Game 41 Scoring Chances: Capitals 6 vs. Maple Leafs 2

In their first game post-Randy Carlyle, the Maple Leafs ended up with another big defeat, beaten 6-2 by the Capitals.

For the first two periods, the Leafs were having a strong game, despite trailing on the scoreboard, as they were superior in possession and in chances. However, they struggled in the third, getting clearly out-chanced as Washington pulled away for a comfortable victory.

Status	Overall			Even Strength			ES Close
Team	TOR	WSH	%	TOR	WSH	%	TOR	WSH	%
1	8	4	66.7%	7	3	70.0%	7	3	70.0%
2	10	6	62.5%	10	5	66.7%	3	5	37.5%
3	4	9	30.8%	3	6	33.3%	0	0	-
Total	22	19	53.7%	20	14	58.8%	10	8	55.6%

This was one of the Leafs‘ best chance games in quite some time, and while the result didn’t go Toronto’s way, it wasn’t a terrible start to Horachek’s tenure. The ES close numbers do show that Toronto struggled early in the second, until the Washington lead grew to two.

Club	St	P	Time	TSc	Osc	Note	Toronto						Washington
WSH	ES	1	17:33	0	0	Beagle from Chimera	23	47	71	12	51	45	83	43	25	2	27	70
TOR	ES	1	14:55	0	0	Kessel deflects Rielly shot wide	53	81	20	44	51	45	92	20	90	44	74	70
WSH	ES	1	14:50	0	0	GOAL! Johansson from Kuznetsov	53	18	20	44	51	45	92	20	90	44	74	70
TOR	ES	1	12:50	0	1	Kessel drives wide	43	81	44	46	45	-	42	25	52	74	70	-
TOR	PP	1	11:08	0	1	Clarkson wide from Rielly	43	18	71	44	51	45	83	16	27	74	70	-
TOR	ES	1	08:25	0	1	Winnik from giveaway	26	43	81	4	51	45	92	20	25	44	74	70
TOR	ES	1	08:15	0	1	Gardiner from Winnik	26	43	81	4	51	45	92	20	25	44	74	70
TOR	ES	1	07:23	0	1	Booth deflects Phaneuf shot wide	23	18	20	3	12	45	83	43	8	2	27	70
WSH	SH	1	06:08	0	1	Brouwer deflects Green shot wide	23	26	4	44	45	-	19	20	8	90	52	70
TOR	ES	1	03:29	0	1	Winnik from Kadri	26	43	71	3	4	45	19	8	65	38	52	70
WSH	ES	1	02:19	0	1	Kuznetsov from Johansson	23	25	47	44	51	45	92	20	90	44	74	70
TOR	ES	1	02:09	0	1	Van Riemsdyk from Santorelli	23	25	21	3	51	45	83	43	90	2	27	70
TOR	ES	2	18:43	0	1	Van Riemsdyk from loose puck	42	81	21	12	44	45	19	8	65	44	74	70
WSH	ES	2	16:55	0	1	Johansson wraparound	23	47	71	3	51	45	92	20	90	38	52	70
WSH	ES	2	16:37	0	1	Brouwer drives	23	71	20	4	44	45	92	20	90	2	27	70
WSH	ES	2	16:16	0	1	Chimera from Wilson	53	18	20	4	44	45	83	43	25	2	27	70
TOR	ES	2	15:34	0	1	Carrick from Winnik	26	53	81	12	51	45	83	25	65	2	44	70
TOR	ES	2	15:11	0	1	GOAL! Winnik deflects Franson shot	26	43	81	3	4	45	19	25	65	44	74	70
WSH	PP	2	13:40	1	1	GOAL! Fehr from Beagle	42	81	71	3	51	45	83	16	2	27	70	-
WSH	ES	2	11:48	1	2	Ovechkin drives post	25	42	21	3	4	45	19	8	65	38	52	70
TOR	ES	2	07:47	1	3	Santorelli wide from loose puck	25	42	21	12	44	45	92	20	90	38	52	70
TOR	ES	2	07:07	1	3	Clarkson from Smith	23	47	71	12	51	45	92	20	90	44	74	70
TOR	ES	2	06:10	1	3	Kessel drives wide	26	43	81	4	51	45	21	16	65	44	74	70
TOR	ES	2	05:49	1	3	Panik from Van Riemsdyk	42	18	21	3	4	45	19	8	65	44	74	70
TOR	ES	2	04:29	1	3	Clarkson from faceoff	23	47	71	44	46	45	21	16	42	38	52	70
TOR	ES	2	03:52	1	3	Komarov from Polak	23	47	71	44	46	45	21	92	20	38	52	70
TOR	ES	2	03:52	1	3	GOAL! Smith from rebound of Komarov shot	23	47	71	44	46	45	21	92	20	38	52	70
WSH	ES	2	03:10	2	3	GOAL! Johansson from Carlson	25	43	81	3	4	45	92	20	90	44	74	70
TOR	ES	3	17:56	2	4	Van Riemsdyk wide from Bozak	42	18	21	3	4	45	19	8	65	38	52	70
WSH	ES	3	17:46	2	4	Burkovsky from Backstrom	25	18	21	3	4	45	19	8	65	44	74	70
WSH	ES	3	17:40	2	4	Ovechkin wide from loose puck	25	18	21	3	4	45	19	8	65	44	74	70
TOR	ES	3	16:02	2	4	Santorelli post from Winnik	25	26	81	44	46	45	21	16	42	2	27	70
WSH	ES	3	14:47	2	4	Ovechkin wide from Burakovsky	42	18	21	3	4	45	19	8	65	38	52	70
WSH	ES	3	16:02	2	4	Kuznetsov drives wide	25	26	81	44	46	45	21	16	42	2	27	70
WSH	ES	3	12:22	2	4	Johansson from Burakovsky	42	81	21	44	46	45	92	65	90	38	52	70
WSH	SH	3	10:09	2	4	Ward wide from Burakovsky	23	26	3	46	45	-	92	42	65	2	74	70
WSH	SH	3	10:01	2	4	Ward from Kuznetsov	23	26	3	46	45	-	92	42	65	2	74	70
WSH	SH	3	08:59	2	4	Brouwer deflects Green shot wide	23	25	3	46	45	-	19	20	8	90	52	70
WSH	ES	3	08:41	2	4	GOAL! Fehr from Carlson	25	42	47	12	51	45	83	16	25	52	74	70
TOR	ES	3	03:09	2	5	Clarkson from Bozak	42	71	20	3	4	45	92	20	90	38	52	70
TOR	EN	3	00:34	2	5	Kessel drives wide	42	43	81	21	3	4	19	83	8	2	27	70

