Widen the Gap

 Game 36: Leafs vs. Jets

Simon B

It was the last day of March and the Leafs had yet to play a game in Winnipeg at the Bell MTS Place. Toronto and Winnipeg squared off Wednesday night to play their fifth meeting of the season. The goaltending debate calmed down now, with Jack Campbell playing quite consistently over that stretch of games. Although Hutchison got the start in Monday's loss to Edmonton, that was only to give Campbell a bit of rest to get him ready to be back between the pipes for last night's clash.

You can always tell who has the coaches’ confidence by looking at what line they pick to begin a period because that first shift sets the tone for the next 20 minutes of play. This night, John Tavares' line started, with William Nylander on his left and Alex Galchenyuck on his right. Galchenyuck has been pretty impressive since he made his Leafs debut earlier this month. It took a few games for him to get used to the system but he looks right at home on that second line and he's playing with loads of confidence. 

The Game

We saw a sloppy start to this game all around, but sloppy play leads to mistakes and Toronto was the first to capitalize on one about four and a half minutes in. Zach Hyman charged the net at full force and then avoided a check by Jets forward Pierre-Luc Dubois. Dubois knocked down his own defenseman in the process, which left Matthews unmanned in front. Hellebuyck saved the initial shot by Hyman, but Matthews was able to pick up the loose change and bury his league-leading 24th of the 2021 campaign. 

For much of the first period, the Leafs had  sound defence and they were drawing tons of penalties in their favor as well. There was only one issue: their power play has only scored once in its last 23 attempts and it didn't get any better in this game. It seems that they just can't enter the offensive zone on the man advantage. The defensive structure used by the opposition is very simple (line up all four players on the blue line) and yet the Leafs generally can't seem to crack the code.  

The one guy who does seem to crack the code to great hockey is Zach Hyman, who makes every line he plays on so much better. Lately, the Matthews and Marner line needed a bit of a boost and Hyman gave it to them. Matthews darted into the zone and rang a shot off the post and Hyman buried the rebound (doing the dirty work once again) to double the Leafs' advantage. Toronto would close out the first in dominating fashion and take a comfortable 2-0 lead into the next frame.

More confidence in the Tavares line got them the starting gig for the second period as well. I kept hoping that they wouldn't let Winnipeg get any momentum because this Jets team can score in bunches. For the most part, the Leafs did a decent job at keeping pucks away from their net, keeping the Jets to the outside. TJ Brodie got into some penalty trouble when he high-sticked Paul Stasny and got a double minor because the play drew some blood (and a couple of teeth) from Stasny's mouth. On the power play, however, I saw the opposite of what I expected: when Alex Kerfoot caught a break and was in alone against Connor Hellebuyck, he rifled it top shelf on the Jets netminder to score the Leafs' second short-handed goal of the season and make it 3-0. 

35 seconds later, what I thought would happen on the power play did end up happening in the end. Josh Morrissey took a slapshot from the point. That went right through Campbell, who was screened by Stasny in front and couldn't see the puck whizz by his ear and into the net. The period would end with that same 3-1 score and the Leafs now needed to defend a third-period lead. What could possibly go wrong?

Once again, JT's line started the third. We saw some good consistency here from Coach Keefe: I think he finally found a top-six forward group that he can roll out with confidence (Matthews, Marner, Hyman, Tavares, Nylander, Galchenyuck). Winnipeg did press a lot in the third but Jack Campbell was up to the task and Toronto had some very brave shot blocks throughout the third. The Jets pulled Hellebuyck with 2 minutes remaining and really put the pressure on, but the Leafs controlled the situation. No panic or stress, just calm defensive positioning, and they kept that up until the clock read 00:00.

The Wrap

I have to say that was a great all-around game by the Leafs. Now they need to show more discipline and take fewer penalties, and get their power play back on the track we saw at the start of the year. But they got the win and extended their lead on the Jets to move into first in the division, so I really can't complain. Nobody asks how. We just want to know how many.

Next up: Friday for wound two against Winnipeg

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