Game 59 Scoring Chances: Hurricanes 2 vs. Maple Leafs 1

The opening period was an offensive, back-and-forth one, as Toronto and Carolina traded chances.

The Leafs had the better of it, out-chancing the ‘Canes 10-6 at even strength. Brandon Kozun’s first NHL goal drew them level on the scoreboard, but it took less than a minute for them to fall back behind, a deficit they never recovered from. After that first, both coaches must have been unhappy with their team’s defensive performance, as the chances went drastically down. Toronto hardly got any offense in the rest of the game, despite four power-plays, on which they generated not a single shot on goal. The Leafs also didn’t manage a single chance in the last twelve minutes of the game, when they should have been chasing a tie.

Status	Overall			Even Strength			ES Close
Team	TOR	CAR	%	TOR	CAR	%	TOR	CAR	%
1	10	7	58.8%	10	6	62.5%	10	6	62.5%
2	3	4	42.9%	2	4	33.3%	2	4	33.3%
3	3	5	37.5%	3	5	37.5%	0	0	-
Total	16	16	50.0%	15	15	50.0%	12	10	54.5%

After the two teams combined for 17 chances in the first period, they had just 15 between them in the last two periods. Getting only six chances in the last forty minutes is pretty disgraceful for a trailing team.

Club	St	P	Time	TSc	Osc	Note	Toronto						Carolina
TOR	ES	1	19:35	0	0	Komarov from Jokinen	11	47	71	44	46	34	11	12	19	6	26	30
TOR	ES	1	18:38	0	0	Kessel drives wide	42	81	21	51	55	34	20	53	28	4	27	30
TOR	ES	1	16:22	0	0	Winnik from Panik	26	43	18	46	55	34	15	18	24	65	73	30
CAR	ES	1	15:46	0	0	J Staal wide from loose puck	11	47	71	51	55	34	11	12	19	6	26	30
TOR	ES	1	15:02	0	0	Bozak drives	42	81	21	44	46	34	20	53	28	4	27	30
CAR	ES	1	13:10	0	0	Tlusty drives	11	47	71	44	46	34	11	12	19	4	26	30
CAR	ES	1	12:23	0	0	Nash from Semin	42	81	21	51	55	34	20	53	28	6	26	30
CAR	ES	1	12:06	0	0	Nash from Skinner	42	81	21	51	55	34	20	53	28	6	26	30
TOR	ES	1	10:43	0	0	Kadri drives	26	43	18	44	46	34	14	16	49	27	65	30
CAR	ES	1	08:12	0	0	Skinner from Nash	42	81	21	8	12	34	20	53	28	4	27	30
CAR	SH	1	06:05	0	0	GOAL! E Staal deflects Faulk shot	18	67	12	44	34	-	12	19	53	26	27	30
TOR	ES	1	05:32	0	1	Kessel from Bozak	42	81	21	51	55	34	11	12	19	4	27	30
TOR	ES	1	04:35	0	1	Komarov from Jokinen	11	47	71	44	46	34	14	16	49	26	27	30
TOR	ES	1	02:09	0	1	Booth post from Kozun	24	67	20	51	55	34	15	18	24	4	6	30
TOR	ES	1	02:07	0	1	GOAL! Kozun from rebound	24	67	20	51	55	34	15	18	24	4	6	30
CAR	ES	1	01:51	1	1	GOAL! J Staal from Tlusty	42	81	21	44	46	34	11	12	19	4	27	30
TOR	ES	1	00:40	1	2	Rielly from rebound	26	43	18	44	46	34	14	16	49	6	26	30
CAR	ES	2	15:52	1	2	E Staal from giveaway	42	81	21	44	51	34	12	14	19	4	27	30
TOR	ES	2	09:29	1	2	Kadri drives	26	43	20	51	55	34	11	12	16	6	26	30
TOR	ES	2	05:16	1	2	Clarkson deflects Jokinen shot wide	11	47	71	51	55	34	11	12	19	65	73	30
CAR	ES	2	04:58	1	2	Tlusty deflects Sekera shot wide	11	47	81	51	55	34	11	12	19	4	27	30
TOR	SH	2	02:41	1	2	Winnik from Booth	26	20	8	12	34	-	11	20	53	28	4	30
CAR	ES	2	01:57	1	2	Tlusty from Lindholm	26	42	81	44	46	34	12	16	19	26	27	30
CAR	ES	2	00:52	1	2	Bellemore wide from Gerbe	26	43	18	51	55	34	14	49	28	65	73	30
CAR	ES	3	19:31	1	2	E Staal wraparound	26	43	18	44	46	34	11	12	19	6	26	30
CAR	ES	3	17:01	1	2	J Staal from E Staal	26	43	18	44	46	34	11	12	19	4	27	30
TOR	ES	3	14:38	1	2	Van Riemsdyk from rebound of Bozak shot	42	81	21	12	44	34	16	20	53	4	27	30
TOR	ES	3	12:46	1	2	Gardiner wide from Holzer	11	47	71	51	55	34	14	49	28	65	73	30
TOR	ES	3	12:06	1	2	Jokinen wraparound	11	47	71	8	12	34	16	20	53	4	27	30
CAR	ES	3	09:52	1	2	E Staal wraparound	24	26	67	51	55	34	11	12	19	4	27	30
CAR	ES	3	03:02	1	2	J Staal drives	42	18	21	51	55	34	11	12	19	4	27	30
CAR	ES	3	00:36	1	2	Rask from loose puck	42	81	21	44	51	34	16	18	49	4	27	30