Player-by Player data:

Player	Overall				Even Strength				ES Close
	For	Against	Diff	TOI	For	Against	Diff	TOI	For	Against	Diff
Phaneuf	8	10	-2	24:25	7	6	1	20:06	4	3	1
Franson	9	8	1	22:26	8	7	1	18:38	4	4	0
Robidas	5	2	3	17:55	5	2	3	15:55	3	1	2
Panik	4	5	-1	12:42	3	5	-2	10:59	1	2	-1
Booth	3	3	0	10:17	3	3	0	09:47	2	3	-1
Van Riemsdyk	6	5	1	20:58	5	5	0	19:09	2	1	1
Smith	6	8	-2	10:29	6	4	2	08:21	2	4	-2
Santorelli	3	8	-5	14:20	3	7	-4	13:22	1	3	-2
Winnik	7	4	3	16:59	7	1	6	14:09	5	0	5
Bozak	6	5	1	21:33	5	4	1	18:56	1	1	0
Kadri	8	1	7	18:51	6	1	5	17:05	5	1	4
Rielly	9	7	2	23:31	8	6	2	20:55	3	4	-1
Polak	5	5	0	14:30	5	2	3	13:11	1	0	1
Komarov	4	4	0	12:51	4	4	0	11:38	0	3	-3
Gardiner	8	6	2	17:13	7	5	2	15:15	5	4	1
Carrick	2	2	0	02:53	2	2	0	02:53	2	2	0
Clarkson	7	4	3	11:08	6	3	3	09:19	1	3	-2
Kessel	10	4	6	22:02	9	3	6	19:39	7	1	6
Bernier	21	19	2	58:57	20	14	6	50:57	10	8	2

Since Carlyle’s firing, the media have been in a frenzy over the play and attitude of Phil Kessel, a familiar topic in this city. He responded with a fairly effective game, though he wasn’t able to get a goal. He was primarily used with Winnik and Kadri, and that line managed the better of the chances consistently. David Clarkson wasn’t great while the game was close, but did well once Washington was up by more than one, as did Trevor Smith, who ended up a positive. Sam Carrick was even, and on for a pair of Leaf chances, despite playing under three minutes of ice time. Tyler Bozak, like Clarkson, was pretty quiet early in the game, but was on for more chances once the Leafs had fallen behind.

Roman Polak, who suffered a nasty looking injury when hit by a shot, not only returned to the game, but played really well. Stephane Robidas, drawing back in to the lineup, was given tough zone starts, and thrived in them, producing one of his better performances of the year. Jake Gardiner also got tough ice time, and did well in it, finishing above even. The top pairing of Phaneuf and Franson, which had seen their numbers plateau lately, had a solid game to get back on track.

Cumulative numbers this season:

Overall	Pos	#	Even Strength				ES Close
			For	Against	%	TOI	For	Against	%
Winnik	F	39	126	147	46.2%	12:21	72	66	52.2%
Franson	D	39	218	222	49.5%	15:57	130	124	51.2%
Kadri	F	39	189	205	48.0%	14:27	115	115	50.0%
Komarov	F	27	92	86	51.7%	12:30	48	49	49.5%
Clarkson	F	41	159	176	47.5%	12:23	86	92	48.3%
Phaneuf	D	41	229	273	45.6%	17:17	142	160	47.0%
Panik	F	36	71	79	47.3%	08:27	44	51	46.3%
Bernier	G	29	404	475	46.0%	45:26	242	283	46.1%
Rielly	D	40	200	242	45.2%	15:32	108	130	45.4%
Kessel	F	41	224	269	45.4%	14:51	137	165	45.4%
Lupul	F	26	120	148	44.8%	13:46	65	79	45.1%
Gardiner	D	38	178	223	44.4%	17:08	101	125	44.7%
Smith	F	25	51	60	45.9%	08:27	28	35	44.4%
Polak	D	31	146	202	42.0%	17:41	90	114	44.1%
Bozak	F	41	209	254	45.1%	14:52	119	152	43.9%
Van Riemsdyk	F	41	203	272	42.7%	14:51	121	161	42.9%
Santorelli	F	41	152	194	43.9%	13:35	83	111	42.8%
Reimer	G	16	195	269	42.0%	42:40	102	144	41.5%
Holland	F	38	106	159	40.0%	11:29	56	82	40.6%
Robidas	D	35	136	186	42.2%	15:09	68	113	37.6%
Holzer	D	16	65	102	38.9%	16:10	34	65	34.3%
Booth	F	20	32	55	36.8%	09:19	18	35	34.0%

This table should be interesting to watch in the Horachek era. After the first half, only Leo Komarov is above 50% at ES Overall. If the Leafs possession struggles are substantially down to coaching, that number should substantially change by season end.