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The Maple Leafs fell behind in the first two minutes on the road in St. Louis, but unlike the games we saw early in the season they managed to fight back.

The Leafs tied the game late in the period before a pair of rapid-fire second period goals established a Leaf lead that they’d never relinquish.

While the scoreline ended up favouring the Leafs, the two teams were pretty much even in possession. The Blues only pulled ahead in Corsi late, and finished narrowly ahead in chances. The Leafs had fewer overall zone entries, but had a much higher percentage of controlled entries.

TeamChances1st2nd3rdESESCloseESCh%NZEnt%ContEntOppContEnt
Tor17575151146.9%47.0%59.2%47.5%
Stl181035171253.1%53.0%--

The Blues dominated the first period, and were ahead 10-2 in chances with two minutes left in the period. After that point, though, the Leafs were the better team, dominating the second period and putting up a strong showing with a lead in the third period, out-chancing the Blues even while the home team chased the lead.

PeriodTimeSTSOTeamHowStateT1T2T3T4T5T6O1O2O3O4O5O6
119:4200StlBrouwer from loose puckES3243143444741222343642
118:5600StlStastny from loose puckES153140424652192026273491
118:0901StlGOAL! Tarasenko from StastnyES231531425641222263491
116:2001StlStastny from ShattenkirkES24263143465242022263491
112:2301StlShattenkirk drives wideES3243143475142022263491
112:0101TorHolland drivesES2152431424442022263491
111:5901TorHolland from reboundES2152431424442022263491
106:4501StlLethera drivesES152131424652121927343642
106:3701StlBrouwer drives wideES152131424652121927343642
104:2101StlBackes drivesES2314344471927344291
102:5201StlFabbri from ShattenkirkES162631424652152234365593
102:1201StlBrodziak deflects Parayko shot wideES223283146566910283455
101:1711TorGOAL! Kadri from reboundES213143464751121926273491
100:5611TorVan Riemsdyk deflects Gardiner shotES31521314251121927343642
100:5411TorVan Riemsdyk from loose puckES31521314251121927343642
218:2611StlStastny wide from BouwmeesterES21626314244192026273491
217:4311TorBoyes wide from MatthiasES23283146525661534555693
217:0911StlFabbri deflects Edmundson shot wideES23283146525661215223493
216:1811TorHolland drivesES22324314447192026273491
214:0311TorFroese drives wideES23283146525661534555693
213:4911TorGOAL! Boyes deflects Polak shotES23283146515661534555693
211:2021TorPolak from loose puckES24314346475261015192834
211:0321TorGOAL! Parenteau from loose puckES15243142465261015192834
208:2331TorKomarov drivesES24314346475261034555693
201:4131StlBackes from BrouwerES15213142444641227343642
318:5131TorHunwick drivesES21521314244192026273491
318:2731StlPietrangelo from SteenES22328314456192026273491
314:2031StlPietrangelo from BouwmeesterES31521314251121927343642
313:1331TorGOAL! Kadri from RiellyES3140434451422263491
307:1541TorRielly from Van RiemsdykPP315213142441219273491
307:0241TorBoyes from MatthiasES23283144465641028343655
304:2841StlPietrangelo from StastnyPP224314347511920262734
304:1841TorKomarov drivesPP2431434647511926273491
301:3041StlGunnarsson from LehteraES24314346475141222343642
301:2541StlLehtera from loose puckES24314346475141222343642

Leafs Player Data

PlayerESChFESChAESCh%ESTOIZS%NZ%ContEntOppContEnt
Matthias5362.5%12:4457.1%54.5%55.6%46.7%
Boyes4357.1%10:5450.0%57.1%50.0%33.3%
Holland6554.5%14:0657.1%41.9%55.6%44.0%
Parenteau6650.0%11:3746.2%41.5%64.7%45.8%
Van Riemsdyk4450.0%11:2254.6%39.0%68.8%48.0%
Grabner1150.0%10:380.0%59.3%50.0%36.4%
Froese4450.0%13:2040.0%51.4%52.6%44.4%
Komarov4544.4%14:5960.0%46.7%71.4%50.0%
Bozak6842.9%13:0446.2%41.5%64.7%50.0%
Kadri4640.0%13:3650.0%46.5%70.0%43.5%
Spaling020.0%12:230.0%43.8%42.9%55.6%
Winnik030.0%10:500.0%46.7%42.9%50.0%
Gardiner5455.6%16:0860.0%51.0%61.5%36.0%
Rielly6554.5%20:0736.8%49.2%58.1%50.0%
Marincin5645.5%10:5220.0%44.0%45.5%50.0%
Polak81044.4%18:4614.3%40.0%55.6%48.1%
Hunwick4544.4%20:4441.2%49.3%64.7%54.3%
Phaneuf2433.3%16:1460.0%46.2%62.5%46.4%

Peter Holland was moved onto the top line, playing with Leo Komarov and Nazem Kadri, and he had an excellent showing, as some success without those two players meant that he actually finished ahead of both of them in chance differential. James Van Riemsdyk moved onto a line with P.A. Parenteau and Tyler Bozak, and that line was also effective, with Parenteau and JVR managing to finish even.

The strongest line was the third line, as Shawn Matthias and Brad Boyes lead the team in chance differential. They got the better of a weaker matchup, playing more against the bottom Blues defensive pairing.

Dion Phaneuf didn’t generate much offense, and had the worst possession metrics on the team by a clear margin. He wasn’t on for a lot of chances against, but fell behind his regular partner, Jake Gardiner. Roman Polak had a very high event game, on for 18 combined chances as he played with a variety of partners. While he had tough zone starts, he also mostly avoided facing the top line for St. Louis, making his poor defensive record even more unimpressive.