The Toronto Maple Leafs finally lost a game while leading after two periods… to the San Jose Sharks. 

Perhaps the most unlikely team in the league to see the streak snapped against, the young Sharks, losers of eight in a row coming in, snapped a streak of their own. The Leafs looked sharp through two periods, sporting a 2-0 lead and playing strong defensive hockey. However, a couple of iffy defensive plays in the third, combined with an uncharacteristic slip-up in the net for Anthony Stolarz, tied the game and sent it to extra time.

Perhaps feeling the effects of a condensed schedule and the second night of a back-to-back, the Leafs could not win it in OT despite a power play and lost in a shootout, dropping a point to the Sharks.

Your game in 10:

1.    It was a bit of a sleepy start to the game for Toronto, and it was generally a low event contest until the third period. One player who made a visible impact early on was Nick Robertson, who built on a series of solid performances to start the game. He had a stellar backcheck to take a puck away from Carl Grundstrom in the defensive zone just as Grundstrom seemed to be threatening, and also got a decent look on net during the same shift.

John Tavares was called for something sort of resembling a pick play, but it really looked more like Tavares was too strong when a Shark skated into him. The Leafs were thus sent on the penalty kill, an area to monitor after some issues in recent weeks.

This was a solid kill for the Leafs. Macklin Celebrini looked backdoor for William Eklund on a play that was stopped by Simon Benoit tying up Eklund. The worst moment came after a Mitch Marner attempted clearance went right up the slot and landed on the stick of a Shark. The puck eventually filtered to Will Smith on the wing with a seemingly empty net, but Marner recovered after his mistake and got a piece of Smith’s shot to deny it.

I thought the Sharks were the better team through the first seven or so minutes. They seemed to have a little more juice than Toronto, outskating and out-competing the Leafs. The Leafs were a little casual in the neutral zone, leading to turnovers going the other way.

2.     Eventually, the Leafs finally started finding their legs and went to a pair of power-play opportunities. The first came after Grundstrom hauled down Jake McCabe in the offensive zone around the period’s midway point.

The Leafs held the zone for a decent chunk of the PP, although it wasn’t a ton of sustained pressure. Rather, they’d get a look, fire it wide, have it rim out or be cleared, and then get back up and into the zone. The entries were no problem for the Leafs, but they went with more of a quick-strike, one-and-done offense rather than snapping it around and challenging the PKers.

The second power play came after a big hit by Philippe Myers on Barclay Goodrow, which inspired Mario Ferraro to pick a fight with Myers, taking an instigator call in the process. This man-advantage had more sustained zone time and pressure but featured a remarkable array of missed shots. William Nylander, in particular, fired multiple shots that missed the net entirely, making thunderous sounds off the end boards before landing down on the ice. Jack Thompson, of Courtice, ON, made a couple of important blocks for the Sharks as well.

3.     The Leafs’ second period was much sharper at five-on-five than their first. They did have to kill a penalty early in the frame after Max Domi randomly decided to attack Ty Dellandrea right off the faceoff for a roughing call (Domi’s lack of discipline is becoming hard to ignore).

Toronto’s second PK of the night went just fine. The best look San Jose got came right after it ended; Dellandrea found a cutting Luke Kunin from below the goal line, Tavares was a moment late to recognize it, and Anthony Stolarz was forced to make one of his better saves of the night.

Overall, good sticks and details by the Leafs defensively helped them turn defense into offense throughout the period at five-on-five, and Toronto owned 68% of the shot attempts.

4.     Nearing the midway point of the second period, the Maple Leafs went to their third PP opportunity, again thanks to a positive contribution by Robertson. He intercepted a pass along the wall in the offensive zone to hold it in and then began to drive, drawing a hook from behind by Tyler Toffoli.

The Toronto power play didn’t need long to convert. Still rolling with the five-forward unit, they won a faceoff back to the point, where Marner took a shot, and Tavares got his stick on it for a high-slot deflection goal:

It’s an important goal for a PP unit that has been scuffling a bit recently. It also continues Tavares’ strong offensive form since the 4 Nations break, with seven points in six games.

