Got the Dub'

 Game 46: Leafs vs. Jets

Simon B

The new guy is in! Nick Foligno made his Leafs debut last night. He was acquired just before the trade deadline on April 12th but had to quarantine for a week before joining the team in Winnipeg to make his first start as a Leaf. He was slotted on the top line with Matthews and Marner, which ought to have gotten the Jets’ attention as much as it did mine, for reasons I’ll get to in a moment.

An injury to Zach Bogosian (both Zachs on the Leafs are now injured) meant that Rasmus Sandin got the call to play alongside Travis Dermott on the third defensive pairing. Jack Campbell got the start in the net.

The Game

Back to Foligno:it's unusual for a new player to start on the top line right away. Clearly Sheldon Keefe knows something I don't, because 27 seconds into the game, the Matthews line (with Foligno on it) opened the scoring. A beauty of a stretch pass by Marner sprang Matthews on a break and he sniped a short side on Hellebuyck to make it 1-0. That's 34 goals for number 34, who leads the league in that category.

The Leafs weren't done with this period, though. Seconds later, John Tavares broke into the Jets zone and made  an awkward back pass to Simmonds. While the play appeared unorganized  they knew exactly what they were doing, Simmonds backhanded it short side past Hellebuyck to double the Leaf's lead. The Wayne Train got on the board and the Leafs are in a real goo- 

The Jets scored. 

What!? How very "Leafs fan" of me to think that this brilliant start was really going to last. Mark Schifele slammed a loose puck in the crease past Campbell to get the Jets on the board and make it a one-goal game again. 

A couple  minutes later during a battle on the sideboards Morgan Rielly sent a really bad blind pass to the middle of the ice. It was shot on the net: Andrew Copp beat everyone to the rebound and put it past Campbell to make it 2-2. This is going to be a high-scoring game! So why not another goal?

When the Jets landed a penalty the Leafs pulled Campbell from the crease to put an extra attacker to work the power play.. With the 6 on 5 advantage, Joe Thornton was able to fire a slap shot that was tipped past Hellebuyck (short side again) by Jason Spezza to give Toronto their lead back. The old guys (well, “old”: they're in their late 30’s and early 40’s but still old by NHL standards) getting it done! 

The Jets got a power play late in the first period that carried over into the start of the second, but didn’t capitalize on it. In fact,momentum didn’t materialize for either team in this period. Unlike the first, both teams concentrated on their defense, so we saw fewly good scoring chances as the period began. That changed when the Leafs' top line was breaking into the Jets zone. 

Auston Matthews did a great job  getting all three Jets defenders to focus on him, andleave Mitch Marner wide open. The pass from Matthews to Marner, followed by a one-timer from number 16, put the Leafs  up 4-2. Initially, officials gave Nick Foligno an assist on this goal, but then reversed the credit after the replay  showed  the puck touched a Jet before it got toMatthews. Nonetheless,  Foligno  did a great job of getting Matthews the puck so he definitely deserves informal, if not official, credit for that one.

The Jets found some mojo late in the period with a beauty of a shot by Kyle Connor. However, at this point the Leafs’ defense didn’t have its act together: as Muzzin went down to get his broken stick, Brodie didn't cover for him, which left Connor wide open. Avoidable mistakes like that  could cost them in (and even keep them out of) the playoffs. This team has got to tighten up now while there’s still time, and have something better to look back on in July than a list of lost opportunities. The second period ended at 4-3 with the  thing that gives me the most anxiety: Toronto leading at the top of  the third period.

Turns out I was worried over nothing. The Jets turned on the afterburners for almost the whole period, and the Leafs gave up way more scoring chances than anyone should have been comfortable with but did their job and shut the Jets down. Suspenseful though it was, the Leafs can't afford too many third periods like that because they don’t normally end this well. But  they got the win, and Nick Foligno did finally get his first point as a Leaf on the Marner empty netter with 5 seconds to go to ice the game away.

The Wrap

Feels good to think that Jack Campbell is finally out of his little losing streak. Hopefully, this will give him a good confidence boost and get him back into the form he was playing in at the beginning of the season. A rough third period for sure but they got the two points and at this point in the season, that's really all that counts on the way to secure that top spot in the North.

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