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The Toronto Maple Leafs lost in regulation for the first time this season after squandering a third-period lead for the third time in four games.

That is an ugly early-season statistic, to be sure, but it was encouraging how the Leafs responded coming off the disaster in Winnipeg in the opening 40 minutes of Thursday night’s game in Minnesota. They controlled play at even strength for the first half of the game and limited the Wild to one goal on 18 shots after two periods. Offensive zone time, to the eye, seemed to favour the Leafs overall even though the shot attempts were even by the end of 60 minutes.

Especially in a back-to-back situation on the road against a rested opponent, this wasn’t an effort the Leafs should hang their heads about. Not to say there hasn’t been some inexperience and poor defending showing through in third periods, but arguably the biggest factor in the lost leads has been goaltending — as in the Leafs not getting it when they need it most. Devan Dubnyk was the main reason the game was only 2-1 Leafs after 40. Jhonas Enroth’s Leafs debut started well — only the Eric Staal breakaway goal got by him in the first two periods — but he needed to come up with a save on at least one of the two third-period goals. Both were stoppable. 


Player Notes

William Nylander – Adventurous in both directions — at times — but he looked really composed with the puck on his stick throughout the game and he was excellent as the puck carrier for zone entries on the powerplay. He hit a post early in third with a chance to tie the game shortly after the Leafs fell behind. He is such a slippery guy with the puck along the boards; defenders think they have him pinned down, and he turns on a dime and houdini’s his way out of it. One such example led to a powerplay soon after in the third period. His assist on the Matthews goal leaves him with five points in four games to start the season (16 in his last 16 dating back to last season).

Connor Carrick – A couple of costly moments in this one for Carrick. He was way overaggressive pursuing the puck carrier at the blueline on the 2-2 goal by Dalpe — Brown was on his horse backchecking and Rielly was in position, so there was no need to chase there. Carrick then ran into Teemu Pulkkinnen and fell down at the blue line, forcing Rielly to back off and respect the far-post pass option (what would be Carrick’s responsibility) rather than close his gap on the shooter. All that said, Enroth should’ve come up with a save for his team on that goal. Carrick’s adventurous pinch, combined with Matthews’ turnover high in the zone, contributed to the Eric Staal breakaway goal in the second period as well. He’s doing a lot of good things — and leading the team in CF% with 58%, score-adjusted to 62% — but a couple of teachable moments there.

Mitch Marner – His quietest game so far from a chance-generation perspective, but that’s more to do with how productive his first three games were than an indictment of his play tonight. He combined nicely with Kadri and JVR in the second period for a sure goal that wasn’t finished off. He also feathered the pass to Rielly for his shot from the point on the called-off Leaf goal. He ran the powerplay towards the end of the second — a big responsibility for a player four games into his career, but he looks up to the task.

James van Riemsdyk – He had a few moments offensively, but he still doesn’t appear to have much jump to his step to start the season — perhaps it has something to do with last season’s injury impacting his summer, although he was given extra time to recover when he could’ve potentially rushed back. On the third and deciding Wild goal, he needed to move his feet and be stronger on the puck; he sent the puck down the boards, where Gardiner couldn’t do much with it behind the net with a man on him, and then he lost the puck in his skates, leading to the turnover that Eric Staal capitalized on for the game winner.

Auston Matthews – How about this: Auston Matthews is the NHL scoring leader with five goals through four games. He did struggle breaking out of his own zone at times and could’ve managed the puck better in a few different situations. He scored his powerplay goal pouncing on a loose puck in the slot as he continues to bear down on his chances, although he could’ve tied the game with an empty net on the powerplay in the third — a bouncing puck was the chief culprit there, however. He saw a fair bit of Ryan Suter at even strength (6:15) and was a 14% CF against him and a 59% CF away from him.

Peter Holland – He started his game off with a great first shift in which he won two puck races/battles to extend offensive zone time. He is playing with more determination in one-on-one battles than he has in the past and he’s taking care of his responsibilities away from the puck at center. After his cross-corner dump-in for Brown to chase created a successful retrieval, his line generated another excellent shift halfway through the first that ended in a mad scramble in the goal mouth; they were unlucky not to convert.

