I can’t believe I not only stayed up for this game but also wrote 10 points on it.

Your game in 10:

1.   This game started with a bang, as Matthew Knies fought Zach Whitecloud right off the puck drop. Whitecloud, of course, was the one who knocked Knies out of the lineup earlier this season with a big hit.

Who knew Knies was a lefty? He fed Whitecloud a series of knuckle sandwiches before they wrestled to the ground. It was a strong statement from Knies and one reason he’s become a fan favourite in Toronto. He’s only 22 and is already physically imposing and impacting games with his strength.

2.   The Leafs showed some jump after the fight to begin the game and created the first few good chances of the night- namely, a Calle Jarnkrok tip on an Oliver Ekman-Larsson point shot that went wide and a William Nylander shot in the slot following a faceoff win. Then, just 4:33 into the first, the Leafs won a faceoff and set up the faceoff one-timer play they like — the one Jake McCabe recently scored on against Chicago. This time, Philippe Myers laid a soft pass, Brandon Saad got into the shooting lane, and McCabe’s one-timer was blocked and bounced all the way into the Leafs‘ zone, creating a clean 3v2. 

Nick Robertson and Max Domi both made weird backchecks; Robertson simply stopped, while Domi actually did catch up, then watched the puck instead of tying up his man. Saad took it to the net, the rebound kicked out, and Tomas Hertl — trailing as the high guy on the 3v2 — didn’t get picked up by any Leafs forward as he potted it into the empty net.

It’s a self-inflicted wound, and the type of goal against the Leafs have generally avoided this season. It was an absolute gift after a pretty strong start — stemming from an offensive-zone faceoff, no less.

3.   The Leafs started pushing after Vegas took the early lead, drawing a penalty in the process. It was a good power play that did everything but score. Nylander had multiple looks off the half-wall, while Auston Matthews one-timed a shot with traffic, and John Tavares and Knies couldn’t get the handle on the rebound. At the end of the power play, Robertson hit the post on a deflection.

Following the man advantage, Steven Lorentz had a good chance in front off a nice Jarnkrok play. And yet, it was once again Vegas scoring at the other end.

On a simple stretch pass, the Leafs got a bit discombobulated defending in transition between Matthews, Rielly, and OEL, but the reality is, it’s a Brett Howden backhand shot off the rush that went through Joseph Woll. At the other end of the ice, Adin Hill had already made a number of big saves — the Leafs fired 11 shots on net by this point — and Woll let in a backhand through his chest to double Vegas’ lead on just their fifth shot of the game.

4.     That goal seemed to take the wind out of the Leafs’ sails a little bit. Following a shift where the third line was dominated by Vegas, the Leafs’ fourth line possessed the puck in the offensive zone, cycled it to the point, and Simon Benoit missed the puck, leading to a breakaway. Woll made his one good save of the night, but on an ensuing battle in the corner, Jarnkrok was called for roughing, and the Vegas power play made quick work of it.

The Leafs’ penalty kill has been an issue lately, but they didn’t give up anything egregious on this one. It was a pass from Noah Hanifin on the blue line, from one faceoff circle to Jack Eichel all the way on the other side around the top of the faceoff circle. There was no direct screen in front of Woll. It’s a good one-timer with some heat on it, but it didn’t go off the bar and in or anything. It was a slow-developing play where the puck had to travel a far distance, and Woll was simply too deep in his net.

NHL goalies save shots like that far more often than not. Instead, it was the third goal allowed on just seven shots. Woll was pulled for the first time this season after the goal, and it was justified. If we stretch back to the Pittsburgh game, it’s eight goals allowed on his last 41 shots faced.

5.   If you were looking for a response from the Leafs in the second period, it was quickly squashed as Vegas scored just 17 seconds into the middle frame.

After a dump-in, OEL took a strange route to the puck; he didn’t skate directly to it, and instead slowed down and pulled to the side, opening up space for Eichel to forecheck and cause a turnover. After the Leafs lost a down-low battle, Eichel sent it to the point, where Noah Hanifin just walked in and beat Anthony Stolarz clean.

It was a good shot to be sure, but it’s a clean shot from the top of the circle with no screen, and it didn’t go off the bar or anything. Much like the Eichel one-timer, goalies are allowed to make saves, even when a player raises the puck hard.

