Game 65 Scoring Chances: Lightning 4 vs. Maple Leafs 2

Toronto struggled early, falling behind 7-4 in chances and 2-0 on the scoreboard.

They figured things out in the second period, as they were able to out-chance the Lightning, and while it was an open period with plenty of chances both ways, Toronto scored the only goal. That meant they were down only one, and had the chance to chase in the third. Unfortunately, the third period was terrible from Toronto, surrendering 11 of the first 14 chances and falling behind 4-1. While the Leafs did manage to direct some chances at the Tampa net, by the time they got serious pressure, the game was out of reach.

Status	Overall			Even Strength			ES Close
Team	TOR	TBL	%	TOR	TBL	%	TOR	TBL	%
1	4	7	36.4%	4	7	36.4%	3	5	37.5%
2	10	5	66.7%	7	5	58.3%	3	3	50.0%
3	9	11	45.0%	7	7	50.0%	0	0	-
Total	23	23	50.0%	18	19	48.6%	6	8	42.9%

You can see how the Leafs managed to finish even at ES in the third period, but, as mentioned, most of those Leaf chances came after the fourth Tampa goal.

Club	St	P	Time	TSc	Osc	Note	Toronto						Tampa Bay
TOR	ES	1	19:44	0	0	Panik drives	43	47	18	3	51	45	13	51	27	6	77	30
TBL	ES	1	16:47	0	0	Callahan from Stamkos	15	23	20	44	46	45	17	91	24	6	77	30
TBL	ES	1	15:35	0	0	GOAL! Kucherov from Palat	42	81	21	2	12	45	9	86	18	5	55	30
TBL	ES	1	15:14	0	1	Filppula drives	43	47	18	3	51	45	13	51	27	62	77	30
TOR	ES	1	09:44	0	1	Rielly from Kadri	43	47	18	3	44	45	11	90	10	62	77	30
TOR	ES	1	06:21	0	1	Kadri from faceoff	43	47	18	44	46	45	13	51	27	6	89	30
TBL	ES	1	05:40	0	1	Palat drives wide	24	47	20	2	12	45	9	86	18	62	77	30
TBL	ES	1	04:50	0	1	Killorn from Stamkos	24	19	20	2	12	45	17	91	24	5	55	30
TBL	ES	1	02:27	0	2	Johnson drives	15	43	47	3	51	45	9	86	18	6	89	30
TBL	ES	1	01:55	0	2	Killorn from Stamkos	15	43	19	2	51	45	17	91	24	6	89	30
TOR	ES	1	01:20	0	2	Booth from Holland	24	19	20	44	46	45	17	91	24	6	89	30
TOR	ES	2	19:01	0	2	Kessel wide from Van Riemsdyk	42	81	21	44	46	45	9	86	18	5	55	30
TBL	ES	2	18:41	0	2	Coburn from Johnson	42	81	21	44	46	45	9	86	18	5	55	30
TOR	ES	2	16:12	0	2	Bozak from loose puck	42	81	21	44	46	45	9	86	18	5	55	30
TOR	ES	2	14:51	0	2	Panik wide from Kadri	43	47	18	3	51	45	17	91	24	6	89	30
TBL	ES	2	14:03	0	2	Paquette wide from Filppula	24	19	20	2	12	45	13	51	27	62	77	30
TOR	ES	2	13:12	0	2	GOAL! Booth from Holland	24	19	20	2	12	45	13	51	27	62	77	30
