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The Toronto Maple Leafs collected a point for the fourth time in five games while also relinquishing their fourth third-period lead of the season in Chicago on Saturday night.

The Maple Leafs started a little slow, struggling with some of their zone exits and unable to generate much beyond ‘one-and-done’ exploits in the offensive zone (while Patrick Kane ran a clinic in the Leaf zone at times in the first period). The Leafs found their way into the game and began dictating the pace for sustained stretches in the second period and beyond, with the Auston Matthews/William Nylander and Mitch Marner lines giving the Hawks all sorts of trouble. Here is how the unblocked shot attempts shook out:

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A fourth relinquished third-period lead in five games will understandably fuel the narrative about the young Leafs who don’t know how to win and can’t hold onto leads, but that wasn’t really the case at all in this game. The more accurate analysis is that the team’s youth was, for the most part, excellent, and the team’s veterans didn’t get the job done at key times in the game.  The likes of Marner, Matthews, Nylander, Hyman and Brown had a number of good attacking shifts with the 4-2 lead in the third period; they kept pressing for another insurance marker and spent extended time 200 feet away from the Leaf net. The Hyman, Matthews and Nylander line nearly went back out and won the game in the final minute after Chicago tied the game up (the puck bounced off of Hyman in front and went just wide).

The crucial mistakes late in the game were Morgan Rielly not tying up Artem Anisimov in front and Roman Polak failing to clear a loose puck or block Richard Panik’s shot in front. Both have played in the league long enough to know better in those situations.  The Leafs defence pairings are still a scramble and Frederik Andersen has yet to put an exclamation mark on a performance late in games, but there was a lot to like from the Leafs‘ young talent in this game.


Player Notes

Mitch Marner – Marner’s anticipation skills are off the charts: On the shift following the 1-0 Chicago goal, he jumped on a pass in neutral ice and created a scoring chance with a drop-pass to JVR that JVR should’ve done better with than to flip a weak backhand on goal. With eight minutes to go in the first, he ferreted out a puck on the forecheck and found Bozak with a pass in front for a good look. He was stonewalled on a Grade-A chance set up by Connor Brown in the final minute of the first just before Bozak’s goal. While covering for Zaitsev as the defenceman on a play early in the second period, he laid down a great shot block in the slot on Patrick Kane — something he has not shied away from when necessary. He overpassed on an odd-man rush with Zaitsev and Bozak in the third; he should’ve just ripped a shot after taking the return pass from Bozak. At the end of that shift following the chance, though, he dug deep to apply pressure while his linemates changed, causing a turnover up the boards that enabled Matthews and Nylander to start their shift on the attack in the offensive zone.  He had two good chances at 4-2 with under five minutes to go — one was the 2 on 1 where he was stick lifted at the last second, and another was a partial break down the right wing after winning a race handily against Duncan Keith.

While the Leafs conceded the tying goal — through no fault of Marner’s — it’s telling that Babcock trusted Marner to be out there protecting a lead in the final two minutes. It’s hard to believe he’s only five games into his NHL career.  He did take the penalty with 40 seconds remaining in the OT, but it was a terrible call — his stick had no influence on Panarin falling down.

van Riemsdyk – He was replaced by Brown for a shift late in the first and Brown instantly made an impact next to Marner and Bozak. That seemed to serve as a wake-up call for JVR. He took a drop pass from Bozak and ripped one off the iron early in the second period. On his goal late in the second, he made a great play to kick the puck back to the point with two Hawks on him before heading to the net and burying on a goalmouth scramble. He didn’t keep his feet moving in overtime and lost his battle with Kane before high sticking him at the offensive blue line, which hurt the Leafs’ chances of taking the second point from the 3-on-3 period.

Tyler Bozak – A nice tip on his redirect goal late in the first — he’s always been sneaky when roving the slot and he’s good at presenting his stick as a target for slap passes. Panarin had been dipsy doodling all game, so it was refreshing to see Bozak read one of his cuts back and step into him in the third period with a good hit. He made some good defensive reads and he was finding his linemates well in this game. He was also strong on the faceoff dot, winning 60% of draws taken.

