The Toronto Maple Leafs outplayed the Calgary Flames at even strength for the second night in a row. This time around, they had Jack Campbell in net, who put on a stellar performance en route to a 2-0 Leafs victory.
It’s obvious what the major storyline is coming out of this game, especially considering Frederik Andersen’s poor run of play recently. Goaltending typically dictates the outcome of hockey games, so when a strong team finally starts to get some saves, it makes a big difference.
Without further ado, let’s dive into some individual player grades for tonight’s game. I wonder who’s going to be ranked the highest…
5 Stars
Game Puck: Jack Campbell (G, #30) — If there’s one Leaf who deserves a stick-tap tonight, it’s Jack Campbell.
What stood out is that most of his saves tonight were composed. He was deflecting pucks off of his blocker into the corner and controlling his rebounds well on point shots.
Then he reached back into his bag of tricks for another highlight-reel save.
A night like this would’ve been special even if Andersen had been playing well lately. The fact that he hasn’t is going to give Campbell some real runway moving forward.
It’s Soupy’s net to lose now.
Jake Muzzin (LD, #8) — It feels boring to keep saying “Muzzin holds the line well” in these postgame report cards, but then you’ll see a goal created off of a smart pinch and it’s easier to see the value of holding the blueline.
Muzzin makes plays like these all the time, except they usually don’t lead directly to a goal. It’s little plays like these that add up over time, resulting in the Leafs controlling the run of play when their best 5v5 defenseman is on the ice. And yes, that’s Muzzin.
He played 25 minutes tonight, most of which came against Matthew Tkachuk. The two were battling all night long in front of the net and along the boards. In the end, Muzzin came out on top with respect to shots, goals, and penalty differential.
Morgan Rielly (LD, #44) — It’s so much fun watching the Rielly-Brodie pair share the ice with Matthews-Marner. The fifth player in that situation will head to the front of the net, whether it’s Zach Hyman, Joe Thornton, or Wayne Simmonds tonight.
The other four skaters are in constant motion, which opens up passing lanes for a player like Rielly to do some damage. Toronto outshot Calgary 10-0 and out-chanced them 5-0 when Matthews and Rielly were on the ice together.
Rielly also took out two Flames players like they were bowling pins on the Hyman goal, but the clip I’m more interested in showing you is a defensive decision he made in the third period.
Understanding the game state is important here. The Morgan Rielly we know and love chases after that loose puck 10 times out of 10, but knowing his team is up by two goals in the third period, he makes the smart decision to not get burned for an odd-man rush late in his shift.
Jason Spezza (RW, #19) — If you want to watch his goal again, scroll back up to the Muzzin section. Spezza still has a wicked release, a nifty set of hands, and the passing ability to find open players backdoor. It’s why he still leads the Leafs in Points per 60 — at even strength and on the power play.
He’d be on pace for 48 points in an 82 game season, despite averaging only 10:24 a night. That’s insane for an NHL player earning the league minimum.
4 Stars
Zach Hyman (RW, #11) — His most memorable shift of the night was when he harassed Rasmus Andersson on the forecheck, forced a turnover, and then did this right afterward.
Hyman finished the game with seven chances from the slot, including this insurance goal.
TJ Brodie (RD, #78) — One of the things I love most about Brodie’s game is how he handles elite puck carriers in one-on-one situations. Here’s a quick look at him defending Johnny Gaudreau in open space.
Kevin Bieksa loves to talk about “quiet feet” when you’re defending the rush. Brodie does a great shop of keeping Gaudreau in front of him without giving him too much room, all while keeping his feet quiet in the middle of the ice.
Brodie also made a few slick passes under pressure to beat the infamous Darryl Sutter forecheck, similar to last night’s game. It is worth noting Brodie jumped over the boards a tad early, leading to a Too Many Men penalty that Leafs fans certainly weren’t upset with on the internet.
Mitch Marner (RW, #16) — In my post-game tweet where I crowdsource Leafs fans’ opinions, I noticed a few people didn’t like Marner’s game tonight. Personally, I thought he looked great.
He was making creative plays off the rush right from the get go. In the offensive zone, he pulled off a few shifty moves, including a spin move to create space for himself. My favourite offensive play of his was this pass across to Matthews on the power play.
Throw in some stellar penalty killing, including a drawn penalty to end Calgary’s power play, and I’d say that’s a pretty good night for Marner.
