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The opening period of tonight’s game was similar to the Leafs’ last road outing against Detroit. The difference was that the Hurricanes were able to take advantage of their dominance. They not only out-chanced Toronto 8-3 at ES, they finished the period up 2-0.

Toronto had some fightback early in the second, and while Carolina dominated the middle of the period, a late goal gave the Leafs some hope. Until the last five minutes, there wasn’t much Toronto push in the final frame, as Carolina added a third goal, and held the chance advantage. Things turned around in the last five minutes, but the Leafs couldn’t get a breakthrough, and saw their winning streak come to an end.

StatusOverallEven StrengthES Close
TeamTORCAR%TORCAR%TORCAR%
141028.6%3827.3%1712.5%
28561.5%8561.5%10100.0%
310662.5%7558.3%00-
Total222151.2%181850.0%2722.2%

The Leafs were the better chance team once the first period was over, though that’s partly due to the fact they were chasing the game. While the push in the last five minutes that ended up drawing the Leafs level at ES overall was good, their play before that, when the gap was only one goal, was disappointing.

ClubStPTimeTScOscNoteTorontoCarolina
CARES116:0200McClement deflects Jordan shot24197112444518245264730
CARES115:3600Shugg from McClement24197112444518245242730
TORES114:1500Phaneuf from Winnik2526433445121425276530
CARES113:5500Gerbe from Staal252643344512142564730
CARSH111:4100Staal wraparound wide252145145-12532544730
CARES109:5300Lindholm wraparound23182012444516495342730
CARES109:5100Lindholm from rebound23182012444516495342730
CARES108:5300Lindholm wraparound4281213464516495342730
CARES108:0600GOAL! Terry from Staal24197146514512142564730
CARPP106:1701GOAL! Faulk from Dwyer431971445145203942730-
TORES104:0302Booth drives2318203464516495342730
TORPP102:3102Lupul from Clarkson431971445145183947330-
CARES101:2102Terry deflects Sekera shot wide2425264464549532542730
TORES100:0302Clarkson deflects Phaneuf shot wide4319713445121839657330
TORES218:4402Van Riemsdyk drives42812146514516495342730
TORES218:0902Holland drives wide24197112444516495342730
TORES217:1202Van Riemsdyk from Gardiner42812146514512143964730
CARES216:4002McClement from Malone42812146514518245242730
CARES216:3802Shugg from rebound of McClement shot42812146514518245242730
CARES215:5102Hainsey deflects Gerbe shot wide2526433445121425476530
CARES215:4002Staal wide from Boychuk252643344512392264730
TORES210:2302Lupul drives241971344520392264730
TORES209:1202Kessel drives4281213444516495342730
CARES204:5302Terry from Boychuk254321465145182225657330
TORES204:3202Kadri deflects Rielly shot254321444645182225657330
TORES203:0502GOAL! Phaneuf from Franson242671344512143964730
TORES201:2612Santorelli wide from Van Riemsdyk2543213514549532542730
TORES315:3212Gardiner drives42811946514512143942730
CARES314:0412Lindholm from rebound of Faulk shot2543213445164953274730
CARES312:4312Skinner wide from Lindholm231820124445164953657330
TORES311:5812Lupul wide from rebound of Kessel shot4281193445121425276530
TORPP311:2412Kessel from Phaneuf4281213445183966530-
TORPP311:1012Kessel from Bozak4281213445183966530-
CARSH308:5512GOAL! Sekera from Faulk242631245-14492542730
CARES308:3313Lindholm deflects Sekera shot4281194444516184942730
CARES306:0713Skinner drives428119344520533947330
CARES305:5713Malone deflects Sekera shot428119344520243947330
TORES305:2413Santorelli from Van Riemsdyk2542213444520242564730
TORES304:5513Van Riemsdyk deflects Rielly shot wide25432144514520242564730
TORES304:2813Van Riemsdyk wraparound25432144514520242564730
TORES303:4713Bozak wide from Lupul428119344516495342730
TORES303:2613Phaneuf from Kessel428119344516495342730
TOREN301:3613Kadri from Santorelli254381213449225242730

Player-by Player data:

PlayerOverallEven StrengthES Close
ForAgainstDiffTOIForAgainstDiffTOIForAgainstDiff
Phaneuf148625:02117419:42220
Franson109122:0578-116:58110
Robidas16-515:3515-412:4704-4
Panik13-206:0013-206:0002-2
Lupul87114:1076112:1603-3
Booth13-208:3713-208:3402-2
Van Riemsdyk116521:4385316:47110
Smith13-206:0113-205:5802-2
Holland35-216:0334-112:3903-3
Santorelli77019:2466017:59211
Winnik25-315:0924-212:17110
Bozak106418:0286214:1001-1
Kadri86218:5065117:07211
Rielly77018:5366017:2704-4
Polak56-118:5856-115:4902-2
Gardiner76119:4264217:20110
Clarkson54113:3143111:5803-3
Kessel106417:3576114:0401-1
Bernier2121058:421818048:3627-5

Some line reshuffling after the first period saw some new combinations put together, but these numbers suggest that the failings weren’t really due to the top two lines. While Kessel, JVR and Bozak didn’t generate much at ES Close, they also weren’t on for much against, and all ended up positives at ES on the night. The same was true for Kadri and Santorelli on that second line. The problem was the bottom half of the lineup: Clarkson, Holland and Lupul all finished -3 at ES Close, and the 4th line, despite playing very little, were all -2. Lupul saw his numbers come back once he was moved up in the lineup, and Clarkson did much better after the first period as well, but the damage was done.

Roman Polak returned to the line-up, and quickly resumed taking hard minutes, ending up with the toughest zone starts of any defenceman. His -2 at ES Close and -1 overall are decent, given the difficult minutes. If he can continue those numbers in that type of start, it’s not bad for Toronto. Dion Phaneuf had a strong night, on for the majority of Leaf chances while they were behind and chasing goals. Morgan Rielly, who had similar zone start numbers to Polak, was a -4 at ES Close, and while he figured it out later in the game, that was tied for the worst mark on the team. The real trouble spot was Stephane Robidas, who continues to disappoint. His minutes were middle of the road, but he was the worst player on the team in chances.

Cumulative numbers this season:

OverallPos#Even StrengthES Close
ForAgainst%TOIForAgainst%
FransonD3017816252.4%15:501008554.1%
WinnikF309911745.8%12:16574953.8%
KadriF3215417047.5%14:21939150.5%
ClarksonF3212613548.3%12:24676650.4%
KomarovF23787351.7%12:32394049.4%
PanikF29545947.8%08:21353649.3%
PhaneufD3219321047.9%17:1811512248.5%
SmithF17303248.4%07:33151746.9%
BernierG2432337946.0%45:0918422345.2%
LupulF208911044.7%14:01465645.1%
RiellyD3115418545.4%15:24809844.9%
ReimerG1114418543.8%43:42729144.2%
PolakD229413441.2%17:36567144.1%
KesselF3217220246.0%14:269612244.0%
SantorelliF3211913846.3%13:37617843.9%
GardinerD3013016843.6%16:58709043.8%
BozakF3216018746.1%14:408411342.6%
Van RiemsdykF3216120843.6%14:439112342.5%
HollandF329013040.9%11:16466441.8%
RobidasD3112116142.9%15:06589837.2%
BoothF11192939.6%09:13101737.0%
HolzerD10386835.8%16:12184031.0%

Another poor showing for the fourth line sees them continue to drop down. The return of Polak, who despite hard minutes is fairly close to the team average at ES Close, should be a positive for the team moving forward, especially since he replaced the struggling Holzer.