Milan Michalek – He missed his mark with his pass with an opportunity to hit Kadri for a fast break midway through the second period, leading to an icing. The Hawks scored off of the ensuing lost faceoff; the Leafs were overloaded on the right side of the ice after the draw and Michalek was unable to either block the point shot or take away a stick in front. While his top speed is fine once he gets going, he is really slow off the mark with a sluggish first three steps. He’s often slumped over and reaching in with his stick instead of moving his feet. You can clearly see the impact serious knee surgery has had on his ability to get around the rink. As a savvy veteran who can contribute some offense, his place in the lineup is understandable, but there’s no question Komarov and Kadri would benefit from having Brown take that spot.

Nazem Kadri He tried to hold Artemi Panarin up, stopped moving his feet, and got beat on the 1-0 Chicago goal. His turnover high in the offensive zone halfway through the first led to a 2 on 1 against that Panarin just missed. He took a careless high-sticking penalty early in the second as well. He wound up a dash-3, 24% on the dot, and he was outpossessed 80-20 by the Toews line and 85-15 by the Kane line while playing about five minutes against each at even strength. He’s had better nights at the office.

Leo Komarov – He had a classic Leo shift with five minutes to go in the first period: He turned a puck over blocking Darling’s pass to the side of the net, intercepted a D to D pass on the forecheck, landed a hit on Keith… When the puck turned over, he got on his horse and turned a one-on-one between Toews and Carrick into a one-on-two, harassing Toews from behind and sticklifting him before he could get a shot off. On the late first-period penalty kill, he was taking away passing lanes effectively and broke up a play preceding a clearance. He also did a good job cutting off lanes on the 4-on-3 in OT. He won three of five draws against Jonathan Toews, which was helpful given Kadri was having no luck against him (2 for 11).

Zach Hyman – He played over 4:30 on the PK and led all Leafs in puck possession with a 61.54% Corsi for at even strength. He was dogged on the forecheck, as always, and put three shots on goal total.  He should’ve buried a wraparound two minutes into the game — he did an excellent job jumping on the pass from Darling, but he couldn’t wrap it fully around. He tested Darling with a good net drive on an early second-period penalty kill, putting his shoulder down, driving on Brent Seabrook, and attempting a jam play. He found a streaking Nylander with a good pass through neutral ice that generated a grade A chance for Matthews as well.

Auston Matthews – He played over six minutes head to head with Toews at even strength and the Leafs carried the shot attempt advantage during that time —  9 for, 6 against. There was a ridiculous moment early in the second period where Nylander fired a shoulder-high pass at Matthews and he plucked it out of the air, tossed it down to his stick and tore through the neutral zone without slowing down for even half a second. His gorgeous pass through a set of feet found Nylander for the 2-1 goal on the powerplay. After his good positioning in the defensive zone broke up a play, he flew up ice, worked a great give-and-go with Nylander and placed a hard, low shot perfectly off the far pad for Nylander to finish off — a gorgeous bang-bang goal that showed how lethal those two are in transition. He took a pass as the trailer on a third-period rush by Nylander, pulled it forehand to backhand, and nearly finished top shelf in one fluid motion. He showed his ability to disguise his release so dangerously on his shootout goal as well. Great game.

William Nylander – Two goals, seven shots on goal. That was a lethal catch and release from Nylander on the 2-1 powerplay goal. He had couple of brilliant sequences in the third period in combination with Matthews — one was the goal, the other was a great rush off the wing followed by a nifty pass to a trailing Matthews, who made a move and nearly buried on his backhand. Pumping shots on goal and overflowing with confidence, he isn’t showing signs of slowing down anytime soon. He’s got points in four of five games and 7 points in 5 games total after 11 in 12 to end last season.

