Game 34 Scoring Chances and Zone Entries: Leafs 3 vs. Islanders 1

Toronto made its first trip to Brooklyn as the post-Christmas season got underway.

The Leafs played a strong game, and pulled ahead with two quick-fire goals early in the second period. They were able to hold on in the third period, despite a goal from former Leaf Nikolai Kulemin midway through the frame.

The two teams were pretty much even in Corsi numbers over the course of the game, but that certainly didn’t extend to chances, where the Leafs were dominant. They had a strong powerplay performance, and were clearly the better side at even strength as well. There was not much between the two teams in terms of zone entries, with a push at the end from the Islanders, pulling them into a narrow lead.

Team	Chances	1st	2nd	3rd	ES	ESClose	ESCh%	NZEnt%	ContEnt
Tor	20	6	11	3	15	8	62.5%	48.5%	41.8%
Nyi	9	3	2	4	9	4	37.5%	51.5%	42.9%

After an even first ten minutes or so, the Leafs seized control of the game and never really let go. An 11-2 second period saw the Leafs grab the lead, and they managed to control the Islanders in the final frame, finishing the third period almost level.

Period	Time	ST	SO	Team	How	State	T1	T2	T3	T4	T5	T6	O1	O2	O3	O4	O5	O6
1	19:28	0	0	Nyi	Nelson wide from Tavares	ES	2	40	43	44	45	47	1	18	29	44	55	91
1	18:20	0	0	Nyi	Lee from loose puck	ES	23	28	45	46	51	56	1	14	27	37	84	86
1	15:39	0	0	Tor	Lupul from Gardiner	PP	19	24	43	45	47	51	1	3	14	15	53
1	10:56	0	0	Tor	Kadri drives wide	ES	2	40	43	44	45	47	1	18	29	37	55	91
1	09:59	0	0	Tor	Van Riemsdyk deflects Marincin shot	ES	15	21	42	45	46	52	1	2	3	27	84	86
1	09:26	0	0	Nyi	Nielsen drives	ES	23	28	45	46	52	56	1	2	3	12	21	51
1	08:52	0	0	Tor	Froese from loose puck	ES	23	28	45	46	52	56	1	3	12	21	37	51
1	06:44	0	0	Tor	Parenteau deflects Marincin shot	ES	15	21	42	45	46	52	1	27	44	55	84	86
1	05:48	0	0	Tor	Van Riemsdyk wide from faceoff	ES	3	15	21	42	45	51	1	12	14	21	37	51
2	18:28	0	0	Tor	Polak drives wide	ES	15	21	42	45	46	51	1	2	3	27	84	86
2	18:27	0	0	Tor	GOAL! Bozak from rebound	ES	15	21	42	45	46	51	1	2	3	27	84	86
2	17:34	1	0	Nyi	Nelson drives	ES	19	24	26	45	46	52	1	14	18	29	37	91
2	17:05	1	0	Tor	Kadri drives	ES	2	40	43	44	45	47	1	14	18	29	37	91
2	16:47	1	0	Tor	GOAL! Grabner from rebound	EN	2	40	42	43	44	47	1	14	18	29	37	91
2	09:35	2	0	Tor	Van Riemsdyk from loose puck	ES	3	15	21	42	45	51	1	2	3	12	21	91
2	07:23	2	0	Tor	Komarov deflects Gardiner shot	PP	19	24	43	45	47	51	1	3	14	15	53
2	07:14	2	0	Tor	Komarov deflects Holland shot wide	PP	19	24	43	45	47	51	1	3	14	15	53
2	07:05	2	0	Tor	Holland from Gardiner	PP	19	24	43	45	47	51	1	3	14	15	53
2	06:15	2	0	Tor	Parenteau wide from Bozak	ES	2	15	21	42	44	45	1	12	14	21	37	91
2	05:47	2	0	Nyi	Okposo post from loose puck	ES	2	40	43	44	45	47	1	2	3	12	21	91
2	02:03	2	0	Tor	Kadri from loose puck	ES	2	19	26	43	44	45	1	14	17	18	37	91
2	01:42	2	0	Tor	Komarov drives	ES	2	40	43	44	45	47	1	12	14	21	37	91
3	15:59	2	0	Tor	Van Riemsdyk from Bozak	ES	15	21	42	45	46	52	1	12	14	27	37	51
3	15:45	2	0	Tor	Van Riemsdyk from Bozak	ES	15	21	42	45	46	52	1	12	14	27	37	51
3	13:33	2	0	Nyi	Tavares post from Okposo	ES	2	23	40	43	44	45	1	2	3	21	29	91
3	13:24	2	0	Tor	Komarov from Grabner	ES	2	40	43	44	45	47	1	2	3	21	29	91
3	07:30	2	0	Nyi	GOAL! Kulemin deflects Leddy shot	ES	3	15	21	42	45	51	1	2	3	18	84	86
3	04:52	2	1	Nyi	Grabovski drives	ES	19	24	26	45	46	52	1	18	44	55	84	86
3	03:50	2	1	Nyi	Nelson wide from Okposo	ES	2	40	43	44	45	47	1	14	21	29	37	91

