Game 75 Scoring Chances: Panthers 4 vs. Maple Leafs 1

Like their last game, against the Wild, the Toronto Maple Leafs started well against the Florida Panthers, out-chancing them in the first period.

Things then fell apart in the second, with two quick Florida goals opening up a lead. That lead seemed to break the Leafs, who were out-chanced 7-2 in the second half of the period, and fell further behind, leading to Jonathan Bernier getting replaced by James Reimer. Florida then shut down the game in the third, and while Toronto pulled one back, that was all they got, with the Panthers earning a critical win in their playoff chase.

All of the third period chances at ES came within a minute of each other, just after the Toronto goal. Other than that, the Panthers did a great job of shutting the game down and preserving their lead, and the Leafs did little to chase.

Player-by-Player data:

Recently signed college free agent Casey Bailey made his NHL debut, and while he had a quiet night, he did finish even in his 11 ES minutes, a respectable performance. The top line was on for a lot of action, as they generated the majority of the Leafs‘ ES chances, but were also defensively vulnerable. Still, they finished near even, making it a decent night in terms of chances. Greg McKegg, who drew in and got some substantial minutes with Kadri, Holland and Smith all out, was part of a line that struggled, as he, Lupul and Booth were -5 at ES overall, the worst on the team. This wasn’t helped by the fact that McKegg got the most difficult zone starts on the team. Sam Carrick, who scored his first NHL goal, was tied for a team best +2 at ES, along with Brandon Kozun and Richard Panik.

Jake Gardiner was the only defenceman who had more defensive zone starts than offensive ones, but he did well in spite of that. Gardiner was a team best +4 at ES Close, and while his numbers tailed off once the Leafs fell behind, he still managed to finish above even. Morgan Rielly had a similar game, tailing off after a strong start. On the other hand, Tim Erixon & Andrew MacWilliam, who had the highest offensive zone start ratios, were the worst on the back end in terms of chances. MacWilliam was a -2 at ES Close and a team worst -5 at ES overall, while Erixon ended up at -3. Dion Phaneuf had a decent night, finishing in the positive, while Eric Brewer worked his way back to even after being negative at ES Close.

Cumulative numbers this season:

Jake Gardiner has been one of the few positive spots in the Leafs‘ second half free fall. He has moved his numbers up to the point that he is not only the top Leafs defenceman at ES overall, but one of the top players, period, with only Kadri and Komarov ahead of his 47.9%. He has still gotten relatively easy minutes, compared to the likes of Phaneuf, but done very well with them.