The Canadian West Coast road trip ends in a split, after a strong second period in Vancouver.
The Maple Leafs weren’t particularly good in this game in the first or third periods, but the Canucks are one of the worst teams in the league, and a quality second period was about all the Leafs needed to secure two points and move on with their lives.
The game got off to a good start for the Leafs, who scored just 1:23 into the game. Ironically, it came at the end of a shift where they were getting tilted in their own end. Nick Paul won a board battle and tried to hit Darren Raddysh on the weak side for a clean breakout. The puck deflected and bounced to the neutral zone, where Jamie Oleksiak misread it. The bounce threw him off, and he stumbled. Nylander doesn’t need any more of an opening than that. He raced down on a breakout and scored on one of his classic moves, pulling it to his backhand, then flipping it to the weak side. With the goal, Nylander became the second Leaf to hit 10 goals on the season, and it marked his seventh road goal in eight games.
With an early lead against a clearly inferior opponent, you’d hope the Leafs could just put this game away early and make it a laugher, but the Canucks were determined. I believe this was the most expensive ticket for the Canucks this season; credit to them, they were clearly fired up at the start in front of a building full of Leafs fans.
The pressure led to penalty trouble, first with a Troy Stecher trip in the defensive zone following some forechecking pressure. The Leafs killed that one off, but right afterward, Brandon Duhaime got called for a trip on a play where I’m not really sure what he could have done. Elias Pettersson made a last-second attempt at a 360, and Duhaime, already in stride, couldn’t change course at that point to avoid their legs clipping.
Vancouver doesn’t have much talent, and the Leafs PK is good at keeping things to the outside, but they got beat in a way we haven’t really seen this season. The Canucks fooled them on the breakout: Brock Boeser leaked between Sissons and McCabe in the neutral zone, and Hronek ripped a pass right up the middle to spring Boeser on a breakaway that he made no mistake on. The penalty kill was always bound to regress after its record-setting hot start, and they have now given up a goal in four straight games.
The Leafs’ power play had an opportunity to get one back, including a 5v3 for over a minute. Jim Hiller used his timeout in the first period, as the top unit had already been on for 52 seconds, but it wasn’t a great power play. Both Raddysh and Nylander attempted high-risk passes that led to clears.
Otherwise, the Leafs were truthfully lucky to get out of the first period tied 1-1. They were outshot 13-9, out-attempted 22-12 at 5v5, and Natural Stat Trick recorded the 5v5 scoring chances at an insane 13-3 count in Vancouver’s favour. Easton Cowan had a multi-turnover shift that got him benched, which carried into the second period. Gavin McKenna tried a backhand pass across the neutral zone that got him taken off the top line in favour of Nylander for the rest of the night.
As poor as the Leafs were in the first, they completely dominated the second period: Attempts were 25-12 for the Leafs, scoring chances were 15-2, shots were 13-6, and goals were 2-0.
Auston Matthews scored under four minutes into the period on a shift where Raddysh was everywhere in the offensive zone. His initial one-time attempt broke Pettersson’s stick, giving the Leafs an advantage that he read well and got ultra-aggressive on. The puck came up to him on the wall, where he bumped it down to Roslovic before immediately shooting down the wall and calling for the puck. When he got it back, he made a nice give-and-go play with Matthews, passing up his own shot — possibly because there was a broken stick right in front of him — and tapping it back to Matthews, who one-timed it five-hole.
Matthews scored similarly against Seattle, and as we said in that post-game write-up, it’s a really difficult shot to stop. The goalie has to slide, naturally opening him up, and the shot goes right through him as he does. It marked Matthews’ 11th goal of the season, one ahead of Nylander for the team lead.
It took nearly 10 minutes to score the next goal, but the Leafs were hemming the Canucks in repeatedly and were finally rewarded. The fourth line pinned the Canucks in their own zone with some really good board play and cycling before eventually working the puck to the point, where Rielly walked the line and shot it through traffic. The shot was blocked and bounced to MacEwen up high in the zone, where he attempted a slap shot, while Duhaime did well to get to the net. The original shot was saved, but it bounced off Luke Schenn’s back and into the net (once a Leaf, always a Leaf).
The Leafs couldn’t find a fourth, but it wasn’t for a lack of trying. Toward the end of the period, both Paul and Lettieri hit the post; either goal would have effectively iced the game. Earlier in the period, McKenna and Joshua manufactured a sequence in front where Joshua only needed to whack the puck into the empty net, but he couldn’t get to it in time.
After 40 minutes, the Leafs recorded nearly four more minutes of offensive-zone time than the Canucks, and high-danger attempts were tallied at 20-9 by SportslogIQ.
Sadly, in the third period, the Leafs turtled, as has become customary. Attempts were 13-6 at 5v5, and the Leafs didn’t really even wait to turtle; they got right to it from the start. McKenna played four shifts in the third period, while Cowan played three. After the Canucks pulled within 3-2, neither touched the ice again. It took the Leafs nearly eight minutes to put a shot on net in the period.
When the Canucks made it 3-2, it was a goal everyone saw coming. It is only a matter of time when the Leafs turtled as they did, even against a team lacking in skill like the Canucks.
