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Los Angeles came to town, and played a tight game with the Leafs for fifty minutes before things got out of hand in Toronto favour late.

The Leafs led early, and managed to hold that lead into the third period. Michael Grabner made the lead two early in the final frame, and three goals in four minutes saw the Leafs pull away to win easily. It’s easy to forget, given the final score, that this was a tight game for most of the way, with Jonathan Bernier doing some good work to keep the Leafs ahead.

TeamChances1st2nd3rdESESCloseESCh%NZEnt%ContEnt
Tor20271120955.6%45.1%26.8%
Lak17746161044.4%54.9%29.0%

That great third period saw the Leafs pull ahead in chances in a game that featured only a single powerplay. The Kings had the possession advantage, as well as leading in zone entries, likely due to spending so much time behind.

The Kings had eight of the first ten chances of the game, but Toronto was the team that managed to lead, and they took charge after that. A couple of excellent shifts in the third period, from the Kadri line and from the Boyes line, saw the Leafs rack up a lot of chances in quick succession.

PeriodTimeSTSOTeamHowStateT1T2T3T4T5T6O1O2O3O4O5O6
118:5500LakToffoli drivesES315214245511627707377
117:5600LakLewis from BrownES1521424546521510222349
115:3500LakToffoli wraparoundES319264245511510497377
114:2900TorGOAL! Komarov deflects Hunwick shotES240434445471611121727
112:1710LakBrown wide from CarterES22328455156168234977
111:5010TorFroese from BoyesES2328454652561810234977
111:0410LakGaborik from LucicES240434445471611121727
108:3910LakAndreoff deflects Muzzin shotSH3232644451615277073
104:1610LakGaborik deflects Muzzin shotES215404344451611121727
215:2310LakGaborik from KopitarES22440434445135111217
215:1510TorHolland from RiellyES22440434445135111270
214:5710TorHolland drivesES21924264445135707377
212:4210LakLucic wraparound wideES242434445471810111217
210:0710TorParenteau from Van RiemsdykES152142454652138224971
210:0110TorVan Riemsdyk from reboundES31521424551138224971
209:0010TorFroese from MatthiasES223284445561510222349
207:5810LakLucic wide from loose puckES22440434445168111217
207:4910TorGrabner from HollandES32440434445168111217
201:0410TorBozak wraparoundES32142434551138121777
200:2510LakPearson wide from loose puckES23152142451621277073
319:5110LakGaborik drivesES24043444547138111217
319:1210TorLupul from HollandES319242645511627707377
318:3310LakNolan drivesES152142454652138152171
317:0210TorFroese from BoyesES22328455156138222349
316:4610TorMatthias deflects Hunwick shotES22328444556138222349
316:2310TorKadri wide from loose puckES240434445471510111217
316:0210TorGOAL! Grabner from KadriES240434445471510111217
315:3420LakToffoli drivesES319242645511627707377
313:0420TorKadri wraparoundES240434445471810111217
306:3820LakLucic from loose puckES24043444547138111217
306:2620TorGOAL! Grabner from KadriES284043444551138111217
304:3230LakMcNabb drives wideES21521424546138152171
303:2230TorGOAL! Komarov from loose puckES24043444547168111217
302:3540TorBoyes drivesES323284551561322232749
302:3440TorBoyes from reboundES323284551561322232749
302:3340TorGOAL! Froese from reboundES323284551561322232749
302:0750LakToffoli from reboundES319242645511510707377

Leafs Player Data

PlayerESChFESChAESCh%ESTOIZS%NZ%ContEntOppContEnt
Boyes8188.9%12:4420.0%40.5%26.7%18.2%
Matthias7187.5%12:1120.0%42.4%28.6%21.1%
Froese7187.5%12:1620.0%40.0%28.6%19.0%
Grabner8657.1%13:3936.4%47.7%28.6%43.5%
Kadri9756.3%17:0228.6%48.1%26.9%35.7%
Komarov5455.6%15:2328.6%47.9%21.7%40.0%
Holland4450.0%14:3537.5%50.0%26.9%26.9%
Lupul2340.0%12:5037.5%50.0%23.8%19.0%
Winnik2340.0%13:2342.9%45.5%25.0%25.0%
Van Riemsdyk3537.5%15:5671.4%42.6%26.1%29.0%
Bozak3730.0%17:5250.0%43.4%30.4%33.3%
Parenteau2625.0%16:0962.5%40.0%30.0%30.0%
Gardiner8561.5%20:5150.0%47.9%25.7%28.9%
Rielly11761.1%16:3933.3%52.8%35.7%40.0%
Phaneuf7558.3%21:4550.0%45.3%20.6%31.7%
Hunwick101050.0%23:2933.3%47.0%35.5%42.9%
Marincin2250.0%13:0733.3%38.5%13.3%12.5%
Polak2340.0%20:0922.2%36.2%23.8%16.2%

The fourth line was excellent on the night, dominating play against Dustin Brown’s line, their main opponents. They had a couple of excellent shifts, with Brad Boyes finishing at a team best +7, with Shawn Matthias and Byron Froese both +6. They also had the best defensive numbers, allowing only a single Kings chance, and were the best at defending controlled entries.

The goals mostly came from the top line, with Michael Grabner and Leo Komarov both scoring twice. They matched up against Anze Kopitar’s line, and had no problem producing chances. While they weren’t as defensively effective as the Boyes line, they did finish in the positive. Tyler Bozak and P.A. Parenteau had the worst chance differential on the team, both finishing -4, despite mostly avoiding the top lines.

Morgan Rielly and Matt Hunwick produced a lot of offense for the Leafs, with Rielly’s 11 ES chances the highest put up by any Leaf this season. Jake Gardiner and Dion Phaneuf also did well, both finishing in the positive. Martin Marincin drew back in, and he and Roman Polak had a quiet night finishing near even. Polak did play a fair amount with Hunwick, and that pairing had very poor possession numbers.