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Toronto’s return to action after the holidays was wild, with a back-and-forth game in Florida.

There actually weren’t a lot of scoring chances (from the home plate area) in the game, but the goals came fast and furious. The two teams were fairly even in the first, neither doing much at even strength; the chances came on the powerplay. Florida then came out strong in the second, out-chancing the Leafs 9-2, despite a goal from Richard Panik that put Toronto ahead. The Leafs found their game in the second half of the period, getting seven of the last eight chances. They ended up level with the Panthers in chances after two, and also up 4-2 on the scoreboard, having scored three in five minutes. The third period was the strangest of the game, as for the most part Toronto did their job defensively; I have Florida generating only one scoring chance all period. However, the Panthers scored four goals, including an empty-netter and two directly from point shots, and stormed back to take the win.

StatusOverallEven StrengthES Close
TeamTORFLA%TORFLA%TORFLA%
15645.5%3350.0%3350.0%
2101050.0%81044.4%71041.2%
34180.0%30100.0%10100.0%
Total191752.8%141351.9%111345.8%

The big gap in shot count, 35-17 to Florida, ends up being somewhat misleading, as the Corsi numbers are substantially closer (42-40 midway through the 3rd), and the chance numbers suggest that the Leafs actually had a decent game. Over the second half, Toronto out-chanced Florida 10-2, but managed to surrender five goals in that time.

ClubStPTimeTScOscNoteTorontoFlorida
TORPP115:1000Clarkson wide from Rielly43197144513463827331-
TORPP114:5200Kadri wide from Lupul43197144513463827331-
FLAES114:1500Bergenheim drives wide2425181246341621204441
FLAES112:1000Bjugstad from Huberdeau2543211244341127127331
FLAES111:3400Huberdeau from giveaway2425181244341121277331
TORES110:3000Clarkson from Phaneuf42187134634161220451
TORES110:2400Clarkson wide from rebound42817134634161220451
TORES109:0000Van Riemsdyk from Bozak2543211244341719827331
FLASH103:0000Bolland wide from Campbell2642124634-2163205511
FLASH102:2100Bolland from Campbell2426124634-1121635511
FLASH101:2200Upshall from Mackenzie2426124634-1719827441
TORPP219:0000Van Riemsdyk wraparound428121343417827331-
TORES218:3900Franson wide from Bozak42812134341719827331
FLAES217:5800Bergenheim post from Ekblad2526434651341619205511
FLAES217:3900Barkov from Bergenheim2543194651341612205511
FLAES217:3800Hayes from rebound of Barkov shot2543194651341612205511
FLAES217:2300Bergenheim from Hayes2418711244341612205511
FLAES217:1600Ekblad wide from Campbell2418711244341612205511
FLAES214:1300Campbell from rebound of Hayes shot254321344341719825511
TORES213:2200GOAL! Panik drives2418711244341612204441
FLAES211:5710Ekblad drives2637204651341121275511
FLAES211:4510Huberdeau from loose puck2637204651341121275511
FLAES211:3610GOAL! Huberdeau drives2437204651341121275511
TORES210:2011Kadri from Van Riemsdyk25432134341612207331
TORES209:5811Santorelli wide from Kadri2543213434161220571
FLAES209:4711GOAL! Hayes from Bergenheim25432134341612205511
TORES206:2612Bozak wide from loose puck4281194651341612207331
TORES205:4412GOAL! Polak from Lupul4281194651341612207331
TORPP202:3022GOAL! Van Riemsdyk from Franson428121343463364441-
TORES201:0232GOAL! Kadri from Lupul4219214651341612207331
TORES200:0042Kessel drives428119346341719245441
TORES311:2843Kessel wide from Gardiner4281194651346324367331
TORES309:0344Lupul wide from loose puck4281194446341612205511
FLASH303:1544GOAL! Boyes deflects Kulikov shot252134634-162436571
TORES302:3045Kessel wide from Lupul4281194651346324367331
TOREN301:0046Lupul from loose puck2442197146516324367331

Player-by Player data:

PlayerOverallEven StrengthES Close
ForAgainstDiffTOIForAgainstDiffTOIForAgainstDiff
Phaneuf83525:3062419:52523
Franson51424:2031218:54312
Robidas28-615:5425-312:3525-3
Panik24-207:2024-207:1724-2
Lupul102816:5872513:52422
Booth03-306:0003-306:0003-3
Van Riemsdyk74319:3353213:22532
Holland27-516:5715-413:5815-4
Santorelli39-615:2938-514:3938-5
Winnik06-616:1003-311:3703-3
Ashton03-307:2903-307:2903-3
Bozak1311219:571001014:15707
Kadri56-117:0636-313:5136-3
Rielly55014:5635-209:5835-2
Polak1011-122:1797218:1067-1
Gardiner86217:2656-114:1836-3
Clarkson62414:2632111:18321
Kessel1001018:2580813:44505
Reimer1817158:211413145:031113-2

The top line put together another excellent game, as Kessel and Bozak both had spectacular chance numbers. Neither were on the ice for a single ES Panther chance, and Bozak’s +7 at ES Close is the best for a Leaf against a non-Buffalo opponent this year. Nazem Kadri didn’t have a particularly strong game, ending up in the negative, while Joffrey Lupul, who played with the top pair for most of the game, was good, as was James Van Riemsdyk. The bottom line, with the returning Carter Ashton and David Booth, were -3 in limited ice time. Peter Holland and Mike Santorelli were also both poor, Santorelli having the worst defensive numbers of the forwards.

Dion Phaneuf and Cody Franson had relatively soft zone starts, but did well with them, leading the defense in chance difference. Roman Polak also did well, ending up -1 at ES Close, pretty strong for him, and he ended up positive at ES overall. Robidas had the hardest zone starts, which contributed to him finishing at -3, the worst of the defence. Morgan Rielly played fairly little in this game, -2 at ES in under 10 minutes, and Jake Gardiner had some struggles in the first half, ending up a -3 at ES Close.

Cumulative numbers this season:

OverallPos#Even StrengthES Close
ForAgainst%TOIForAgainst%
FransonD3419318251.5%15:551109453.9%
WinnikF3410813444.6%12:21605751.3%
ClarksonF3613915347.6%12:22767650.0%
KadriF3617419347.4%14:1810410549.8%
KomarovF23787351.7%12:32394049.4%
PhaneufD3620923447.2%17:1512613348.6%
PanikF33626947.3%08:22384446.3%
LupulF2411213645.2%13:54586945.7%
BernierG2635342745.3%45:0320524545.6%
KesselF3619522746.2%14:2111013245.5%
RiellyD3517621045.6%15:169111045.3%
BozakF3618521246.6%14:319912145.0%
GardinerD3315219044.4%17:018110244.3%
Van RiemsdykF3618323044.3%14:3810413343.9%
PolakD2612017141.2%17:46709143.5%
ReimerG1417421744.5%42:038411043.3%
SantorelliF3613616545.2%13:39709243.2%
SmithF20334144.6%08:04152042.9%
HollandF3610215040.5%11:24537740.8%
RobidasD3413118441.6%15:076511236.7%
HolzerD12477837.6%16:07204530.8%
BoothF15214034.4%09:05102528.6%

Kessel and Bozak are the main movers up, while Booth continues to drop. I kind of hate to harp on it, as Booth only needs a couple of solid games to get back to a more respectable level, but his numbers are getting pretty dire at this point.