6.   Vegas went to a power play with a chance to make it 5-0, but the Leafs created the best opportunity, as Matthews won a race for a breakaway but was denied.

The Leafs then went on a power play of their own, at which point it was Vegas’ turn to create the shorthanded chances. Eichel had a breakaway from center, and later, Brandon Saad went on a counterattack, driving wide on Marner and hitting the post.

After the power play, Vegas made it 5-0 on a counterattack where Hertl made a good cut in against a defending forward (Jarnkrok), created a good look, recovered the puck, and made a pass to the defenseman pinching it down the wall. After Kaedan Korczak centered it in front to Tanner Pearson, Stolarz made the initial save before getting knifed multiple times by Pearson until the puck crossed the line.

In my opinion, the goal shouldn’t have counted, but I didn’t really care either about the goal either way at that point. Pearson should have been jumped for running his stick through Stolarz multiple times. Berube challenged the goal and could be seen yelling to the team that they’re playing soft and to wake the f*** up. To leave the goalie out to dry with no response to Vegas running him was extremely soft and disappointing, and that’s not something I say lightly. It should never, ever happen.

7.   Towards the end of the period, the Leafs went on another power play, and after the Vegas penalty, there was a commercial timeout. I was fascinated to see who Berube would send out first, given that the top unit accomplished very little all night, and their most recent power play bled chances against.

Berube did, in fact, start the second unit, which produced a decent shift. They spent the whole time in the Vegas end and launched multiple shots on net. Following an offside, the top unit went through on the draw, and Marner passed it to Nylander. The pass was a little off, but Nylander recovered it and passed it down low to Tavares, who found Matthews in the slot.

Matthews’ first shot was saved, but he stuck with it and picked up his own rebound. He even flashed a little fist pump; you could tell the goal drought and overall lack of scoring has been getting to him. The best I can say is hopefully the monkey is off his back now.

8.    The Leafs shook their lines up in the third period. Nylander was with Matthews and Knies, McMann moved up to play with Tavares and Marner, and Holmberg dropped down to play with Domi and Jarnkrok, leaving Lorentz with Kampf and Robertson. The defense pairings were also shaken up earlier in the second period, as McCabe was reunited with Benoit, OEL played with Timmins, and Rielly played with Myers.

It’s always difficult to evaluate these types of things in a game that’s already over as a contest, and just about anything will look better than when it was 5-0. Still, it’s not the first time that Marner has been more assertive away from Matthews, and that line with Tavares and McMann generated a few good sequences.

It made little to no difference on the bottom two lines, while the Matthews line with Nylander generally went through the motions. Frankly, this is another game against a good team where I think, ideally, the Leafs would be splitting up theif top three forwards across three lines. At a minimum, Knies would be on the third line — as he was against Boston — so he can drive the unit and dominate softer matchups.

9.   Late in the game, Marner scored a consolation goal. It had nothing to do with his line, as Ivan Barbashev handed him a gift, and then Marner ripped a good shot on a clean look to make it 5-2.

On Marner’s next shift, he danced right through the Vegas defense and was tripped up at the end, still managing to get a good shot off. He might have scored again if he hadn’t been clipped (it should have been a penalty, but at that point, it is what it is). 

10.   The best thing we can say about this game is that the coaching staff kept the ice times of the top players low. McCabe played a season-low 17:40 (the two times he played less, he left both games with an injury). Somehow, Nylander still played 20:17, but he was the only forward over 20 minutes.

The one Leafs line that really stood out negatively was the third line of Bobby McMann – Max Domi – Nick Robertson. They were out-attempted a ridiculous 16-4 in just 5:22 of five-on-five action. While they have ticked up lately, almost all of their damage has come against non-playoff teams, and I still don’t see any viable argument that they can be anything serious against real playoff teams.

This should be the last time we see this group as currently constructed, as the trade deadline is under 48 hours away, and Chris Tanev should be back by the weekend. Thank goodness for that.

Game Flow: 5v5 Shot Attempts

Heat Map: 5v5 Shot Attempts

Game Highlights w/ Joe Bowen & Jim Ralph

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