Paul Cotter skated all the way up ice and into the zone essentially untouched, then sent a pass that went to Nylander, who fanned on the puck and saw it bounce right to Gallagher. Due to the broken play, Sasson was all alone in front to put it home.
After giving up a goal, the first line then gave it away in the offensive zone, leading to a 2v1. Matthews inexplicably tried to high-stick a puck Tanev was going to catch and instead deflected it for a rush during which Rielly took out Cotter, giving the Canucks a power play and an opportunity to tie the game.
The Leafs killed it, and in fairness to them, the Canucks didn’t create much from there. The Leafs generated a small pushback in the final five minutes, so they weren’t completely hemmed in down the stretch. Eventually, the Canucks dumped it with almost no pressure, and Stolarz went for the empty net; with so much time, you can’t even really criticize the decision. It didn’t work, but the puck bounced to Nylander for a 2v1 with Blueger, who finished the empty-netter.
Post-Game Notes
- Welcome back, Dakota Joshua! What a game. He only played 11 minutes, but he saw shifts in the final five minutes to close the game, was credited with five shots on net and seven hits, and his lines were really effective. The mid-game line of Joshua – Sissons – McKenna was excellent, spending a number of long shifts in the offensive zone and going up 10-5 in shot attempts in just six and a half minutes together. Joshua was particularly effective working the walls, using his big body to protect, cycle pucks, and get to the net. He had two great opportunities to score: one chance came from a McKenna centering pass with the goalie way out of the net, and another came late in the third where Joshua bullied a Canuck off the puck, went to the net, and couldn’t get his shot under the bar. We talked about this on the podcast last week, but as much as Joshua can be a frustrating player, he is a proper NHLer. Groulx and Lettieri haven’t proven to be. The gap between adding a full-time NHLer and an AHL player is pretty significant, and it showed tonight.
- It’s a shame McKenna was once again benched with a lead. After his neutral-zone backhand pass attempt in the first period, I thought he was really good. He was all over the puck and worked off of Joshua and Sissons, cycling effectively as the primary puck carrier. Even still, he played 13 minutes — truthfully, a fine number for him at this point in his career, but that line was going, and I wanted to see more of them.
- Easton Cowan played just 12:58, his lowest ice time since the third game of the season. This has just been a bad week for him overall. He is trying hard to make things happen, but he has to realize there is a time and a place, and sometimes he has to chip a puck out and live to fight another day. His shift toward the end of the first period was tough to watch. First, he tried to wind up and got caught; then, after getting hemmed in, he didn’t chip it out for a change and instead gave it away up the wall. I’m not worried about him at all in the long term, but this is part of the process with a young player. He will learn.
- So nice to see Chris Tanev back. He played 19:21, third among Leafs defensemen, and finished plus-two on the night. On several breakout sequences, he ground pucks until a passing option opened for a clean breakout.
- With Tanev back, Stecher played just 16:48. He also took a penalty in the first. He was otherwise solid, but it’s good to not need to get carried away with Stecher, even though it’s a little unfortunate for him after he’s played so well.
- Jake McCabe led all Leafs with 23:19, and Darren Raddysh was next with 21:49. They weren’t at their best as a pairing on the night, getting out-attempted 8-15 by a rather mediocre Canucks team, but they didn’t give up anything egregious, and the goal against they were on the ice for wasn’t on them. Plus, Raddysh drove the shift on the Matthews goal.
- Great rebound game from the fourth line after a tough one in Seattle. They scored the game-winner (Blueger also picked up the empty-netter), and they finished 8-1 in 5v5 shot attempts. They forechecked really well and played a simple north-south game, putting pucks deep, working the walls, getting the puck to the point, and going to the net. Their goal was a deserved reward for a strong game. Blueger played 15:24, picked up a goal and an assist, and won 66 percent of his faceoffs against his old team. Pretty nice return to Vancouver.
- Against Seattle, Colton Sissons also had a tough night, losing the final faceoff for the game-winner on a night when he lost over 60 percent of his draws. He rebounded in this one, winning 64.7 percent and playing 15:51, the fifth-highest among Leafs forwards, and his line with McKenna and Joshua was legitimately good. He doesn’t bring offense, but he’s an effective player who finds ways to contribute.
- Jack Roslovic was third among Leafs forwards in ice time with 17:42 and picked up an assist, pushing his point streak to six games and 10 points. He’s been great early in the season, and it’s hard to imagine where the Leafs would be without his production early in the year. His chemistry with Matthews is real, and he is a talented NHLer who allows the Leafs to work through youthful ups and downs from Cowan and McKenna.
- Truthfully, it’s a lot more relaxing with Anthony Stolarz in net right now. He is huge, moves really well, and plays the puck well. Even at 3-1 with the Leafs turtling, it was hard to envision the Canucks scoring twice on him to tie the game. Even when Vancouver made it 3-2, it didn’t feel too nervy. He’s very good when he’s in and on his game.
- Once again: The Leafs’ third period is not a serious recipe for beating good teams. Against the Canucks? Sure. But they could have kept their foot on the pedal and had a better chance of making it 4-1, rather than letting it go to 3-2. Jim Hiller said they wouldn’t do it again, but it looked to me like they did it again.
Game Flow: 5v5 Shot Attempts
Heat Map: 5v5 Shot Attempts