3 Stars
Auston Matthews (C, #34) — That clip above says it all. Matthews generated a team-high eight chances from the slot in this game. He did have some trouble getting around Chris Tanev, who looks like he’s turned back the clock this season.
The one thing I wanted to note about Matthews tonight is that his stick-handling looked better. Nagging wrist injuries are naturally going to impact a hockey player’s shooting and puck-handling abilities, which is why it’s nice to see Matthews progressing in both of those departments lately.
He’s still not 100%, but he’s getting closer.
Wayne Simmonds (LW, #24) — When you’re evaluating a player like Wayne Simmonds, I think you have to ask yourself, “What is he supposed to provide as a player?” Are you expecting him to receive passes at an A-plus level in the offensive zone? Probably not, because he really struggled in that department tonight.
If we accept that’s not what we’re looking, how about we ask ourselves, “Did he bring his team energy tonight?” Unequivocally, the answer to that question is yes. I’m not sure how to measure it, but when Simmonds is running into opponents on every shift and hyping up his teammates from the bench, you can see it has a tangible impact on the rest of the team.
Do I still qualify as a nerd if I believe in momentum?
Justin Holl (RD, #3) — Leading his team in ice time tonight, Holl played 25:27 of solid 200-foot hockey. He was activating on the breakout to give his forwards an extra option heading up the ice. Holl also did well to limit Calgary’s rush opportunities, getting his stick on pucks in transition.
MikhEngvall — It’s hard for me to separate these two in my head. Both Ilya Mikheyev and Pierre Engvall have a knack for getting their long sticks on loose pucks in the offensive zone. They also have a tendency to shoot from too far away, but they make up for it with their relentless puck pursuit.
When it comes to Engvall specifically, sometimes I find myself asking “What is this?”
A player who has the tools to do that should probably be creating more offense. I know he’s already 24 years old, but does anyone else see a raw hockey player that could develop into something more offensively?
Coaching Staff — Credit where credit is due: The Leafs have continued to play stellar 5v5 hockey lately. It’s certainly nice to get some goaltending, but the bigger takeaway here for me is that the Leafs significantly outplayed Sutter’s Flames in back-to-back games.
Now, we should probably touch on the power play getting a bit predictable.
Flames Wedge+1 is overplaying on Matthews, Matthews doesn’t want the puck since he’s pinched off, Rielly keEPS FEEDING HIM.
THERES A REASON MATTHEWS KEEPS PASSING BACK TO YOU. SPREAD THE ICE. PASS IT TO MARNER.
It’s good that the Leafs recognize Matthews is their primary option, but when the opposing team is overcommitting to it, you need to go with option number two or three.
In football, if the opponent was double-teaming your #1 receiver, you’d look to take advantage of the open space on the other side of the field. I think the Leafs could benefit from that mentality when teams load up on Matthews.
2 Stars
John Tavares (C, #91) — The frustrating part about assessing Tavares’ performance is that he was fantastic on the power play, but underwhelming (again) at even strength. At 5v4, he was able to generate lots of quality chances from the slot in that “bumper” role. He even got a great rush opportunity on the power play.
At 5v5, he wasn’t able to accomplish much of anything in transition. Tavares is still great in tight spaces lower in the DZ or OZ, but if you watch him closely when play is moving up the ice, he hasn’t looked nearly as dangerous this season as in years past.
Alex Galchenyuk (LW, #12) — I’m rooting for the Alex Galchenyuk experiment as much as you are, but I didn’t think he looked great tonight. Aside from a few decent passes at his own blueline, Galchenyuk was a liability in transition to my eye-test, losing the puck on a few different occasions in the neutral zone.
What’s weird is that puck-carrying has always been a strength of Galchenyuk’s.
That 81 on the graphic indicates that Galchenyuk’s Controlled Zone Entry % ranks in the 81st percentile among NHL forwards over the past four seasons. He’s good at carrying the puck up the ice — he just wasn’t tonight.
Alex Kerfoot (RW, #15) — Aside from a breakaway on a Rielly stretch pass, this was a pretty quiet night from Kerfoot. He did have a nice little rush in the third period, although it ended with a soft wrister from distance. Missing the empty net as the clock expired might have been the perfect microcosm of his time as a Maple Leaf.
Joe Thornton (LW, #97) — Earlier in the game, Thornton was making a few heady passes to reverse play to the weak side. Unfortunately, he faded as the game went on, which makes sense for a 41-year-old playing on the second half of a back-to-back.
In related news: why is Joe Thornton playing on the second half of a back-to-back?