TOR	ES	2	10:46	1	2	Kadri deflects Rielly shot	43	18	21	44	46	45	17	91	55	77	89	30
TOR	ES	2	07:33	1	2	Kadri drives	43	47	20	44	46	45	17	91	24	62	77	30
TOR	PP	2	06:57	1	2	Van Riemsdyk wide from Bozak	42	81	21	3	44	45	11	13	5	55	30	-
TOR	PP	2	06:48	1	2	Phaneuf from Kessel	42	81	21	3	44	45	11	13	5	55	30	-
TOR	PP	2	05:50	1	2	Panik deflects Holland shot wide	24	43	18	19	51	45	17	51	6	77	30	-
TBL	ES	2	03:39	1	2	Kucherov from loose puck	42	81	21	3	51	45	9	86	18	5	55	30
TBL	ES	2	03:30	1	2	Stamkos wraparound	43	47	18	3	51	45	17	91	24	6	89	30
TBL	ES	2	03:29	1	2	Stamkos from rebound	43	47	18	3	51	45	17	91	24	6	89	30
TOR	ES	2	02:31	1	2	Panik deflects Komarov shot	43	47	18	2	12	45	17	91	24	6	89	30
TBL	ES	3	17:53	1	2	Namestnikov drives	43	47	18	2	12	45	11	90	10	6	89	30
TOR	ES	3	16:03	1	2	Van Riemsdyk from faceoff	42	81	21	44	46	45	13	91	24	5	55	30
TBL	ES	3	15:30	1	2	Killorn wide from Coburn	42	81	21	44	46	45	17	91	24	5	55	30
TBL	ES	3	14:33	1	2	Johnson from loose puck	43	47	18	2	12	45	9	86	18	62	77	30
TBL	ES	3	13:52	1	2	Boyle from giveaway	15	22	23	3	51	45	11	10	27	6	89	30
TBL	ES	3	13:29	1	2	GOAL! Namestnikov deflects Sustr shot	15	22	23	3	51	45	13	51	90	62	77	30
TBL	ES	3	13:05	1	3	Callahan deflects Hedman shot	24	19	20	44	46	45	17	91	24	62	77	30
TOR	ES	3	12:38	1	3	Booth from Holland	24	19	20	2	46	45	17	91	24	62	77	30
TOR	ES	3	08:14	1	3	Kessel drives wide	42	81	18	44	51	45	13	51	90	6	77	30
TBL	ES	3	07:48	1	3	Killorn wide from Stamkos	43	81	18	44	51	45	17	91	24	5	55	30
TBL	SH	3	05:56	1	3	Callahan wraparound	23	20	3	46	45	-	9	24	86	18	6	30
TBL	SH	3	05:29	1	3	Callahan wide from Kucherov	23	20	3	46	45	-	9	24	86	18	6	30
TBL	SH	3	05:15	1	3	Kucherov post from Johnson	23	20	3	46	45	-	9	24	86	18	6	30
TBL	SH	3	04:46	1	3	GOAL! Killorn deflects Stamkos shot	42	47	2	12	45	-	17	51	91	27	5	30
TOR	ES	3	03:39	1	4	Smith from rebound of Lindstrom shot	15	22	23	44	51	45	11	90	10	62	77	30
TOR	ES	3	03:33	1	4	Lindstrom wide from Rielly	15	22	23	44	51	45	11	90	10	62	77	30
TOR	ES	3	02:43	1	4	Bozak post from loose puck	42	81	21	2	3	45	9	86	18	55	89	30
TOR	ES	3	02:18	1	4	GOAL! Panik deflects Phaneuf shot	43	47	18	2	3	45	17	91	24	6	77	30
TOR	PP	3	00:23	1	4	Kessel from loose puck	24	42	43	81	21	51	17	51	5	55	30	-
TOR	PP	3	00:21	1	4	Van Riemsdyk from rebound of Kessel shot	24	42	43	81	21	51	17	51	5	55	30	-

Player-by-Player data:

