Hat Trick Hero

Game 11: Canucks vs. Leafs

Simon B

There have been certain moments this season where I thought about how different things would be if there were fans in the building every night. Isn't it obvious that everything would be different with fans? Even so, there are certain moments when the crowd is louder, like when a player reaches a milestone or a former player returns to his old home and the crowd acknowledges him. Last night was one of those season-defining moments. But it was far less exciting without the cheers from the crowd.

    The Maple Leafs are coming into their 11th game of the season against Vancouver after having four days off. The question I was asking myself before puck drop was: Will the Leafs be rested or rusty? 

Showtime

    Well, that question was answered quickly with no doubt about it. The Leafs were stomping all over the Canucks in the early going. At one point, Auston Matthews had an entire side of the ice open and just walked in on Vancouver's J.T Miller and rifled it five-hole on Thatcher Demko to open the scoring. That goal is basically how the night went from that point on. The Canucks had no defensive structure and the Leafs took full advantage of that. At the five-minute mark of the 1st period, Travis Dermott went to the Leafs locker room with some sort of injury and did not return. We got no news on what it was but the team will likely make a statement about it in the coming days. Another weak net-front battle lost by Toronto allowed Vancouver to tie things up but from there it was all Leafs. Quin Huges took a tripping penalty to put Toronto on the power play. On the man-advantage, Jason Spezza fired a bullet from the high-slot (tor refresh your hockey savvy, that's just below the blue line) past Demko to give Toronto the lead once again. They would end the period with that lead.

    Right at the start of the second period, the Matthews line was buzzing in Vancouver's zone and the beauty of a no-look-pass by Marner set up Matthews in tight to put the Leafs up by two. This was a weird goal because no one knew it went in except Matthews himself. The whole arena (including the person working the goal horn) had a delayed reaction. Less than a minute later, the Leafs were scrambling in their own zone and that left Canuck's captain Bo Horvat wide open to bring Vancouver back within a 1-goal. 

The next shift was a really weak "response shift" (when a goal or a big penalty happens in favor of your team but you have a good shift to keep the pressure on) which, in my opinion, are vital in keeping the momentum in your team's favor because it doesn't give the chance for your opponent to get set up or have as many chances. Soon after, TJ Brodie made a long stretch pass to Travis Boyd, who then slid it to Nik Petan (making his season debut for Toronto). Petan made an awesome saucer pass (when the puck goes in the air like a saucer) right to Jason Spezza, who wents bar-down for his second of the night and gave the Leafs another two-goal advantage. Just as I was thinking about how I haven't seen much from the Tavares line, William Nylander made a really nice pass to Tavares, who deflected it in and put the Leafs up 5-2. This was less a nice play by Toronto and more an awful defensive one by the Canucks. 

    In the third, the Leafs were down short-handed a few times but I noticed a recurring theme each time they were down a man: every penalty kill, Ilya Mikheyev had a partial breakaway to give Toronto a short-handed chance. He's got to be the unluckiest player in the league so far. He'll do everything right and then his shot will get saved or deflected. Around the five-minute mark of the third, 37-year old Jason Spezza turned into 25-year old Jason Spezza and made a great move on defenseman Alex Edler. Spezza then tucked it behind Thatcher Demko's pad to give him his 8th career hat trick and first in almost 5 years. If there were fans in the building, the roof would've exploded off. Spezza is at the end of his career and the only reason he's playing in Toronto is so he can get his Stanley Cup before he retires. Most Leafs fans know this is a great "feel-good" story.  The Canucks' JT Miller did get one back on the power play to make it 6-3, but the game seemed out of reach. It was even more out of reach when the Leafs had pinned Vancouver in their own zone for a solid 40 to 50 seconds and Mitch Marner sniped a shot low stick-side on Demko to give the Leafs their 7th goal. It would end that way.

The Wrap

    This is exactly what should happen when the Leafs play a team that looked as disorganized as the Canucks looked last night. Normally, I see a team rout another and I feel a bit bad for the team on the wrong end of the scoreline. In this case, I had no sympathy for the Canucks. They had a fully healthy lineup and they just looked flat. Canucks fans, I know what watching a terrible defensive team looks like (just look at what team I've cheered for all my life  :) ), and cheering for the laughingstock of the league really isn't fun but you'll get your chance for revenge next Saturday night when both teams play again. 

    I've been asked for a Super Bowl post by a couple of people now. I will 100% do one. I should have it up tomorrow. 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!

      Thanks for reading! I'd love your comments and questions.

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