Peter HollandA good cross corner dump-in for Brown created a turnover on his first shift; as noted in past game reviews, he’s been measuring those dump-ins well for Brown to chase so far this season. Holland has been carrying through the neutral ice with good pace and he’s handling the puck more confidently than I’ve ever seen him. He did take a hooking penalty with four minutes to go in the first, but the Leafs killed it off. After a quieter second period, he led a great fourth line shift with 12 minutes to go in the third, rushing down the wing and nearly handcuffing Darling in tight. He then batted down a puck along the end boards, walked out from behind the net, and found Connor Brown in front for a good scoring chance. He finished that long shift of offensive zone pressure with another shot on goal. On his next shift, he flushed out the puck in the defensive zone with a good pokecheck, sending Brown away down the wing; Brown curled back and found Polak for a shot on goal. There were some excellent shifts from line four late on where they did a bang-up job defending the lead 200 feet from the Leaf net.

Connor Brown – He’s been skating downhill through the neutral zone and applying relentless pressure as the F1 on the forecheck. A shift against the Toews line halfway through the first period saw the fourth line pinned in, but Brown closed quickly on Duncan Keith and got a block/deflection on the point shot to kill the pressure and get a whistle. He’s been really effective in the fourth-line role, but you can’t help but wonder how much he could help Kadri’s line if rotated into Michalek’s place. When Babcock moved Brown onto a line with Bozak and Marner for the final shift of the first period, he shed a defender down low and found Marner in front for a grade-A scoring chance. Soon after, Bozak scored to make it 1-1.  Babcock moved him onto Kadri and Komarov’s wing late in the third as the Leafs attempted to preserve the lead; unfortunately, they did concede a goal against, but it was more about Anisimov being left untouched in front by Rielly.

Morgan Rielly – He had a rough shift five minutes into first period against the Toews line with multiple turnovers under pressure in own zone, but he settled in better after that. It was hard to judge defencemen in this game considering the pairings were a scramble throughout. He partnered up with Roman Polak quite a bit in this game — that’s not going to be a proper long-term solution, obviously. He looked good moving the puck and controlling the flow on the man advantage in the final 10 minutes of the third. Unfortunately, he didn’t do anywhere enough in terms of tying Anisimov up in front on the 4-3 goal.

Connor Carrick – After a good shift by the JVR, Marner and Bozak line early in the second period, he turned the puck over at the blueline, leading to a 2 on 1-and-a-half the other way and he didn’t play it well — the pass got through him easily, forcing a good save out of Andersen at the back post. He lost his positioning on the ice on the penalty kill with 4:30 left in the second, allowing Hossa to walk straight out in front, and had to put a hook on him to prevent a goal. Off a faceoff win in the early third, he had an easy D to D play to Gardiner that he sent bobbling in the air off his backhand, leading to a turnover; he was then slow to react to Toews standing alone in front, nearly leading to a goal against. Andersen shifted quickly and came up with a good pad save. He played the least of any of the Leafs’ defencemen at 17:39; this wasn’t among his better games.

Jake Gardiner – With seven minutes to go in the second, an ugly blind pass into the middle of his own slot turned the puck over and he was bailed out by Andersen with a point-blank save. His hard low shot generated the rebound leading to the JVR goal and he was tops among Leafs defencemen in on-ice shot attempts — 22 for, 15 against (59.5%). He gave away possession cheaply twice consecutively in the 3-on-3 OT, and allowed Hossa to walk in on Andersen nearly uncontested. Mixed game overall.

Roman Polak – He caught Rasmussen with his head down at the red line with a devastating hit. With Rielly caught up ice, it turned into a partial breakaway, but Brown got on his horse and did a good job of troubling the shooter. He raised his elbow, catching Rasmussen’s chin on the hit, and was deservedly sent to the box, although it was technically for interference (Rasmussen never touched the puck). He made a few good pinches in this game, but crucially he fell down and failed to clear the puck in front, or block the shot, leading to the 4-4 goal by Richard Panik — that’s the stuff he’s supposed to be out there for at that stage of the game.

Matt Hunwick – There was some good and some bad in this game from Hunwick. His shift six minutes into the first was a bit of a trainwreck — his soft D to D pass gave the forecheck time to close down on Zaitsev and it led to a turnover up the wall. He then bobbled the puck and gave it away after the initial failed breakout came back around to him. He recovered by intercepting a pass, only to flub another attempted out up the wall. Leo Komarov eventually came to the rescue, but there have been too many of these types of shifts from Hunwick so far this season.

