Game 19 Scoring Chances: Predators 9 vs. Maple Leafs 2

One of the ugliest displays I’ve seen from a Leaf team in a long time unfolded on Tuesday, as they were routed 9-2 by Nashville.

The Predators dominated the first period, including a goal in the first two minutes. While the Leafs were able to limit the damage in the second, a late Nashville goal, followed up by two more in the first 90 seconds of the third, triggered a complete and utter collapse, as Nashville extended the lead to 8-0 with fifteen minutes still to play.

It was one of those nights were the Leafs were not only outchanced, but also had a lot of breaks go against them, with poor defence and some less than stellar goaltending combining to lead to the blowout. In terms of chances, the Pittsburgh game was actually worse, though this was still a pretty terrible performance. This bears out in the Corsi numbers as well, where the Leafs were second best, but not to the margin that ended up on the scoreboard. Toronto actually did alright in ES Close, but that only lasted for ten minutes.

The player-by-player data:

Phil Kessel and James Van Riemsdyk were ineffective, producing very little offense and on for both goals in the first period, as well as a series of other chances. David Clarkson also had a bad night in chances, and while Nazem Kadri did some good work in the third period, his ES chance numbers were pretty poor. Tyler Bozak was actually one of the better forwards in chances, ending up even at ES, while only Mike Santorelli ended up as a positive player among the forwards. Peter Holland, who was a -4 in goals, actually ended up close to even in ES chances.

Stephane Robidas’ struggles continue, as he was really poor tonight, a -10 in ES chances. Morgan Rielly, his regular partner, also struggled; the two had tough zone starts, but their numbers were abysmal. The other defensive pairings both ended up about even, but on a night like this, that still meant some fairly poor play all around. Cody Franson joined Santorelli as the best Leafs in ES chances, while Gardiner, who had soft zone starts, as well as Polak were both +1.

Cumulative numbers this season:

Robidas’ ES overall number takes a big drop, as his play has really been bad in the last couple of games. The limited amount of ES Close time means that those rankings are pretty much unchanged.