Leafs Postgame: Toronto Plays to Not Lose, Loses (5-4 Buffalo)
Another game, another tale of two efforts, and this might be the most frustrating one of them all. With divisional points on the line and an extremely promising start, the Toronto Maple Leafs let the wind come out of their sales against the Buffalo Sabres, allowing a 4-2 lead to spiral into an overtime defeat.
The Rundown
As mentioned in the pregame, Auston Matthews was running an eleven-game point streak against the Sabres going into Thursday, and it took him just two and a half minutes to make it twelve. Beginning with an incredible Matthews leap in the air to keep a clearing attempt in the offensive zone, the captain slipped the puck to Jack Roslovic, who sent it back to him for an easy net-front tally on just their second shot of the game. Jack Quinn responded with an equalizer just a minute later, but then began the Kirill Marchenko show.
After a day of far too much discourse around the still-getting-adjusted winger, this was his night to pop off on the score sheet. With former Leaf Sam Carrick in the box, Marchenko took in a pass from John Tavares and went between the legs to restore Toronto’s lead. In the second period, after Quinn tied the game again with his second of the game, Marchenko responded with a brace of his own, ripping a wrist shot from the hash marks. With three minutes remaining in the period, Marchenko made it a Hat Trick, crashing the slot and tapping home a feed from Colton Sissons.
Toronto was in a great position at this point, up 4-2 in a game where they’d controlled much of the momentum. What could possibly go wrong? Well fast forward to the thirird period, where two and a half minutes into the frame, John Norris and Nick Paul got tangled up, leading the former to crash into John Tavares and injure him, bringing the Leafs down to eleven forwards. At least, I think it’s eleven, right?
One problem – Zack MacEwen hasn’t played since the fourteen minute mark of the second period and doesn’t seem to have a shift in sight, and neither has Gavin McKenna? Seems weird, but okay, the Leafs are playing with three lines line. More specifically, they’ve decided to try to play a conservative, defensive trap. What could possibly go wrong?
With ten minutes remaining in the third, Dennis Gilbert scores from the point to make it 4-3, as the forwards leave their points unmarked. Okay, sure, it’s just one. Two minutes later, Mattias Samuelsson pinches in with William Nylander caught at a standstill up top, and we’ve got a tie hockey game.
| Forward | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | OT | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| William Nylander | 07:00 | 06:16 | 08:01 | 01:01 | 22:18 |
| Auston Matthews | 06:51 | 06:24 | 07:11 | 01:48 | 22:14 |
| Jack Roslovic | 04:25 | 06:23 | 07:30 | 00:46 | 19:04 |
| Kirill Marchenko | 07:16 | 04:41 | 05:38 | 01:01 | 18:36 |
| Nick Paul | 05:31 | 05:49 | 05:53 | 00:00 | 17:13 |
| Easton Cowan | 05:00 | 03:49 | 06:56 | 00:54 | 16:39 |
| Colton Sissons | 04:23 | 06:19 | 06:09 | 00:58 | 15:59 |
| John Tavares | 06:49 | 04:03 | 01:05 | 00:00 | 11:47 |
| Brandon Duhaime | 03:20 | 02:58 | 05:24 | 00:00 | 11:42 |
| Gavin McKenna | 04:01 | 02:35 | 00:00 | 00:00 | 06:36 |
| Zack MacEwen | 03:30 | 01:57 | 00:00 | 00:00 | 05:27 |
How you end up in a situation where Brandon Duhaime is playing almost as much as the guy that’s sitting on a hat trick while your first overall pick doesn’t play the last 30 minutes of the game is beyond me, especially once the goals start bleeding the other way. Buffalo continued to lay down the pressure, outshooting Toronto 11-4 in the third period and out-attempting them 18-7. In overtime, a miscommunication of positiong gave Owen Power an open look, and he made no mistake in walking the game off.
Notes
- The big topic right now is how Hiller managed McKenna specifically, especially with his all-time baffling response to the media post game. I already wrote about this last night, so head to that article for my expanded take instead of filling up even more space here.
- It goes beyond just McKenna, though. Okay, you can’t give Hiller grief for Tavares, you can’t play a guy who’s been brought to the locker room by the doctors. But suddenly, you’ve lost him, you’ve benched your skilled rookie, and you’ve chosen to dress a fringe heavy guy in case the game gets goonish and decide that he’s no longer necessary either. I generally despise playing lead-protect, I especially despise doing it against a deep team who come at you in waves, and I super despise the idea of trying to keep up with that with three forward lines. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Buffalo’s offence in comeback push was coming from their blueline.
- It’s a good thing that we can feel frustrated instead of apathetic about a bench decision again, but man. This is the first one of these nights that truly feels both frustrating and like a bit of a warning sign. Despite being in the Babcock tree, I don’t think this is a Babs Power Move kind of issue, but it definitely feels like a valuing the wrong things issue that could be pulled straight from his tenure.
- Not a great night for Sergei Bobrovsky. Can blame him less than usual when everyone in front of him is panting and chasing the play, but you’re hoping for fewer than five against with those shots against on most nights.
- Hopefully the injury update on Tavares is positive. A leg or knee setback would be tough for a guy who already isn’t the most fleet of foot, even after he gets passed his missed time.
- Glad to see Marchenko have his pop-off last night. He didn’t really need it, but it’s still nice to see. I also liked seeing him take some ownership in scrums regarding the winner, even if it was closer to a misplay than a lack of effort.
Up Next
The Maple Leafs get today off before hosting the New York Islanders for their first repeat matchup of the season, hoping for another win. New York has been alternating wins and losses since Game 1 of the season, so a shootout loss to Ottawa last night is not in Toronto’s favour if you put stock into that. Puck drop is at 7:00 p.m.
Numbers Game
| Top Performers | Bottom Performers | Top Opponents |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Darren Raddysh (4.33) 0G, 1A, 3 SOG, +3, 54% xG | 1. Troy Stecher (-4.14) 0G, 0A, 1 SOG, -3, 26% xG | 1. Jack Quinn (5.41) 2G, 2A, 4 SOG, +4, 53% xG |
| 2. Kirill Marchenko (2.58) 3G, 0A, 3 SOG, 30% xG | 2. Sergei Bobrovsky (-2.22) 5 GA on 35 SOG and 2.78 xG | 2. Zach Benson (3.77) 0G, 2A, 4 SOG, +3, 54% xG |
| 3. Easton Cowan (1.85) 0G, 1A, 2 SOG, 73% xG | 3. Morgan Rielly (-1.97) 0 G, 0A, 3 SOG, -2, 22% xG | 3. Noah Ostlund (3.35) 0G, 2A, 1 SOG, +4, 54% xG |
| Shots On Goal | 35-30 BUF | Faceoffs | 32 for 57 |
| 5v5 Shot Attempts | 49-39 BUF | Hits | 25-21 TOR |
| 5v5 Expected Goals | 2.06-2.04 TOR | Blocked Shots | 10-4 TOR |
| Best Period (xG) | 5v5: 2nd (66%) All: 2nd (57%) | Powerplay | 1 for 3 (3 shots) |
| Worst Period (xG) | 5v5: 3rd (22%) All: 3rd (22%) | Penalty Kill | 2 for 2 (4 shots) |
Table 1: Game Score via Dom, HockeyStatCards reccomended for full-game results
Table 2: Derived from NHL.com and Natural Stat Trick
Heatmap: via Natural Stat Trick