Connor Brown – His best chance came off a rebound from that same play with Holland; he tried to get the puck up high (not unlike his goal versus Boston) but shot it into the crest of Dubnyk. He’s been effective at gathering speed through neutral ice and winning puck races on the forecheck, and Holland has done a good job of putting the puck into areas that beget a successful retrieval. Line four has been a bright spot early in the season and Brown hunting down pucks has been a big part of it.

Matt Martin – His forecheck forced a turnover that started the sequence on one of L4’s good early shifts. He found Holland in front for the line’s best chance of the game in the first as well. He’s getting the job done OK on the penalty kill so far — he even broke up an entry attempt nicely tonight — although it remains to be seen if he’s a long-term fit there as he’s never been a regular in that role over his career.

Nikita Zaitsev – There’s something to be said for easing him into the league in terms of the matchups he faces, but if he’s leading the team in time-on-ice anyway, as he did tonight — and not just on account of his powerplay time; he played over 20 minutes at even strength — why not go ahead and pair him up with Rielly? The Leafs don’t have a single defence pairing settled yet and it seems like the logical move. Zaitsev is one of few defencemen not missing assignments in his own zone with regularity at the moment.

Matt Hunwick – A horrible giveaway six minutes into first created a Grade-A chance for Mikko Koivu in front; he was fortunate to be bailed out by Enroth. He was overwhelmed again by the forecheck with 5:30 to go in the period — a recurring theme with Hunwick early in the season. He is not processing the game quickly enough, resulting in bobbles, over-skated pucks, and a failure to make decisions fast enough in possession. It’s hard not to pick out only the errors with Hunwick because he’s not an offensive contributor who tips the scale in his favour overall.

Roman Polak – He got by fine in 15 minutes of action in his season debut. He scored the opening goal of the game with a cannon from the point and played well out of the gates, especially for a player who had been sitting for a while. He made a well-timed pinch in from the point and nearly connected on a backdoor feed from Nylander. He blocked seven shots and did so with the Leafs carrying the edge in even-strength shot attempts with him on the ice.


Game In Six


Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Minnesota Wild – Even Strength Possession

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Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Minnesota Wild – Shot Location Chart

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Mike Babcock Post-Game


Toronto Maple Leafs vs Minnesota Wild Game Sheet

PLAYERPTOIGA+/-PPTOISHTOIShotsFW/FLPENPIM
M. MichalekLW13:2800even0:001:1200/012
M. HunwickD18:4800even0:003:3630/000
J. EnrothG58:23:0000even5:476:0000/000
M. MartinLW10:5100-10:002:3110/000
J. van RiemsdykLW16:1000even3:220:0020/000
N. KadriC16:230112:160:0000/900
P. HollandC9:3000-10:001:0100/1000
T. BozakC16:0200-13:220:0020/500
Z. HymanC16:3800-10:003:1330/312
J. GardinerD17:3801even3:500:0020/000
M. RiellyD21:0000-20:002:1810/000
L. KomarovC18:170112:252:1720/112
C. CarrickD21:5300-23:312:0740/000
C. BrownRW10:2800-10:001:4630/000
W. NylanderRW15:1401-12:250:0030/200
M. MarnerC17:2800-13:220:0020/000
N. ZaitsevD22:1100-11:570:0000/000
R. PolakD15:581010:003:5920/000
A. MatthewsC17:4010-12:250:0030/300

Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Minnesota Wild Possession Stats

NameCorsi ForCorsi AgainstCorsiCorsi For%Zone Start%
MATT HUNWICK1017-737.04%45.45%
CONNOR CARRICK1513253.57%88.89%
ZACH HYMAN1012-245.45%60%
CONNOR BROWN97256.25%55.56%
MATT MARTIN86257.14%55.56%
MITCHELL MARNER913-440.91%80%
MILAN MICHALEK1112-147.83%85.71%
NIKITA ZAITSEV1220-837.50%45.45%
PETER HOLLAND88050%55.56%
JAMES VAN RIEMSDYK1011-147.62%66.67%
WILLIAM NYLANDER1112-147.83%50%
AUSTON MATTHEWS1113-245.83%50%
JHONAS ENROTH4142-149.40%64%
TYLER BOZAK810-244.44%66.67%
NAZEM KADRI1511457.69%75%
MORGAN RIELLY2113861.76%77.78%
ROMAN POLAK1110152.38%66.67%
LEO KOMAROV1411356%85.71%
JAKE GARDINER1211152.17%83.33%