Zach Bogosian (RD, #22) — He did his job in that he boxed out opposing forwards in front of his net. The issue was that his pairing spent so much time on defense, getting outshot at 5v5 despite sheltered usage. Personally, I’d put more of that on his partner.
1 Star
Travis Dermott (LD, #23) — I’ve spilled so much ink analyzing Dermott’s game, to the point where I get really frustrated when he has stretches of play like this. Anyone who watched his first few games as a Leaf knows he’s a dynamic skater, but he hasn’t been able to use it to effectively start the breakout lately.
I remain a Dermott truther for various reasons, but he isn’t helping my case with games like these.
William Nylander (RW, #88) — This was one of Those Nights for Nylander. He didn’t look super engaged without the puck, which is a big part of the reason his line didn’t have it very often tonight.
Heat Map
Here’s a quick look at where each team’s shots were coming from at even strength, courtesy of Natural Stat Trick.
The Leafs generated 56 percent of the shots and 60 percent of the chances at 5v5. For the second night in a row, they controlled the run of play against Sutter’s Flames, except this time, they got goaltending.
Game Score
Game score is a metric developed by The Athletic’s Dom Luszczyszyn to measure single-game performance. You can read more about it here.
Tweets of the Night
This one was technically tweeted during the day, but it was so funny I just had to post it here.
I trained an AI on the last fifteen years of Leafs games and then got it to predict the game tonight pic.twitter.com/uVMAieHVCR
TORONTO – Reigning PWHL MVP and scoring champ Natalie Spooner will miss the start of the regular season for the Toronto Sceptres, general manager Gina Kingsbury announced Tuesday on the first day of training camp.
The 33-year-old Spooner had knee surgery on her left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) after she was checked into the boards by Minnesota’s Grace Zumwinkle in Game 3 of their best-of-five semifinal series on May 13.
She had a goal and an assist in three playoff games but did not finish the series. Toronto was up 2-1 in the semifinal at that time and eventually fell 3-2 in the series.
Spooner led the PWHL with 27 points in 24 games. Her 20 goals, including five game-winners, were nine more than the closest skater.
Kingsbury said there is no timeline, as the team wants the Toronto native at 100 per cent, but added that “she is doing really well” in her recovery.
The Sceptres open the PWHL season on Nov. 30 when they host the Boston Fleet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board declined Friday to confirm media reports that India has decided against playing any games in host Pakistan during next year’s Champions Trophy.
“My view is if there’s any problems, they (India) should tell us in writing,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore. “I’ll share that with the media as well as with the government as soon as I get such a letter.”
Indian media reported Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its concerns to all the Champions Trophy stakeholders, including the PCB, over the Feb. 19-March 9 tournament and would not play in arch-rival Pakistan.
The Times of India said that “Dubai is a strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue” for the 50-over tournament.
Such a solution would see Pakistan having to travel to a neutral venue to play India in a group match, with another potential meeting later in the tournament if both teams advanced from their group. The final is scheduled for March 9 in Pakistan with the specific venue not yet decided.
“Our stance is clear,” Naqvi said. “They need to give us in writing any objections they may have. Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one.”
Political tensions have stopped bilateral cricket between the two nations since 2008 and they have competed in only multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups.
“Cricket should be free of politics,” Naqvi said. “Any sport should not be entangled with politics. Our preparations for the Champions Trophy will continue unabated, and this will be a successful event.”
The PCB has already spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi which are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi hoped all the three stadiums will be ready over the next two months.
“Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here (in Pakistan),” Naqvi said. “I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter, and I don’t expect they will. I expect the tournament will be held at the home of the official hosts.”
Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament, the schedule of which is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.
“Normally the ICC announces the schedule of any major tournament 100 days before the event, and I hope they will announce it very soon,” Naqvi said.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Ottawa‘s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are through to the doubles final at the WTA Finals after a 7-6 (7), 6-1 victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Australia’s Ellen Perez in semifinal action Friday.
Dabrowski and Routliffe won a hard-fought first set against serve when Routliffe’s quick reaction at the net to defend a Perez shot gave the duo set point, causing Perez to throw down her racket in frustration.
The second seeds then cruised through the second set, winning match point on serve when Melichar-Martinez couldn’t handle Routliffe’s shot.
The showdown was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Melichar-Martinez and Perez won in a super tiebreak.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will face the winner of a match between Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova in the final on Saturday.
Dabrowski is aiming to become the first Canadian to win a WTA Finals title.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