On the positive side of the ledger, he had a good shift with five minutes to go in the first — he found Marner in stride through the middle of the ice with a firm, on-the-tape breakout pass, before standing up the bull that is Marian Hossa as Hossa tried to drive through him. He then made a good bump pass into the middle to Bozak to get the Leafs out of danger instead of forcing a play up the wall again, where the Leafs were getting jammed up repeatedly in the first. He also found Bozak through the middle of the ice for a partial break two minutes into the second. 

Frederik Andersen – He had no chance on goal #1, and got no help in front on the second goal. He came up big on the early second-period penalty kill, where the Leafs gave up a couple of clean looks to Patrick Kane wide open in the slot. An important desperation save on the PK late in the second — partly luck, partly a sharp reaction — saw him keep the puck out with the knob of his goal stick. You would like to a save on one of the 4-3 or 4-4 goals — the 4-3 wasn’t exemplary rebound control, and he wasn’t able to stay upright on the 4-4 goal. He came up big several times on the overtime penalty kills, most notably on Kane and Hossa. I would’ve liked to have seen him get out and challenge better on the shootout winner by Panarin rather than having his heels nearly on the goal line. By no means should anyone pin this loss on Andersen, but I still ended the game feeling as though he could’ve come up with one more save somewhere along the way.


Shot Location Chart

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Game In Six


Mike Babcock Post Game


Hawks 5 vs. Leafs 4 (SO) - Game Sheet

NameCorsi ForCorsi AgainstCorsiCorsi For%Zone Start%
WILLIAM NYLANDER1611559.26%75%
AUSTON MATTHEWS1611559.26%75%
JAKE GARDINER2114760%50%
JAMES VAN RIEMSDYK139459.09%33.33%
MITCHELL MARNER1610661.54%33.33%
TYLER BOZAK1511457.69%26.32%
ZACH HYMAN1912761.29%69.23%
PETER HOLLAND99050%0%
ROMAN POLAK1610661.54%60%
FREDERIK ANDERSEN4447-348.35%39.02%
CONNOR BROWN1113-245.83%40%
CONNOR CARRICK1417-345.16%50%
NIKITA ZAITSEV1117-639.29%18.75%
MATT MARTIN59-435.71%0%
MORGAN RIELLY1422-838.89%52.94%
MATT HUNWICK1214-246.15%14.29%
MILAN MICHALEK513-827.78%12.50%
NAZEM KADRI416-1220%18.18%
LEO KOMAROV317-1415%16.67%

Blackhawks 5 vs. Leafs 4 (SO) - Game Sheet

PLAYERPTOIGA+/-PPTSHTSHFShotsFW/FLPIM
M. MichalekLW13:5200-20:001:512410/00
R. PolakD23:130010:006:113510/02
M. HunwickD22:1600-10:005:343300/00
M. MartinLW10:020000:002:141610/10
N. KadriC15:4400-30:390:002410/132
P. HollandC9:230000:001:211520/22
Z. HymanC17:140000:004:322430/20
J. GardinerD18:020112:070:003020/00
M. RiellyD24:17:0000-11:055:063710/00
L. KomarovC20:0300-31:555:052910/20
F. AndersenG64:16:000003:3810:31600/00
C. CarrickD17:390001:542:312700/02
C. BrownRW14:170000:003:102410/00
M. MarnerC16:330111:430:002210/02
A. MatthewsC15:100211:550:002040/60
N. ZaitsevD21:4301-21:311:403110/00
J. van RiemsdykLW15:591011:430:002140/02
T. BozakC18:041011:430:002530/110
W. NylanderRW14:162011:550:001970/30

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Alec Brownscombe is the founder and editor of MapleLeafsHotStove.com, where he has written daily about the Leafs since September of 2008. He's published five magazines on the team entitled "The Maple Leafs Annual" with distribution in Chapters and newsstands across the country. He also co-hosted "The Battle of the Atlantic," a weekly show on TSN1200 that covered the Leafs and the NHL in-depth. Alec is a graduate of Trent University and Algonquin College with his diploma in Journalism. In 2014, he was awarded Canada's Best Hockey Blogger honours by Molson Canadian. You can contact him at alec.brownscombe@mapleleafshotstove.com.