Leafs Player Data

Player	ESChF	ESChA	ESCh%	ESTOI	ZS%	NZ%	ContEnt	OppContEnt
Parenteau	9	1	90.0%	16:25	66.7%	42.9%	41.7%	40.6%
Van Riemsdyk	9	1	90.0%	16:15	66.7%	42.6%	43.5%	41.9%
Bozak	9	1	90.0%	16:27	66.7%	42.9%	37.5%	37.5%
Komarov	4	3	57.1%	15:14	30.0%	58.1%	52.0%	27.8%
Kadri	5	4	55.6%	15:44	37.5%	57.8%	50.0%	36.8%
Grabner	4	4	50.0%	15:04	33.3%	51.1%	50.0%	30.4%
Lupul	1	2	33.3%	12:39	33.3%	50.0%	36.8%	47.4%
Winnik	1	2	33.3%	13:06	33.3%	47.2%	29.4%	57.9%
Boyes	1	2	33.3%	09:03	40.0%	54.5%	41.7%	60.0%
Froese	1	2	33.3%	08:49	40.0%	47.8%	36.4%	50.0%
Matthias	1	3	25.0%	09:21	44.4%	52.0%	30.8%	66.7%
Holland	0	2	0.0%	13:44	25.0%	46.3%	36.8%	50.0%
Phaneuf	2	1	66.7%	15:47	62.5%	42.0%	42.9%	31.0%
Gardiner	4	2	66.7%	18:30	55.6%	43.8%	42.9%	40.7%
Polak	7	4	63.6%	19:11	28.6%	50.0%	40.0%	48.0%
Marincin	5	3	62.5%	11:39	100.0%	48.6%	47.1%	50.0%
Hunwick	6	4	60.0%	22:37	28.6%	52.0%	38.5%	47.2%
Rielly	6	4	60.0%	20:40	36.4%	49.3%	42.9%	38.9%

Tyler Bozak was one of the NHL’s stars of the week, and you can see why from a game like this, as that line was spectacular. All three of Bozak, James Van Riemsdyk and P.A. Parenteau finished at +8, and their nine ES chances were more than all three other lines combined.

Nazem Kadri’s line also did well, matching up against John Tavares and narrowly getting the better of them, finishing in the positive in chance differential while dominating the neutral zone. The bottom two lines were relatively quiet, and all those players had negative differential.

For another night, the man I’ll focus on is Roman Polak, as he continues to string together some impressive chance numbers. Despite getting few offensive zone starts, he was on for more ES chances than any other Leaf defenceman. He played with Martin Marincin early, and also played five minutes with Jake Gardiner, who had an excellent defensive night. Matt Hunwick and Morgan Rielly joined the Kadri line in matching up mostly against John Tavares. Both Hunwick and Rielly had strong results, finishing in the positive in chances, with Hunwick leading the team with well over 20 even-strength minutes.