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The Sens’ top line of Bobby Ryan, Kyle Turris and Clarke MacArthur could do whatever they wanted against a weaker Leaf lineup, but the Leafs got pretty good goaltending and hung around despite a 35-22 shot count, skating to a 3-2 final.

The Leafs made it mildly interesting in the final minute when Morgan Rielly scored with 30 seconds left, and Daniel Winnik nearly put an exclamation mark on a nice game by nearly tying it, hitting the post with a few seconds remaining.

Some player notes:

  • Morgan Rielly – Good game. Started with a nice rush in the first; followed it up with a good hard shot that just missed while creeping in off the point later in the period. Didn’t take care of Puempel’s stick in front on the 2-0 goal, but made up for it by jumping up into the rush and laying the puck off to Carrick for his goal. Showed off the shot he has been working on in the off-season with a good release from the point that beat Anderson clean top left.
  • Matt Frattin – Came out banging bodies on the first shift. Exploited lazy play by the Sens in the neutral zone and took a pass from Kevin Marshall, splitting the D for a breakaway, but didn’t get good wood on the shot. Quieted down after the 1st, but there was an amusing moment when a pinching Sens defenceman thought he’d line Frattin up down the wall and definitely got the wrong end of it.
  • David Booth – A couple of decent shifts by his line alongside Holland and Frattin in the first,but he really didn’t look like a guy worried about his place on the team for much of the game. He did finally make an appearance in the third with a nice outside-inside move at the blueline to get by one and put a shot on goal. Abbott nearly buried the rebound.
  • Daniel Winnik – Arguably the best Leaf forward tonight. Honest hockey player. Hard working, smart, effective, competent with the puck. A piece who can help take the 4th line from nonexistent to potentially very effective. Good shifts on the cycle alongside Sam Carrick and Spencer Abott, and his smarts on the PK were visible throughout.
  • Sam Carrick – Moving well again, buzzing, strong on the puck. If he takes a second step forward with the Marlies and bumps his PPG up a notch, we’ll see him in a few regular season games this season. He got a wake-up call on the PK, getting walked around by Ryan, but he bore down well on his chance. Winnik and Carrick was the Leafs’ best duo up front; only combination that generated consistent zone time.
  • Spencer Abbott – Abbott was quite dangerous in the first. He’s a top flight AHLer. Thing is, when it’s a real NHL game against a fullNHL lineup, he struggles to generate the same openings with just-average speed. He’ll be a top-9 call up option, though.
  • Korbinian Holzer – Started the game really well. Looks high on confidence right now: Jumping into the attack, moving the puck decisively, stepping up on opponents at the blueline effectively. Slowed down as the game went along, but it was another step toward making the team in my view.
  • Tom Nilsson – Nilsson isn’t tall by any means, but he’s sturdy. Steps up at the right times. He has some tricky little manoeuvres for advancing the puck under duress. Good on the offensive blueline. Sweden exports IKEA furniture and smart defencemen. Looking forward to monitoring him with the Marlies.
  • Carter Ashton – Starting to worry he won’t be on the team much longer. Not sure what the plans are with Ashton. He made some good defensive plays, and he’s a big strong kid who moves pretty well after a few years of working with Barb Underhill, but he ‘s struggling to impact the game in meaningful ways. We could argue until we’re blue in the face about whether he’s gotten adequate opportunity yet, but he could well be squeezed out by the end of this camp if he doesn’t step it up the rest of preseason.
  • McLaren, McMillan, Orr, Vail – The different combinations of these four struggled to get out of their end for much of the game.
  • Antoine Bibeau – Stopped 16 of 18 as his unofficial shutout streak came to an end. Two particularly good saves in the slot by Bibeau on Bobby Ryan in the first, he did his best to hold the Leafs in it. Ryan got one by him eventually with a quick off-beat release that snuck through on the near post. Eric Knodel should’ve gotten the puck out and turned it over on the wall just before.
  • Cal Heeter – Entered the game and spit a couple of ugly rebounds directly into the slot, but settled in and battled well in his half of the game. Stopped 16 of 17 and had no chance on the Ryan tip.

Maple Leafs Player Stats

PLAYERPOSGAP+/-PIMSHITSBKSFO%PP TOISH TOITOI
D. BoothL00010210-0:000:1121:27
T. SmithC000-1000063%0:003:1915:03
P. HollandC0001033057%0:000:1021:33
D. WinnikC00000310-0:001:5716:52
C. OrrR000-10021-0:000:0010:22
C. AshtonR00000400-0:002:5415:15
F. McLarenL00000031-0:000:006:49
M. FrattinR000002610%0:000:1018:49
M. RiellyD11220222-0:001:5723:35
S. CarrickC1121011025%0:001:4315:26
K. HolzerD00016122-0:000:5520:09
S. AbbottL01100120-0:000:0015:20
A. MacWilliamD000-10133-0:003:1220:04
E. KnodelD000-10021-0:002:5619:12
K. MarshallD000-10113-0:001:1418:28
T. NilssonD01100032-0:000:1018:42
C. McMillanR00000000-0:000:007:54
B. VailC0000010040%0:000:009:18
GOALTENDERSV - SSV%PIMTOI
A. Bibeau  16 - 180.889030:33:00
C. Heeter  16 - 170.941027:57:00

Game Highlights

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Alec Brownscombe is the founder and editor of MapleLeafsHotStove.com, where he has written daily about the Leafs since September of 2008. He's published five magazines on the team entitled "The Maple Leafs Annual" with distribution in Chapters and newsstands across the country. He also co-hosted "The Battle of the Atlantic," a weekly show on TSN1200 that covered the Leafs and the NHL in-depth. Alec is a graduate of Trent University and Algonquin College with his diploma in Journalism. In 2014, he was awarded Canada's Best Hockey Blogger honours by Molson Canadian. You can contact him at alec.brownscombe@mapleleafshotstove.com.