I’m off for the Christmas holiday and the 9 p.m. puck drop means it’s late, so here is your game review in note form.
– It sounds hyperbolical to say the outcome of the first period (2-1 Coyotes) hinged on the play of the Leafs‘ fourth line center, but it wouldn’t be without some merit. While the Leafs weren’t great in the first, there were a couple of critical ugly plays by Byron Froese in the first period at both ends of the rink.
With the score at 1-1, Froese fumbled the reception on a pass from Martin Marincin, coughing up a turnover that the Coyotes capitalized on after Shane Doan ripped one off the post and the rebound was jammed home. At the intermission, Jeff O’Neill blamed Marincin for making a backhanded pass, but he’s a left hander on the right side in that situation with a forechecker pressuring him, the wall was sealed, and the short outlet into the middle is something the Leafs have been executing successfully all season in their zone exits. Marincin identified that his center was there, Froese was in the right support position, and Froese had time to make the play. The pass was in his feet, but he should be able to make that play.
At the other end a little while later, Froese broke in on what should have been a 2-on-0 situation with Michael Grabner. Bizarrely, he ignored the 2-on-0 opportunity, cut into the middle of the ice, and put a feeble attempt into the goalie’s pads.
Not Froese’s best night at the office, and his ice time reflected it with just six and a half minutes of ice time at even strength.
– The entire fourth line was in the doghouse tonight, conceding two of the three Coyotes goals. In a back-to-back situation where rolling four lines is the goal, Matthias played 5:34 and Boyes 8:58, with 1:44 of Boyes’ ice time coming on the powerplay.
– Is it new-dad mojo for Tyler Bozak? Babcock’s message clicking? Whatever it is, it’s working. These last few games, Bozak’s arguably more competitive and engaged than he’s ever been over 200 feet of the ice (to exaggerate somewhat, he’s also probably finished more checks in 33 games this season than he has in entire seasons past). He was seeing the ice exceptionally well tonight and created a number of prime chances with his sharp distribution. The Kadri goal — in addition to the good work by Kadri to take his licks and battle for positioning in the tough ice — was a result of Bozak covering a lot of ground in the offensive zone and outworking the opposition.
With that set up on Kadri’s goal, Bozak is up to six even-strength primary assists on the season (29 games), which leads the team. He had just eight in 82 games last year. There’s something to be said for Bozak not having Kessel to defer to here.
– The Hunwick illness certainly threw a wrench into the plans on the blueline; Babcock already has only five defencemen he trusts with minutes and that’s with Hunwick in the lineup. Babcock went into the the second game of a back to back saying the ideal situation would be even distribution of the minutes (20ish each) among his defencemen, but Martin Marincin’s continued struggles and Babcock’s hesitance to play Frank Corrado (he’s looking shaky on the left side) meant two defencemen at 12 minutes or under. Dion Phaneuf and Morgan Rielly picked up the slack at 25 minutes apiece. Roman Polak played 23:13 including a massive 6:18 on the penalty kill (which was excellent tonight).
– Indeed, it was a good night on special teams, especially considering the penalty count favoured the Coyotes 4-2. JvR sniped on the PP with Boyes providing a perfect screen, and Michael Grabner could’ve added a shorthanded marker on his penalty shot but flubbed his release. The Leafs killed all four penalties cleanly, allowing just three shots total over eight minutes at 4v5.
– At the end of the day, the Toronto could’ve capitalized on their chances a little better, Louis Domingue came up with a couple more saves than Jonathan Bernier did, and the Leafs got some rotten luck with the 1-1 stanchion-bounce goal as well as the no-goal call on Shawn Matthias.
There was lots to like about the second half of the Leafs’ game. After tying the contest at 2-2 at the midpoint of the second, they registered 27 shot attempts to the Coyotes’ 7 at even strength (just seven shot attempts against in 30 minutes, 40 seconds). The scoring chances were 8-2 Leafs over the final 30. The effort was nothing to hang heads about, especially considering it was the second game of a back to back on the road and Babcock shortened the bench.
Game Highlights
Even Strength Shot Attempt Chart
Shot Location Chart
Leafs Player Stats — Arizona 3 vs. Toronto 2
| PLAYER | G | A | P | +/- | PIM | S | HITS | BKS | FO% | PP TOI | SH TOI | TOI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D. Phaneuf | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 0 | - | 1:57 | 2:09 | 25:08:00 |
| P. Parenteau | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | - | 1:57 | 0:00 | 19:19 |
| J. Lupul | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | - | 0:16 | 0:00 | 13:17 |
| F. Corrado | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | - | 0:00 | 0:00 | 11:06 |
| J. van Riemsdyk | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | 1:57 | 0:00 | 20:13 |
| S. Matthias | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0% | 0:00 | 0:00 | 5:34 |
| P. Holland | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 25% | 0:16 | 0:00 | 11:57 |
| D. Winnik | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | - | 0:00 | 2:44 | 14:07 |
| B. Boyes | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | - | 1:57 | 0:00 | 8:58 |
| M. Grabner | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | 0:00 | 5:02 | 16:51 |
| T. Bozak | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 39% | 1:57 | 0:06 | 20:07 |
| N. Kadri | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 42% | 0:16 | 0:00 | 17:00 |
| M. Rielly | 0 | 1 | 1 | -1 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | - | 0:00 | 3:48 | 24:54:00 |
| R. Polak | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 | - | 0:00 | 6:18 | 23:13 |
| L. Komarov | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 57% | 0:16 | 3:21 | 17:51 |
| J. Gardiner | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | - | 0:16 | 0:00 | 21:01 |
| M. Marincin | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | 0:00 | 3:45 | 12:17 |
| B. Froese | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 31% | 0:00 | 4:47 | 11:15 |
