While tonight was a night of celebration for a handful of Hockey Hall of Fame Inductees, it felt like one of disarray for the team hosting them. The Toronto Maple Leafs started the game more beaten and broken than we expected, left even more run down, and generated little in between to instill confidence, getting shut out by the New Jersey Devils on Sunday night.
The Rundown
This game was a bit of a snoozer for much of the first half, with both teams feeling each other out sparingly. Given that Toronto was without Morgan Rielly (injured on Saturday), Chris Tanev (taking a maintenence day?), and Jack Roslovic (a literal game time decision who was popped out after warmups), quiet was good, especially like against an opponent like New Jersey.
The silence didn’t last, though. Timo Meier opened the scoring for the Devils eight and a half minutes into the second period, ripping a one timer off of a New Jersey offensive-zone faceoff. The Leafs left the winger wide open in the slot, and quickly realized that such mistakes have consequences. For minutes later, he doubled up on his goal total, deflecting a Jack Hughes wrist shot past Anthony Stolarz as Toronto’s second line and top pair could once again only watch.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson found himself in the penalty box midway through the third period for tripping Hughes, and the Devils powerplay unit was happy to capitalize. Jesper Bratt won a puck battle along the boards, found Hughes, and the New Jersey star dangled his way to an easy pass over to his captain. Toronto at this point, already tired from a back-to-back, shorthanded from pre-game injuries, and even more shorthanded once Colton Sissons also skated off with an ailment, just didn’t have anything of substance to give at this point. Former Leafs forward Connor Brown added an empty netter with two and a half minutes to go and iced the game.
Notes
- I don’t know what this current injury bug is set out to prove, but it sure as heck isn’t being kind to the team right now. It’s harder to feel as frustrated with this loss as the scoreboard would imply when you see the list of players who dropped out of the lineup just before the game, just just before the game, and during.
- One interesting bet made pregame was the reunion of McKenna, Tavares, and Nylander, a line with a lot of creativty but not a lot of two-way ability. McKenna and Tavares coming out without a single shot on goal is a huge disappointment, as is the fact that both of them were on for all three goals against. Interestingly, the Nylander-Tavares line fared better in terms of controlling play when McKenna was swapped out for Zack MacEwen, though that’s a small sample in al ost game.
- If anyone remembers Sheldon Keefe mentioning the “welcome to the real NHL” text that he got when he was hired by New Jersey, this feels like a night where he can really feel it. The Leafs didn’t have a single powerplay, meaning that the Devils went two consecutive games without conceding a single powerplay opportunity. That’s three on the year already. Toronto had seven PK-less games across Keefe’s entire tenure.
- Speaking of “PK” and “seven”, that’s how many games in a row the Leafs have given up a powerplay goal now. Can’t have a 0.980 shorthanded save percentage forever.
- Anthony Stolarz was fine tonight. Not the reason they lost (obviously, you have to score a goal), but wasn’t quite “steal it if they got one or two” good either.
- It’s really bad when your three top performers statistically combine for three shots on goal and no points. Truly a game of surivival, rather than assertiveness.
- If there’s a bright side, it felt like there was a response every time one of the stars (mostly Matthews) took a heavy hit or shove. Many have complained about the lack of that for years. Normally it’s only really noticed with wins, so we’ll acknowledge it in a tough night here.
- At least the Hometown Remix jerseys looked nice?
Up Next
This homestand doesn’t get any easier for the Maple Leafs, who now face the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday. On one hand, it’s another high-end contender, but on the other, it’s one they’ve already beaten once this year. So who knows? Puck drop for this one is at 7:00 p.m.
Numbers Game
| Top Performers | Bottom Performers | Top Opponents |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Troy Stecher (1.86) 0G, 0A, 1 SOG, 81% xG | 1. Darren Raddysh (-2.38) 0G, 0A, 2 SOG, -3, 49% xG | 1. Timo Meier (2.54) 2G, 0A, 5 SOG, Even, 29% xG |
| 2. Brandon Duhaime (1.05) 0G, 0A, 1 SOG, 78% xG | 2. Gavin McKenna (-1.72) 0G, 0A, 0 SOG, -3, 24% xG | 2. Jack Hughes (2.46) 0G, 2A, 3 SOG, Even, 51% xG |
| 3. Dakota Joshua (0.78) 0G, 0A, 1 SOG, 84% xG | 3. John Tavares (-1.17) 0G, 0A, 0 SOG, -3, 51% xG | 3. Connor Hellebuyck (2.26) 23 Saves, 0 GA on 2.26 xGA |
| Shots On Goal | 29-23 NJD | Faceoffs | 23 for 55 |
| 5v5 Shot Attempts | 50-38 TOR | Hits | 28-13 TOR |
| 5v5 Expected Goals | 2.1-1.2 TOR | Blocked Shots | 10-8 NJD |
| Best Period (xG) | 5v5: 1st (84%) All: 1st (76%) | Powerplay | 0 for 0 (0 shots) |
| Worst Period (xG) | 5v5: 2nd (39%) All: 3rd (33%) | Penalty Kill | 2 for 3 (3 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
