The Toronto Maple Leafs are playing some pretty good hockey as of late.
While it’s been a four-game streak of hot sticks that won’t last forever, they’re beginning to refute the theory that a debilitating lack of talent meant they couldn’t improve upon their shooting percentage, at least to some degree. The Leafs’ even strength shooting percentage is up to 19th, meaning they’re scoring more in line with what they’ve deserved on the merits of their 5v5 play (15th in 5v5 CF%).
Since scoring just twice in their trip to Winnipeg and Minnesota, the Leafs have exploded for 19 goals in their last four games against a run of reasonably strong opponents.
When I looked at the schedule in September I totally thought the Leafs would beat the Blues & Kings 9-1 combined on Sat night HNIC tilts.
— Danny D (@dannyd1976) December 20, 2015
The scoreline last night was a little deceiving as far as the run of play is considered given the Leafs really piled it on late and added a few garbage-time goals — the Kings controlled the middle 20 of the game — but this was one of their better wins of the season to be sure. The even-strength shot attempt chart compliments the Leaf performance against the league’s best possession team four years running:
The crowd responded in kind with what was the most spirited ACC atmosphere of the season so far. It certainly helps when there’s something to cheer for like Jonathan Bernier bucking the giant gorilla off his back with a shutout victory over his former team, or Byron Froese’s first NHL goal.
Some thoughts on a joyous final night at the ACC before the Christmas break:
– There was some of that Jonathan Bernier of-old moxie on display last night. When Bernier is confidently challenging shooters, cutting down angles that quickly and making tough saves look as routine as he did last night, it gives everyone hope that the 2013-14 Bernier is still in there somewhere.
– As mentioned, the Leafs came out on top in even-strength shot attempts against the best possession team in the League, and really began to establish the edge in the second half of the game with the lead. The eyes suggested the Leafs generated more scoring chances of note as well, and the data agrees: 15 high-danger scoring chances to the Kings’ 10.
– The Kings control games territorially in part thanks to their support play enabling aggressive pinching by their D down the walls, and while this brought about its challenges – there were times were the Leafs had to just limit the damage and flip pucks back into the Kings’ hands in neutral ice — the Leafs did a good job using the short bump pass into the middle to get themselves moving north and out of trouble.
– One line that handily won its matchup on possession was the new line of Brad Boyes, Shawn Matthias and Byron Froese, the latter of which scored his first NHL goal last night. They primarily matched up with the Kings’ third line of Dustin Brown, Trevor Lewis and Michael Mersh and destroyed them in the territorial battle with a number of sustained cycle shifts.
| Matchup | CF | CA | CF% |
|---|---|---|---|
| Froese vs. Dustin Brown | 20 | 7 | 74% |
| Froese vs. Trevor Lewis | 17 | 3 | 85% |
| Freose vs. Michael Mersh | 20 | 6 | 77% |
| Matthias vs. Dustin Brown | 20 | 9 | 69% |
| Matthias vs. Trevor Lewis | 17 | 4 | 81% |
| Matthias vs. Mchael Mersh | 20 | 5 | 80% |
| Boyes vs. Dustin Brown | 20 | 8 | 71% |
| Boyes vs. Trevor Lewis | 17 | 3 | 85% |
| Boyes vs. Michael Mersh | 20 | 4 | 83% |
– Putting aside fact that he thought he was Patrick Kane for a moment last night and drop passed with the net wide open — I can’t be alone in thinking Boyes has quietly been pretty good. I wonder where he’s at right now if you give him the same opportunities PA Parenteau has been spoon fed so far this season. Something tells he’d be doing more with it than PAP is currently, and it’s not hard to see why: He’s got nine points to PAP’s 15 in seven less games while playing four minutes less a game with lower roster players and no powerplay time. These things are often easiest said on paper, but it’s not as though PAP’s line with Bozak and JvR is seeing top competition consistently, either. Last night at evens, their primary matchup was the Alec Martinez – Jake Muzzin second pairing along with the Andreoff – Shore – Nolan line.
Among players to suit up in a Leaf jersey this season, Boyes’ 11:47 per game on average is more than only the following: Frank Corrado, Mark Arcobello, Rich Clune.
– It’s easy to get cynical about wins keyed by a four-point night by Michael Grabner (“Think of the draft pick!”). For fans of this bent, at least operation “picks for Hunts” took a step in the right direction. The hope with Grabner is that he can prove to some team out there that, between his speed and penalty killing contributions and some five-on-five offense, he’s useful depth. He’s got a long way to go given he’s making huge money this year, but it can’t hurt that he just doubled his point total on the season with last night’s four-point performance.
Word of warning: Grabner’s always been like this. In 2013-14, for instance, he scored 18 of his 26 points in multi-point games. That season included a 24-game pointless streak.
– The stats show Gaborik, Kopitar and Lucic won the Corsi battle in their head to head with Grabner, Kadri and Komarov — and Kopitar mopped the floor with Kadri in the faceoff circle, winning 14 of 17 — but one of those trios left -4 apiece and the other with nine combined points to their name (Grabner 2ga2a, Komarov 2g1a, Kadri 2a). Grabner’s speed on the forecheck complemented the line nicely.
– Matt Hunwick, who tripled his season total with two assists last night, entered the game with one point in 671 minutes of action. That was last in the league among players with more than 500 minutes played this season. He’s up to 268 of 272 after last night. Those below him: Alex Emelin, Mark Stuart, Radko Gudas, Tom Gilbert.
Game in 10
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hCtlEZRO-g
Even Strength Shot Attempt Chart
Shot Location Chart
Mike Babcock Post Game
Leafs Player Stats – Toronto 5 vs. Los Angeles 0
| PLAYER | G | A | P | +/- | PIM | S | HITS | BKS | FO% | PP TOI | SH TOI | TOI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M. Hunwick | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | - | 0:00 | 0:56 | 24:25:00 |
| D. Phaneuf | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | - | 0:00 | 1:04 | 22:49 |
| P. Parenteau | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | 0:00 | 0:00 | 16:09 |
| J. Lupul | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | - | 0:00 | 0:03 | 12:53 |
| J. van Riemsdyk | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 1 | - | 0:00 | 0:00 | 15:56 |
| S. Matthias | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | 0:00 | 1:04 | 13:15 |
| P. Holland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 53% | 0:00 | 0:03 | 14:38 |
| D. Winnik | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | - | 0:00 | 1:04 | 14:27 |
| B. Boyes | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | 0:00 | 0:00 | 12:44 |
| M. Grabner | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | - | 0:00 | 0:13 | 13:52 |
| T. Bozak | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 64% | 0:00 | 0:00 | 17:52 |
| N. Kadri | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 18% | 0:00 | 0:00 | 17:02 |
| M. Rielly | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | 0:00 | 1:04 | 17:43 |
| R. Polak | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 3 | - | 0:00 | 0:56 | 21:05 |
| L. Komarov | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 0% | 0:00 | 0:40 | 16:03 |
| J. Gardiner | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | 0:00 | 0:00 | 20:51 |
| M. Marincin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | 0:00 | 0:00 | 13:07 |
| B. Froese | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 60% | 0:00 | 0:53 | 13:09 |
