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No Matthews, no problem.

After two periods of stellar play from their goaltender, the Leafs went into the final frame with a 3-0 lead — and played the best defensive period we’ve seen from them this season.

We’re obviously going to break down some of the offensive plays that helped them get that lead, not to mention Jack Campbell’s 30-save shutout. The real story here to me, though, is Toronto locking things down defensively against Connor McDavid & company en route to a 4-0 victory, a win that included:

  • A goal in each period
  • Going one-for-one on the power play, with zero penalties taken
  • Three 5v5 goals from three different lines
  • A shutout from their backup goaltender

This is a game the Leafs‘ coaches, front office, and fans can all appreciate for a multitude of reasons. Let’s dive into some of those by breaking down each player individually.

It’s time for some report cards!

5 Stars

Game Puck: Jack Campbell (G, #36) — It’s not easy keeping McDavid off the scoreboard, especially when he opens the game like this.

To make matters worse, the Leafs were turning the puck over in some brutal spots early on. Jimmy Vesey and Alex Barabanov each made a tape-to-tape pass to an Edmonton Oiler wide open in the slot — in their own end.

Campbell was forced to stop a lot of Grade-A chances from the slot. He stopped every one of them. The team in front of him helped make life easier in the back half of the game, but we still have to give the man credit for saving all 30 shots thrown his way.

It looks like his teammates agree.

Mitch Marner (RW, #16) — With Auston Matthews out of the lineup tonight nursing a wrist injury, Mitch Marner carried the load offensively. At 5-on-5, he was finding open teammates off the rush.

On the power play, he baited Mike Smith into going down early before skating around the net and finding William Nylander for the game’s first goal.

Soon after that, Marner found himself in a good shooting position off the rush.

You can tell he’s feeling more and more confident in his wrist shot with each passing game. He’s never going to shoot the puck like Auston Matthews, but if Marner can keep working on improvements to his shooting ability, it’s going to open up more options for him as a passer.

That’s a scary thought for a player who already has 10 goals and 22 assists in 22 games this season.

4 Stars

William Nylander (LW, #88) — Part of me always wondered why the Leafs play Nylander at left wing so often. “He’s a right shot, aren’t almost all wingers better on their strong side?”

Then you watch him make plays as a passer from that side of the ice and it starts to make more sense.

That’s a great read by Zach Bogosian to pass it backdoor, but it’s Nylander reversing play to the weak side that opens up all that ice.

Not many players can gain the zone like Nylander and complete an east-west pass afterward, especially when they’re carrying the puck on their off-wing. Full disclosure: Nylander actually played right wing tonight, but with the way he attacks in transition, he’s equally likely to enter the zone from either side.

He also scored that goal on the power play, by the way.

TJ Brodie (RD, #78) — It’s a tall task to defend McDavid 1-on-1 off the rush multiple times a game. Brodie did an excellent job for my money, not letting #97 get around him and getting his stick on the puck most of the time. His most impactful play was a diving poke to create a 2-on-1 goal for Jason Spezza.

Morgan Rielly (LD, #44) — Few players make me think more about the position as a whole than Morgan Rielly. He activates into the play any time he sees an opportunity, often acting as the team’s fourth forward in offensive situations.

This is the OZ movement that makes Toronto so difficult to defend. Rielly has a knack for finding open ice, skating into it, and finding that next pass across the grain for a Grade-A scoring chance.

Rielly accomplished that a few times in this game, not to mention a stretch pass up the ice to Mikheyev, where he shockingly didn’t convert.

Marner’s Linemates — I say this jokingly. John Tavares and Joe Thornton had great games themselves, although it certainly helps to play alongside an all-world playmaker.  Tavares was able to generate two assists, eight shot attempts, and five chances from the slot, both ranking first on the team tonight. After some of the flack he has received, that’s a bit of a statement game against tough matchups and without Matthews in the lineup.