Player-by-Player data:

Player	Overall				Even Strength				ES Close
	For	Against	Diff	TOI	For	Against	Diff	TOI	For	Against	Diff
Granberg	2	1	1	08:54	1	1	0	08:04	0	1	-1
Jokinen	5	3	2	17:01	5	3	2	13:44	3	3	0
Robidas	3	2	1	10:17	2	1	1	08:10	0	1	-1
Panik	3	5	-2	16:31	3	4	-1	12:30	3	1	2
Booth	4	0	4	12:16	3	0	3	10:24	3	0	3
Van Riemsdyk	4	7	-3	17:38	4	7	-3	13:09	3	5	-2
Holland	2	1	1	10:13	2	1	1	05:42	2	0	2
Winnik	5	5	0	17:56	4	5	-1	15:29	4	2	2
Bozak	4	8	-4	18:16	4	8	-4	13:23	3	6	-3
Kadri	4	3	1	20:41	4	3	1	16:35	4	1	3
Rielly	6	8	-2	26:23	6	7	-1	20:59	5	4	1
Polak	6	5	1	21:29	6	5	1	19:17	6	3	3
Komarov	5	3	2	14:48	5	3	2	13:41	3	3	0
Gardiner	7	9	-2	25:08	7	9	-2	20:52	6	6	0
Holzer	8	7	1	20:05	8	7	1	18:43	7	5	2
Kozun	2	2	0	05:20	2	1	1	05:04	2	0	2
Clarkson	5	2	3	15:40	5	2	3	12:15	3	2	1
Kessel	4	8	-4	18:29	4	8	-4	13:52	3	7	-4
Reimer	16	16	0	57:01	15	15	0	48:15	12	10	2

The top line was bad, as they didn’t produce much offense, and all were clearly out-chanced. In fact, JVR, Bozak and Kessel were the only Leaf forwards to finish in the negative at ES Close. In contrast, Kadri and Winnik were given much tougher zone starts, but managed to finish in the positive. While they didn’t generate much offense, unlike the top line they were at least able to stay afloat defensively. Olli Jokinen, with Komarov and Clarkson, had a solid game, and that unit was the only one that was positive in the third period. Kozun got his first NHL goal, as the fourth line had an effective night, Booth and Holland also ending in the positive.

Roman Polak and Korbinian Holzer both got tough zone starts on the back end, but ended up doing well with them, with Polak finishing a team-high +3 at ES Close, and Holzer not far behind, at +2. The young defenders had a tougher time, with Gardiner and Rielly both finishing below even at ES, but not by much. Petter Granberg continues to play only sparingly, getting just eight ES minutes, but a big concern for the Leafs is Stephane Robidas, who played the same amount of minutes. Neither player was trusted by Horachek to make a defensive zone start, an indictment of the veteran’s level of play.

Cumulative numbers this season:

Overall	Pos	#	Even Strength				ES Close
			For	Against	%	TOI	For	Against	%
Winnik	F	57	215	233	48.0%	13:20	126	113	52.7%
Kadri	F	57	289	290	49.9%	14:59	175	162	51.9%
Franson	D	55	301	315	48.9%	16:17	178	181	49.6%
Clarkson	F	57	203	215	48.6%	11:57	108	111	49.3%
Panik	F	53	131	133	49.6%	09:36	77	81	48.7%
Polak	D	49	248	310	44.4%	18:06	155	170	47.7%
Rielly	D	58	313	359	46.6%	16:49	173	193	47.3%
Komarov	F	40	122	125	49.4%	11:56	65	73	47.1%
Bernier	G	40	546	635	46.2%	45:28	339	381	47.1%
Phaneuf	D	48	267	317	45.7%	17:05	160	183	46.6%
Gardiner	D	56	275	309	47.1%	17:42	156	179	46.6%
Lupul	F	32	137	169	44.8%	13:29	77	89	46.4%
Kessel	F	59	314	374	45.6%	15:09	185	230	44.6%
Santorelli	F	57	217	260	45.5%	13:51	118	147	44.5%
Bozak	F	59	296	351	45.7%	14:55	163	210	43.7%
Smith	F	39	85	98	46.4%	08:36	48	62	43.6%
Van Riemsdyk	F	59	283	379	42.7%	14:59	167	230	42.1%
Reimer	G	25	317	396	44.5%	43:00	156	215	42.0%
Booth	F	36	73	97	42.9%	09:11	41	60	40.6%
Holland	F	49	123	195	38.7%	11:27	66	99	40.0%
Holzer	D	30	116	164	41.4%	15:02	67	111	37.6%
Robidas	D	46	171	241	41.5%	14:39	82	147	35.8%

For all the talk there’s been in the media about the likes of Phaneuf and Kessel, James Van Riemsdyk has gotten a very easy time. He’s consistently been one of the worst forwards on the teams in terms of chances, and has run behind his two main line-mates all season. Of the regular forwards, only Peter Holland has worse numbers this season.