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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.

StatusOverallEven StrengthES Close
TeamTORFLA%TORFLA%TORFLA%
17463.6%5455.6%5455.6%
271236.8%71236.8%3350.0%
34266.7%3260.0%00-
Total181850.0%151845.5%8753.3%

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.

ClubStPTimeTScOscNoteTorontoFlorida
TORES118:0900Komarov wide from Panik471867335745172436371
TORPP113:2800Bozak deflects Kessel shot42812134445171933721-
TORPP112:3700Kessel drives428121344451736371-
FLAES110:5300Pirri from loose puck361920257452173125511
FLAES110:4700Campbell post from rebound of Pirri shot361920257452173125511
FLAES108:2700Mackenzie from loose puck361920335745171922371
TORES107:3300Van Riemsdyk drives42812123452173125511
TORES107:2400Phaneuf wide from faceoff428121234511166833721
TORES105:3600Panik wide from Kozun531867515745217312371
FLAES105:1100Bolland deflects Kulikov shot361920335745632436371
TORES101:0400Kessel from Bozak4281214451451116243721
FLAES219:1600Huberdeau drives wide428121234511166833721
TORES218:0400Lupul drives wide3619204451452173125511
TORES218:0200Booth from loose puck3619203351452173125511
FLAES215:3700GOAL! Huberdeau from Barkov42812123451116685511
TORES215:2201Van Riemsdyk drives wide4281212345111668371
FLAES215:1101Barkov wide from Jagr4281212345111668371
FLAES214:0202Trochek post from Pirri36192044514521731233721
TORES212:1702Lindstrom drives wide15375334445111768371
TORES211:4202Van Riemsdyk from Kessel4281214451451116685511
FLAES210:4602Boyes drives42812133574521732433721
FLAES207:3902Bolland from Jokinen42812133574563243633721
FLAES207:2202Jagr from Barkov42812135745111668371
FLAES205:5802Hayes drives wide1537534451452173125511
FLAES205:2602GOAL! Pirri from Trocheck4718673344452173125511
TORES204:2403Van Riemsdyk from Kessel428121233463243633721
TORES204:2103Bozak from rebound of Van Riemsdyk shot4281213443463243633721
FLAES201:0703Barkov from rebound of Huberdeau shot374281344341116685511
FLAES200:2403Hayes from Pirri361920445134637312371
FLAES200:1503Pirri wide from Hayes3619204451346373127511
TORPP319:4303Van Riemsdyk deflects Phaneuf shot wide42812134434163633721-
TORES310:4703GOAL! Carrick from Rielly15375344513421731233721
FLAES310:4013Boyes drives428121445134632436371
TORES310:0513Van Riemsdyk from Bozak4281212334111624371
FLAES309:5513Barkov from Huberdeau42812123341116245511
TORES309:4313Kozun from Panik47186723341116685511

Player-by-Player data:

PlayerOverallEven StrengthES Close
ForAgainstDiffTOIForAgainstDiffTOIForAgainstDiff
Brewer66018:5466018:2635-2
Phaneuf116522:4686217:09330
Lindstrom21112:4921111:49000
Panik31213:5831211:53202
Lupul27-516:5727-514:3824-2
Booth27-516:3727-515:2424-2
Van Riemsdyk118318:3688013:55431
Erixon25-315:1525-313:17220
McKegg27-511:5627-511:4224-2
Bailey22011:4922011:03000
Bozak119220:1189-115:19431
Rielly97223:0667-118:35202
Komarov21114:2821113:56101
Gardiner65123:2665121:31404
Carrick31211:3031211:30101
MacWilliam27-517:4027-516:0724-2
Kozun31212:4031212:01202
Kessel119217:4589-114:06431
Bernier1213-134:341013-332:34871
Reimer65125:1555019:15000

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:

OverallPos#Even StrengthES Close
ForAgainst%TOIForAgainst%
SillF14212347.7%07:0610952.6%
LindstromF12222943.1%07:44131252.0%
KadriF6632234248.5%14:5119218950.4%
PolakD5628634645.3%17:5417418848.1%
RiellyD7440545147.3%16:5321924447.3%
KomarovF5617817550.4%11:579010246.9%
GardinerD7237540847.9%18:0020223046.8%
PanikF6918920847.6%10:1410411946.6%
BernierG5471483646.1%44:1443750446.4%
PhaneufD6334642145.1%17:0619724145.0%
KesselF7539245846.1%15:0121827244.5%
LupulF4819325742.9%13:1910513244.3%
SmithF5011914245.6%09:12698943.7%
BozakF7537143945.8%14:4919425243.5%
Van RiemsdykF7535346743.0%14:5020127742.1%
HollandF5916523441.4%11:368712042.0%
ReimerG3137246544.4%41:0116523441.4%
CarrickF14212942.0%07:09142140.0%
KozunF20284637.8%07:26132237.1%
BoothF5212418040.8%10:186711636.6%
RobidasD5219226741.8%14:449316336.3%
BrewerD11537840.5%17:17224134.9%

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.