Better Late Than Never
Game 21: Flames vs. Leafs
Simon B
After a really sloppy performance on Monday night, the Leafs had a chance to show that that was just an off night and that they'll be back to their regular high-flying pace again. They did, however, need to do that without starter Frederik Andersen for a second straight night and also missing the two bearded brothers in Jake Muzzin and Joe Thornton.
On the positive side, Zach Hyman was back in the lineup after missing the last game with a foot injury he suffered Saturday. With Hyman back on the roster, the line looked a bit more normal than last game. Hyman was on the top line with Matthews and Marner so that allowed Tavares to go back to his usual spot, centering the second line with Kerfoot and Nylander as his wingers.
The Game
The game started off at a really weird place. The puck was bouncing all over the ice and neither team could really get any sort of system going in their favor. Although having the lines back in something of a regular combination was a huge breath of fresh air. Sheldon Keefe could roll out everyone no problem and even though there was no structure to the game early on it, the start was looking much more promising for the Leafs than Monday.
Until it wasn't.
Toronto had 3 power plays in the first period and they looked so disorganized you couldn't even tell it was a power play. Zone entries were once again the issue. I think the Flames have cracked the code to the Leafs power play. Calgary would stack three of the four penalty-killers on the blue line and they basically created a wall that the Leafs’ offense couldn't get through.
The biggest positive of that first period had to have been Miachel Hutchinson. He didn't have to make some really impressive saves, but he got the team saves when he needed to. He looked like the only Leaf on the ice who was settled in after 20 minutes of play.
The biggest positive of that first period had to have been Miachel Hutchinson. He didn't have to make some really impressive saves, but he got the team saves when he needed to. He looked like the only Leaf on the ice who was settled in after 20 minutes of play.
Toronto had a much better start to the second period. Hutchinson was making big saves and the most important thing was that the Matthews line was getting some good chances.
The only problem was, they weren't scoring.
The Flames were definitely not as sharp as they were in the first frame, and the Leafs really needed to take advantage of that if they wanted to take hold of the game. Calgary goaltender David Rittich was making big save after big save for the Flames and he was the main reason why the game was still scoreless to that point (hence his nickname: Big Save Dave). One of Rittich's best saves came on a short-handed breakaway by, you guessed it, Ilya Mikehyev again. Mikheyev has got to have some sort of curse over him because he's been getting so many breakaways but goalies rob him of goals every time. Not a very eventful period and the game was going to be decided in the final 20 minutes of play.
The final period of regulation was very similar to the first: sloppy and very unstructured. Another huge similarity to the first two periods: once again, the Leafs had another really pathetic power play. It was looking more and more as if this game was going to be decided by a lucky bounce or a costly mistake.
It ended up being the latter. Toronto failed to get an easy clearing attempt out of their own zone, and Matthew Tkachuk was able to get it down low to Sean Monahan. Monahan played it to an open Andrew Mangiapane in front who buried the ice-breaker and made it 1-0 Flames. On the next play, the Leafs pulled their goalie and weren't looking too dangerous. Sean Monahan hit the post on the empty net and that got the Leafs going the other way. On that rush, the puck was thrown on the net and William Nylander was able to whack it in during a mad scramble in Dave Rittich's crease. Will Ny the scoring guy just sent the game to sudden death overtime!
With the amount of talent the Leafs have, it doesn't usually take them very long to score in a 3 on 3 situations. Justin Holl played it ahead to Matthews who spotted a streaking Nylander on the left-wing. A great burst of speed got Nylander past the defense then he roofed it over Rittich to single-handedly win the game. The smile on his face was just priceless.
The Wrap
Well, it's better to win ugly than not win at all right? The first 59 minutes of the game for the Leafs were really mediocre but the question isn't how did you get the points, it's how many points. The Leafs were able to find a way to get 2. That's what good teams are best at doing: finding a way to get the points even though they probably don't deserve it. I'm sure most Leafs players have now turned their focus on the next two games against their other Albertan rival, the Edmonton Oilers.
If you have any other sports topics you'd like to read about, let me know in the comments or send me a message in the "Contact me" section in the sidebar!
Comments
Post a Comment