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This was a tight game in chances through two periods, with neither team doing much. A ninety second flurry early in the second featured six chances and two Ottawa Senator goals, putting the Toronto Maple Leafs behind again.

Toronto managed to pull one back in the 3rd, and after an exchange of power-play goals, went into the last eight minutes with a chance to earn something out of the game. For once in this terrible stretch, they actually managed it, Tyler Bozak getting a goal with the Leaf net empty for his first career hat trick, taking the game to overtime. Both teams had good chances in the extra period, and after Bozak just missed out on a 4th, hitting the post, Eric Brewer managed to give the Leafs a win. It may damage the Leafs‘ tanking hopes, but it’s nice to throw a wrench into the Sens’ playoff chase.

StatusOverallEven StrengthES Close
TeamTOROTT%TOROTT%TOROTT%
15362.5%4357.1%4357.1%
24544.4%4544.4%3350.0%
38466.7%4357.1%00-
43175.0%3175.0%3175.0%
Total201360.6%151255.6%10758.8%

The Leafs were down by two despite being even in chances after two periods, but a strong finish to the game, and a good overtime period, saw them take a pretty clear chance lead by the end.

ClubStPTimeTScOscNoteTorontoOttawa
TORES117:3600Booth from Smith15232025333415179054641
OTTES116:0200Stone drives428121445134689361466541
TORPP114:5800Van Riemsdyk deflects Bozak shot wide428121351341761627441-
TORES112:5000Smith wide from Lindstrom1523204451347611636541
TORES108:4600Lindstrom penalty shot15232025333427442254641
OTTES104:3000Chiasson wide from rebound of Gryba shot225319445134151790627441
TORES103:1000Kessel wraparound428121445134766154641
OTTES102:1100Chiasson from Zibanejad152320253334939016627441
OTTES215:3501GOAL! Stone from MacArthur428121351347611636541
TORES215:1201Phaneuf from Kadri43471923346893636541
OTTES215:0101Smith drives434719233415179054641
TORES214:4601Lindstrom from loose puck15232044513415179054641
TORES214:3101Smith wide from Gardiner15232044513415179054641
OTTES214:0101GOAL! Lazar from Pageau531820253334274422627441
OTTES209:2802Hoffman wide from Ryan43471923346893654641
TORES203:5102Kadri from Gardiner43471944513493690627441
OTTES203:3602Zibanejad from loose puck4347194451346893636541
TORES315:4702GOAL! Bozak from Van Riemsdyk428121233476116627441
OTTES315:2712Methot wide from Ryan43471923349369036541
OTTES312:3612MacArthur deflects Stone shot wide428121344347611636541
TORES312:1912Van Riemsdyk drives42812123349369036541
OTTES312:0812Methot wide from Ryan42812123349369036541
TORES311:3212Lupul wide from Erixon43471925333415176854641
OTTSH310:3013GOAL! Turris from Legwand47202334-71761466541
TORPP308:3123GOAL! Bozak from Van Riemsdyk428121344341761627441-
TORPP307:1523Bozak post from Van Riemsdyk42812134434761627441-
TORES304:3923Kessel drives wide42812144513476116627441
TOREN302:0023Kessel from loose puck42438121325274422627441
TOREN301:2423GOAL! Bozak from Van Riemsdyk424381213447176136541
TORES404:1833Kessel drives42812334-446836541-
OTTES402:4233Stone wide from Turris4718253334-76136541-
TORES401:4333Bozak post from Kessel42812334-6893466541-
TORES401:4333GOAL! Brewer from rebound of Bozak shot42812334-6893466541-

Player-by-Player data:

PlayerOverallEven StrengthES Close
ForAgainstDiffTOIForAgainstDiffTOIForAgainstDiff
Brewer65120:5764220:35413
Phaneuf117426:1266022:17422
Lindstrom51415:4151414:08514
Panik02-212:3102-212:3102-2
Lupul35-216:4835-215:1512-1
Booth53216:4852316:39523
Van Riemsdyk94520:3644016:5012-1
Sill01-108:4901-108:4901-1
Smith51416:2351416:23514
Brennan43114:0333012:3923-1
Erixon33015:4333015:3423-1
Bozak124819:4674316:07422
Kadri54118:2334-116:43110
Rielly94526:1064222:59422
Komarov36-313:2135-213:1212-1
Gardiner74323:2964221:34431
Carrick02-208:5602-208:5602-2
Kessel124819:2674315:40422
Reimer1813562:141512356:461073

The top line had one of their strongest games in a while, led by Bozak and Kessel, who both were on for a lot of Leaf chances. They didn’t do much until the third period, but their impact in the frame was a big one, as they powered the Leafs to a victory. This was a common occurrence early in the season, but since the start of 2015, games like this just haven’t happened for the top line. The most effective line before the third period was Smith with Lindstrom and Booth. That line pretty consistently managed to generate offense, and Lindstrom drew a penalty shot, though he didn’t score on it. In his return, Nazem Kadri wasn’t particularly effective. Mostly playing with Komarov and Lupul, he failed to generate a whole lot, and that line all ended up in the negative at ES overall.

Eric Brewer had one of his best games as a Leaf. He scored the winning goal, but also was the best defenceman in terms of chances, despite having the most defensive zone starts on the team. While Brewer getting difficult minutes isn’t new, his numbers have typically been pretty bad, so this was a nice change. Dion Phaneuf also did well, as he also had difficult minutes, but was above even at ES Close. Morgan Rielly and Jake Gardiner also had good chance numbers, while the third pairing of T.J. Brennan and Tim Erixon, despite getting the easiest zone starts on the back end, were both in the negative at ES Close.

Cumulative numbers this season:

OverallPos#Even StrengthES Close
ForAgainst%TOIForAgainst%
LindstromF13273047.4%08:14181358.1%
KadriF6732534648.4%14:5319319050.4%
SillF15212446.7%07:13101050.0%
PolakD5628634645.3%17:5417418848.1%
RiellyD7541145547.5%16:5822324647.5%
GardinerD7338141248.0%18:0320623346.9%
KomarovF5718118050.1%11:599110446.7%
BernierG5471483646.1%44:1443750446.4%
PanikF7018921047.4%10:1610412146.2%
PhaneufD6435242745.2%17:1120124345.3%
SmithF5112414346.4%09:21749045.1%
KesselF7639946246.3%15:0222227444.8%
LupulF4919626242.8%13:2210613444.2%
BozakF7637844346.0%14:5019825443.8%
ReimerG3238747744.8%41:3017524142.1%
HollandF5916523441.4%11:368712042.0%
Van RiemsdykF7635747143.1%14:5120227942.0%
BrewerD12598241.8%17:33264238.2%
BoothF5312918241.5%10:257211837.9%
CarrickF15213140.4%07:16142337.8%
KozunF20284637.8%07:26132237.1%
RobidasD5219226741.8%14:449316336.3%

Joakim Lindstrom has played relatively little, but has put up some solid chance numbers in his thirteen games. While the sample is small, he’s beaten out many of the part-time bottom six forwards we’ve seen play this year, such as Carrick, Kozun, Leivo & Frattin. Of course, given that he has far more pro experience than those players, that shouldn’t be a surprise. We haven’t seen much offensive output in his limited time and role, but he’s been quietly effective, and continues to top this table, though that could change with a bad game or two.