It may have been all about Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews in the buildup, but Nazem Kadri proved the hero as the Toronto Maple Leafs overcame another squandered third-period lead to take a 3-2 decision in overtime.
The Leafs got out to an early lead courtesy of Nazem Kadri. A smart pinch by Roman Polak started the play before Connor Brown fished the puck out of Oscar Klefbom’s feet and found Kadri wide open at the back post just a minute and a half into the game.
The Leafs didn’t play a particularly good period afterward, giving up 19 shots, their worst single-period shots against total this season. Still, they should’ve exited the period 1-0 up if not for a miscommunication between Frederik Andersen and Jake Gardiner behind the goal line that gifted one to Anton Lander in front with just 30 seconds left in the first.
The points were left wide open by the Maple Leafs at times in this game, with Todd McLellan seemingly exploiting some gaps in the Leaf coverage based on his pre-scout of his former boss Mike Babcock. All six Oilers defencemen recorded a shot on goal, including a staggering eight SOG from Oscar Klefbom, six from Darnell Nurse and two each from Andrej Sekera, Kris Russell and Adam Larsson.
That said, the Oilers were shooting from everywhere (46 shots on goal), sometimes without much accuracy or purpose, as clearly displayed in the shot location chart below. The teams roughly split the shots generated from the “home plate area”; the Leafs appeared to create the better scoring chances while Edmonton looked to generate more second and third opportunities off of outside shots. In fairness, that might be an effective strategy if the Maple Leafs are going to “front” this season; standing in front of screens instead of boxing out means the rebounds reach the screeners first and can leave the defencemen on the wrong side of second efforts.
The Leafs got some excellent shifts from the Matthews and Nylander line and the new-look fourth unit in the second period. Making his season debut, Nikita Soshnikov set up Ben Smith from behind the net to make it 2-1 three minutes into the middle frame. Soshnikov’s assist on the play makes him the seventh rookie to record a point for the Leafs this season just ten games into 2016-17.
The Leafs killed their second penalty of the game (after a high hit from Nikita Soshnikov at the halfway point of the second period) with aplomb; for the second Oiler PP in a row, the Leafs units stood up the powerplay at the blue line repeatedly and prevented Edmonton from setting up cleanly. The Leafs finished the second period with a 13-10 shots advantage at even strength.
The Leafs generated just three shots in the opening nine minutes of the third period but all three were legitimate scoring chances. Cam Talbot came up big for the Oilers with a blocker save on William Nylander in tight, a pad save on an Auston Matthews one-timer in the slot set up by Nylander from behind the net, and another sharp blocker save on a prime look for Nikita Zaitsev in the high slot.
That flurry of saves set the stage for the Oilers to tie the game on a point shot by Darnell Nurse off of an Edmonton faceoff win. Nurse walked the line and snapped a shot back against the grain that Frederik Andersen never saw, tying the game up with 11 minutes remaining.
Overtime lasted only 12 seconds after Nazem Kadri put an exclamation mark on his statement game by chipping the puck past McDavid, out battling him and finishing off the game winner in style.
Another look at the Kadri winner pic.twitter.com/YauYQOvVHb
— Maple Leafs Hotstove (@LeafsNews) November 2, 2016
The Leafs move to 3-4-3 on the season with Buffalo coming up next on Thursday.
Player Notes
Nazem Kadri – Awesome performance (two goals, two PIMs, six shots on goal). He was clearly relishing his role of shadowing McDavid from the get go. Too many times in the past, the homecoming for visiting GTA starts has meant a homecooked meal and a three-point night at the ACC. Kadri set out to make sure this wasn’t McDavid Night in Toronto. He was fired up from the start, setting the tone with plenty of hacks and whacks and an after-the-whistle shove that got McDavid off his game early. He bookended the game with a pair of goals, scoring an early goal off of a feed from Connor Brown and later out battling McDavid off of the opening draw for the OT winner. He was a 61% CF against McDavid in 11 minutes of even-strength action overall. This was a much-deserved game in the spotlight for a player who is going to have to consistently be Toronto’s unsung hero down the middle for them to be competitive this season.