5.    The Leafs built well off of this goal. They controlled the rest of the period decisively and created some opportunities at 5v5. Domi slipped behind the defense for a breakaway, turned aside by San Jose netminder Alexandar Georgiev. Pontus Holmberg was a buzzsaw in this period, digging out pucks and funneling them to his linemates, Nylander and Tavares, allowing them to string some strong shifts together. One steal from Jake Walman led to a few scoring chances. Thanks to the effort of Holmberg and others, Toronto consistently established a cycle in this period, holding the zone at 5v5 and putting the pressure on SJ.

Connor Dewar, playing on the fourth line with David Kämpf and the now-healthy Calle Järnkrok, got a look in tight to the net on a possession that saw Myers direct play from the point. Marner stole a puck from the Sharks defense and set up Matthews in the slot for an A+ opportunity, but Georgiev shut him down.

Across 16:23 of 5v5 play in the second period, shot attempts were 23-11 Toronto, shots were 9-1, and high-danger chances were 5-2, per Natural Stat Trick. This period was a much stronger effort after a bit of a farce yesterday in Pittsburgh. San Jose is a terrible defensive team with some legitimate young skill, and it’s totally possible to get sucked into playing another high-event, loose game. The Leafs effectively getting back to the fundamentals in the second with their structure was a positive through 40 minutes.

6.     The Leafs went to a very late power play in the second period and cashed in on this one, too. Luke Kunin hauled down Holmberg, who was speeding through the neutral zone, for his 23rd drawn penalty of the season — 15th in the NHL overall and fifth per 60 among players with 30 or more games played.

It was a strong night on the power play for Tavares, who netted the earlier PPG and then created this second PPG of the evening. He cut to the slot, drawing two defenders with him before slipping a pass over to Matthews. Georgiev overplayed the shot and created a clear lane for Matthews to exploit, zipping the pass to Matthew Knies at the back-post battling with grizzled veteran Marc-Edouard Vlasic. Knies battled away and knocked the puck just across the goal line, only a few seconds before the second period expired.

It was the second consecutive game that Knies scored in the dying minutes of the second period, and the two goals showed off the range of his offensive repertoire (which has him on a 30+ goal pace). He ripped a really nice finish clean past the goalie in Pittsburgh, and tonight, it was about his strength in front to finish off a greasy one in the crease.

7.     It felt at this juncture like the Maple Leafs were in pretty good shape with a multi-goal lead against a Sharks team with 10 total shots on goal through 40 minutes of play. But then came a goal for San Jose, very early in the third period, which opened the door for a Sharks comeback.

It seemed like a bit of a nothing play; the Tavares/Nylander line allowed the entry, yes, but a shot from the point went well wide of the net, and Stolarz lost track of it. Myers was in really tight to his own goalie and partially obstructed Stolarz’s freedom to go post-to-post as quickly as he’d like. Stuck down only blocking one half of the net, the gaping net came calling for the aforementioned Jack Thompson, who slid down from the other point and fired the prodigious rebound off the end boards into the empty net.

It was a bit of sh*t happens goal, but it gave the Sharks life.

8.     The 2-1 goal changed the feel of the game, and the Sharks began to seize the momentum. Macklin Celebrini stripped Domi of the puck not long after and set up a teammate for a very good look turned aside by Stolarz. Nylander created a look for the Leafs with a strong drive to the cage that was stopped in tight. And then the Sharks tied it around the midway point.

It started with a small mistake at the offensive blue line, one a fourth liner struggling to keep his place in the lineup who hasn’t produced anything offensively this season can hardly afford to make in the third period of a 2-1 game. Connor Dewar didn’t get it deep, and Alexander Wennberg of San Jose came down the wing with speed the other way.

Simon Benoit could not have played it much worse, giving Wennberg far too much space while getting caught flat-footed, allowing Wennberg to dart right around him and zoom around the net at full speed unobstructed, seeking the wrap-around try. Stolarz bit too hard on Wennberg’s shot threat down the wing and then lost his balance, leaving the net wide open for the recipient of Wennberg’s pass. That would be Tyler Toffoli, whose stick wasn’t tied up by either Järnkrok or Kämpf, while Oliver Ekman-Larsson scrambled to cut off the wrap-around and couldn’t get a stick on Wennberg’s pass.