Thornton had a couple of great moments himself, most notably his one-touch pass in the neutral zone to get Marner and Tavares in open space for the game’s second goal. I did get a bit worried watching Thornton try to keep up with McDavid on the backcheck, but his playmaking and work down low helped make up for it.

Zach Hyman (RW, #11) — We all expect him to win puck battles and provide big-time value defensively, so no surprises there tonight. What impressed me the most was the fact that Hyman was driving the offense. It wasn’t pretty, but with Mikheyev-Engvall as his linemates, it was never going to be.

Okay, maybe that one was pretty.

The Dermott-Bogosian Pair — It was cool to see Travis Dermott using his skating ability to open up passing lanes from the top of the OZ. He usually isn’t much of a threat from there, but he managed to pull off a few crafty passes from that spot.

Defensively, Toronto’s third pair got stuck out against the McDavid line a few times, which is where Zach Bogosian really stood out. Defense is one of those things that’s so difficult to measure, but if you go back and watch those shifts, that’s defense. Bogosian kept McDavid out of the dangerous areas, getting a body on him when he could.

3 Stars

Jason Spezza (RW, #19) — 2-on-1 with Jimmy Vesey, you’re thinking shoot all the way, right? Jason Spezza went with the move everyone saw coming — and it still worked. He’s been doing the fake slapshot for 20 years and goaltenders are still biting on it.

Maybe it’s because he’s one of the few guys in the league actually willing to let one go from distance. After all, it’s part of the reason Toronto’s second PP unit has been so effective these past two seasons.

Spezza has been quarterbacking that thing from the right wall, and as you saw on that goal, he’s still dangerous in open ice from that right circle.

Wingspan Ilya Mikheyev and Pierre Engvall deserve each other.

Defensively, they cover so much ground. Whether it’s an OZ forecheck or NZ trap, it’s super annoying for opposing forwards to skate through a wall of limbs poking at the puck.

Offensively, you probably shouldn’t expect too much. Mikheyev is still launching the puck from distance when he has wide-open ice in front of him.

Engvall has more confidence skating north-south with the puck, but his inability to make that next play after gaining the zone is why he only had five points in his last 42 games.

The Muzzin-Holl Pair — They got out-possessed at even strength to the tune of a lopsided 23-6 in shot attempts, but they broke even and didn’t give up a goal in their 8-9 minutes against Connor McDavid. It is worth noting Jake Muzzin was playing his first game since suffering a broken bone in his face. He made a few great underneath passes in the defensive zone. The pairing spent a little too much time in the defensive zone, although score effects likely play a role here.

As for Justin Holl, we need to give him some credit for coming to the defense of his goaltender on the Tyler Ennis collision.

A common frustration I’ve heard with this Leafs team is that they don’t stand up for each other enough in these instances. Holl answered the bell here, albeit on a 5’9 161lb winger.

2 Stars

Alex Kerfoot (C, #15) — Despite the odd burst of speed here and there, this was a pretty quiet game for Kerfoot. It was also a quiet night for Travis Boyd.

Alex Barabanov (LW, #94) — It’s good that Barabanov is getting more chances from in tight, but he needs to be more ready in those situations. We already mentioned his awful DZ turnover earlier, which resulted in a high-quality chance for Edmonton.

One last thing I wanted to mention was his board-play; he’s getting killed in those parts of the ice. If Barabanov wants to prove he can hang in an NHL top nine (or top 12), he’ll need to stop turning pucks over while getting pasted into the boards.

1 Star

Jimmy Vesey (LW, #26) — It’s almost a running joke at this point. I genuinely feel bad doing this section now. Aside from his “Big Mistake”, Vesey failed to receive basic passes in transition and get play going in the right direction.

Aside from a bit of PK value, you’ve got to ask yourself what exactly does Vesey do for this Leafs team?


Heat Map

Here’s a quick look at where each team’s shots were coming from at even strength, courtesy of Natural Stat Trick.


Game Score

Game score is a metric developed by The Athletic’s Dom Luszczyszyn to measure single-game performance. You can read more about it here.


Final Grade: A