the last two games have seen the Leafs broadly outplayed at ES in the first two frames, their solid third periods, against quality teams — and, in the LA game, on short rest — is a great sign. It’s a confidence defending the lead that has, over the past few years, been missing more often than not. It was also a rare night where the Leafs were not great on special teams, as they gave up a couple of chances while on the power-play.

Player-by Player data:

I’ve harped on it a lot recently, but one of the keys to the Leafs‘ great run of play has been their depth, as the top line, for the most part, hasn’t been pulling its weight at even strength. Tonight was more of what we’d expect from them, as not only did they generate a couple of goals, they also were the top offensive line in terms of chances. All three members also ended up close to even, though they were -1 at ES Close.

Mike Santorelli had a good game as well, the leading forward at ES Close. That came despite his regular line-mates, Kadri and Winnik, having relatively poor numbers. Kadri’s defensive chance numbers were pretty bad, although most of that came once the game was pretty much decided in the third. Peter Holland had a solid night in the middle, but the fourth line, typically pretty quiet, wasn’t great, getting clearly out-chanced despite limited minutes and soft zone starts.

Jake Gardiner had a strong night, as he had tough zone starts, but was offensively dynamic, and ended up tied with Franson as the best defenceman at ES Overall. You can forgive Gardiner’s defensive lapses when he helps generate the offensive shifts he did tonight, but too often this year we’ve seen only the lapses. Cody Franson, the best zone starts on the defence, had a strong game in that situation, finishing +4 at ES close, a team high. Part of these good numbers was one strong shift, where the Leafs generated a number of chances with both defencemen (Gardiner and Franson) on the ice. That explains why Phaneuf, Franson’s partner, was somewhat behind him. Stephane Robidas and Morgan Rielly were the weak point on the defence, with Rielly’s defensive numbers in particularly being real eyesores, he was a -7, and on for 13 Anaheim ES chances. Robidas was only marginally better.

Cumulative numbers this season:

The fourth line all move down after a relatively poor game, meaning that Franson retakes the ES Close lead from Smith. Robidas’ numbers slip even further, as he drops below Percy at ES Close, down to under 40%.