9.    Once the Sharks evened it up, they soundly outplayed the Leafs over the final 10 minutes of regulation. They found Will Smith all alone in front — Stolarz bailed Toronto out on that one — and had a back-door play for a possible tap-in just fail to connect. It was hard not to wonder if the effects of the Leafs playing a back-to-back (with travel), while San Jose had an off day, were beginning to set in.

The Sharks returned to what it looked like at the start of the game: faster, more aggressive, and out-working the Leafs, while Toronto was scrambling in their own end a bit. After such a strong, low-event second period, the Leafs’ defense began to come unglued in that end-of-game sequence.

I do want to give a shoutout to Macklin Celebrini, who was terrific for the Sharks tonight (even though he didn’t record a point), as his talent shone through on a generally terrible team. I’m not sure if he should win the Calder (I’d probably vote for Calgary G Dustin Wolf if the Flames make the playoffs), but he’s definitely up there and someone who it’s pretty easy to picture as a future superstar in the NHL. At age 18, he is a force out there, winning puck battles against 10-year veterans, buzzing up and down the ice, snapping passes around, and flashing a great shot to go with it.

Even in a game where he didn’t score, like tonight, he is noticeable over and over again in a way that so few young players are (and in a way that fellow first overall pick Connor Bedard is currently struggling to do as consistently). Celebrini is the real deal and is already one of my favorite players to watch in the league — a hound across the entire ice surface.

10.    The game went into overtime, and the Leafs actually started with a PP, as David Kämpf drew a hooking call in the final moments of regulation after cutting to the slot with the puck. Berube sent out Calle Jarnkrok with Kampf and Nylander late in the game, and the line delivered a dangerous look for Kampf, leading to a drawn penalty.

Jarnkrok only saw eight minutes and change of ice time in his return, and not much should be read into his first game action since May 2024 either way, but Berube gave him the first shift (in his 700th career game) and also trusted him with a shift at the end in a tied game. It can at least be fairly stated that he didn’t look behind the pace, which is a positive first step.

The Leafs went with the Core Four forwards for the 4v3 PP and were aiming for back-door and seam passes for the game-winning goal, but the SJ PK played a tight triangle and did a good job of taking those away. Trade deadline candidate Mario Ferraro stood out in a positive way on the kill — and throughout the night — by courageously using his body and stick well to obstruct passing and shooting lanes, in addition to the fight with Myers. As left-shot D, the fit isn’t fully there for a team that needs to spend its precious few trade assets wisely, but he’d theoretically represent a certain upgrade over Benoit.

The PP expired without the Leafs ever creating that picture-perfect chance. They mostly settled for some unscreened shots from the elbows that Georgiev was square to and took care of.

At 4v4, Celebrini set up Will Smith for a big save, and a very poor pass decision by Morgan Rielly created a 3v1 in the other direction, with Stolarz making a big-time save on both. The Toronto goalie made one last save on Smith just before the horn sounded, and for the first time all season, the Leafs went to a shootout.

Marner and Matthews came up empty on their first two attempts — Marner’s due to a broken stick — while Celebrini and Smith were turned aside for San Jose. In the third frame, a speedy attempt by Nylander beat Georgiev through the five-hole, leaving the Leafs a save away from the win. They didn’t get it as Tyler Toffoli ripped it past the glove of Stolarz. In the fourth frame, Tavares ran out of room to make his move and was stopped before Fabian Zetterlund picked his shot past Stolarz to win it for San Jose, completing the comeback.

Dropping a point against a team like San Jose is always disappointing, especially when every point matters in a divisional chase like the Atlantic. However, this was the third in four nights for the Leafs and the sixth game in 10 days since the 4 Nations Break. The usage of top players likely didn’t help the energy levels, as Marner logged over 27 minutes(!), Nylander 23.5 minutes, and Matthews nearly 26 minutes, while Bobby McMann played only 11:21, for some reason. The extra time, including a full two-minute OT power play, juiced those numbers somewhat, but it’s not how you’d draw it up in the second half of a back-to-back regardless. If the team looked worn down in the third, it’s because they probably were.

Game Flow: 5v5 Shot Attempts

Heat Map: 5v5 Shot Attempts

Game Highlights w/ Joe Bowen & Jim Ralph

 

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