Player	Overall				Even Strength				ES Close
	For	Against	Diff	TOI	For	Against	Diff	TOI	For	Against	Diff
Brewer	5	8	-3	16:30	5	7	-2	14:44	1	3	-2
Phaneuf	7	10	-3	22:59	5	7	-2	17:11	2	4	-2
Robidas	2	7	-5	15:52	2	6	-4	14:03	1	3	-2
Lindstrom	2	5	-3	09:04	2	5	-3	09:04	0	1	-1
Panik	9	6	3	14:20	8	6	2	12:03	5	3	2
Lupul	4	4	0	12:14	3	4	-1	10:19	0	1	-1
Booth	4	8	-4	15:10	4	5	-1	12:38	1	3	-2
Van Riemsdyk	9	4	5	19:40	5	4	1	15:18	1	2	-1
Sill	2	2	0	07:49	2	2	0	06:37	0	0	0
Smith	2	6	-4	11:59	2	3	-1	09:07	0	1	-1
Holland	6	4	2	12:09	3	4	-1	09:54	0	2	-2
Bozak	9	5	4	19:29	5	4	1	14:32	0	2	-2
Kadri	11	8	3	19:05	8	8	0	15:21	6	3	3
Rielly	13	5	8	22:33	11	5	6	17:28	4	1	3
Polak	8	7	1	18:39	8	4	4	14:56	3	1	2
Komarov	7	8	-1	16:01	7	7	0	13:39	5	4	1
Gardiner	8	9	-1	21:32	5	9	-4	19:15	1	4	-3
Kessel	9	5	4	19:28	5	5	0	15:34	0	2	-2
Bernier	21	23	-2	57:58	18	19	-1	48:29	6	8	-2

Richard Panik got easy zone starts, but did a very good job with them, as he was one of the only forwards above even at ES Close, a strong performance against his former team. Nazem Kadri was another who did well with friendly zone starts, a team best +3 at ES Close, though his numbers really went down at ES overall. The opposite result came from the top line, which generated almost nothing offensively while the game was close, but had chances while the Leafs were behind. Leo Komarov had a solid game, while Peter Holland finished in the negative after a great game against the Panthers, though he was utilized in a more defensive role. The same was true for Joffrey Lupul and David Booth, who were both -1 after the hardest zone starts on the team.

Morgan Rielly was an offensive dynamo in this game, finishing a team best +6 at ES, and on for eleven Leaf chances. Roman Polak was also strong, +4 at ES overall. Eric Brewer, in his Leaf debut, made a couple of big mistakes, and was a -2, but that was better than Jake Gardiner, who was a team worst -3 at ES Close. Stephane Robidas had another struggle, while Phaneuf finished with similar numbers to Brewer, though he had tougher zone starts.

Cumulative numbers this season:

Overall	Pos	#	Even Strength				ES Close
			For	Against	%	TOI	For	Against	%
Kadri	F	63	313	325	49.1%	14:58	190	178	51.6%
Polak	D	55	282	343	45.1%	18:01	174	185	48.5%
Panik	F	59	156	168	48.1%	09:55	91	97	48.4%
Rielly	D	64	353	385	47.8%	16:49	194	208	48.3%
Komarov	F	46	146	147	49.8%	12:01	79	85	48.2%
Bernier	G	45	621	704	46.9%	45:39	381	419	47.6%
Gardiner	D	62	308	333	48.0%	17:39	174	192	47.5%
Phaneuf	D	53	290	346	45.6%	17:07	174	198	46.8%
Lupul	F	38	162	203	44.4%	13:31	92	105	46.7%
Kessel	F	65	340	389	46.6%	14:59	199	240	45.3%
Bozak	F	65	320	369	46.4%	14:46	176	220	44.4%
Smith	F	41	91	105	46.4%	08:36	52	67	43.7%
Van Riemsdyk	F	65	306	396	43.6%	14:49	181	241	42.9%
Reimer	G	26	330	412	44.5%	43:11	164	223	42.4%
Holland	F	55	143	210	40.5%	11:20	78	107	42.2%
Booth	F	42	95	124	43.4%	09:34	53	78	40.5%
Robidas	D	52	192	267	41.8%	14:44	93	163	36.3%

It’s impressive just how far Nazem Kadri is ahead of the rest of the team, as Komarov is the only forward anywhere close to him. This isn’t that much of a surprise, as he’s been one of the Leafs‘ best possession forwards for the last couple of years, but it’s disappointing to see that the point production hasn’t really followed. It’s also interesting to look at how high the defence are in the rankings, relative to the forwards. Even with the top defenceman, Franson, no longer on the roster, most of the forwards lag behind the top four defenders. That may be due to how bad the Leafs bottom pairing defencemen have been; Robidas’ numbers are terrible, and Holzer, Granberg and Percy also have extremely low chance percentages. From this table, it looks like one of the biggest weaknesses the team has had has been an inability to ice six NHL caliber defencemen.