Kadri admits he's motivated by young plyrs overshadowing him early: "I'm not here to just be a role player. I want to help this team win."
— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) November 2, 2016
Nikita Soshnikov – He was raring to go from puck drop, starting with some good work down low that created a half-chance in the first. He set up 2-1 Smith goal with a nice feed in front early in the second period. He’s a bull on the puck despite his short stature, as shown in an excellent early second-period shift in which he grabbed the puck in the corner, shouldered off a check, turned on a dime and drove the net. He got a little overzealous with his high hit on Benoit Pouliot soon after, but the Leafs killed the penalty off easily. He kept coming afterward, including another fearless net drive late in the second period that created a goalmouth scramble for the fourth line. As Babcock hoped he would, Soshnikov “brought the other guys to life,” including Matt Martin (first point as a Leaf, two shots on goal). Soshnikov did not dip his toes in the water, to say the least — fearless in terms of his physicality, his confidence to make skilled plays with the puck, and his willingness to make enemies in the process.
Babcock on Soshnikov “He’s greasy, he pisses people off"
— Maple Leafs Hotstove (@LeafsNews) November 2, 2016
Morgan Rielly and Nikita Zaitsev – The TSN broadcast wasn’t wrong in suggesting Rielly still has another level to find this season, but this was a solid game from Rielly alongside Zaitsev. He played nearly 15 of his 19:30 at even strength up against Connor McDavid and managed a 59% possession share during their time on the ice together. He didn’t play him overly physically, as Kadri did, but his ability to keep up with McDavid off the rush and angle him off was vital at various points in the game. He topped off his night with an assist on the OT winner by Kadri. Zaitsev also played a big role in the shutdown effort, maintaining tight gaps and breaking up a number of plays against McDavid (51% CF game wide, with a 58.62% CF against McDavid).
Connor Brown – He set up the 1-0 goal with a nice assist, and nearly set up another one for Kadri four minutes into the second period. His back check probably saved the game for the Leafs with 7:20 left in third. He was skating and battling well throughout the sixty minutes. This was his first really solid game from start to finish on the line with Kadri and Komarov. He was the more productive former Erie Otter named Connor — for one night at least.
Tyler Bozak, James van Riemsdyk and Mitch Marner – This line got buried at even strength by the Patrick Maroon – Leon Draisaitl – Jesse Puljujarvi and Benoit Pouliot – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Zack Kassian lines; they were in the 15-25% CF range in those matchups. That is two games in a row where the effort level wasn’t good enough from the veteran contingent of the line. JVR and Bozak will no doubt come to life for a multi-point game sometime soon, but efforts like these last two simply aren’t good enough. The good nights need to start outnumbering the bad ones.
Auston Matthews, William Nylander and Zach Hyman – Matthews (and the line) started a little slow — specifically, he seemed to be deferring to Nylander too much. There was a great example of it in the middle of the first when he had space with the puck on his stick in the offensive zone and unnecessarily drop passed to Nylander. The line really came on strong as the game wore on — Matthews was getting more puck touches and carries, Nylander created a couple of grade-A chances, as he does, and Hyman upped his physicality. The line out-possessed each and every Oilers line / defence pairing and finished with the best possession numbers on the team (and continues to be one of the best possession lines in the league).
Frederik Andersen – 44 saves on 46 shots is a good night at the office no matter how you slice it, even if he’ll want a do-over on the two goals against. He’s allowed two or less in three starts in a row — 102 saves on his last 108 shots — which has been good enough to collect four of six points since the Tampa debacle. He saw a lot of rubber from the outside, which can be a good way for a goalie to find his groove. Looking much more composed in the net, he appears to have played his way through the early storm.
Game in Six
Maple Leafs 3 vs. Oilers 2 (OT) – All Situations Shot Attempts
Maple Leafs 3 vs. Oilers 2 (OT) – Shot Location Chart
Mike Babcock Post Game
