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Game #66 Review: Toronto Maple Leafs 4 vs. Vancouver Canucks 2 – Maple Leafs Hot Stove

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5 years ago

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The Toronto Maple Leafs emerged victorious from an evenly-contested Saturday night matchup against Vancouver thanks to a Martin Marincin third-period game-winning goal (for real).

First Period

Auston Matthews, an absolute force on the forecheck the past few games, created a turnover on first shift, leading to an early Leafs cycle and scoring chance for Zach Hyman. This is the kind of tone-setting shift the Leafs have been getting from Matthews often lately:

The Leafs were then able to open the scoring via an unlikely source in Frederik Gauthier, who beat a shaky Thatcher Demko from the slot for his seventh of the season. It wouldn’t have been possible if not for the play back to the point by Kasperi Kapanen from his knees down low while under duress.

To this point, the Canucks had yet to register a shot on net. As is often the case in hockey, this was mentioned on the broadcast before the first Vancouver shot of the night went in. Rasmus Sandin was in a position to make a play on the puck but was bodied off of it by a hungrier Jay Beagle, and it was in the back of the net before the Leafs or Frederik Andersen could react.

The Leafs responded exactly the right way a couple of minutes later as Matthews restored Toronto’s lead with a deceptive shot off the rush.

It’s not a high-flying wrister, but the deception and strength in Matthews’ release totally fooled Thatcher Demko, who looked like he had no clue what happened. Even the slow-motion replays made it difficult to track exactly where and how this puck snuck through the Vancouver netminder.

The first period was by far the game’s most entertaining between the four goals and some physical play both ways, including a well-timed hit by Rasmus Sandin stepping up in the neutral zone. Sandin has brought an understated willingness to mix it up in this area of the game since he’s become a Leaf:

The Leafs were doing a good job of limiting the Canucks’ access to the slot and were holding steady in the defensive end before a second mistake deep in their own end turned into a second tying goal for the Canucks.

Sandin is in a good position here, but doesn’t tie up Tanner Pearson in front of goal to snuff out the threat.

Late in the first, Toronto found themselves on the power-play after Kapanen was high-sticked battling in front of the Vancouver net. While they were unable to convert, the Leafs were dangerous moving the puck with a few great-looking PP sequences:

The momentum carried over into five-on-five play, including this glorious attempt from Matthews.

Second Period

Both teams traded chances at both ends of the ice early in the middle frame, testing both goaltenders:

There was a questionable penalty assessed to Dermott that put the Leafs down a man, but Toronto did a great job giving the Canucks’ power play no room to work with and it resulted in the Leafs drawing a penalty for an abbreviated PP of their own.

Like the previous opportunity, Toronto couldn’t find the twine but there were some quality looks, including this airmailed Frederik Andersen pass for a partial breakaway for William Nylander:

The game seemed to slow down and settle into a cagier affair through the middle portion of the middle frame, while both Andersen and Demko found their grove. Any opportunities were hard-earned, with a lot of numbers back defensively for both teams:

The Leafs’ worst segment of the game came in the final passages of the second period as they got back on their heels and the Canucks were able to get on top of them for successive cycle shifts, with the Leafs — with some particularly rough sequences from Martin Marincin — unable to clear their lines. The Leafs were fortunate the game was 2-2 heading into the third after this late chance:

Third Period

Off of the opening shift of the period, the Leafs restored their lead thanks to the most unlikely of goal-scoring sources.

Your eyes aren’t deceiving you: Martin Marincin really did score on a solo rush here. This was a good breakout sequence from the Leafs, starting with a won battle along the wall, a short bump pass to Tavares, and Marincin identifying the opportunity to jump up and showing the confidence to go for goal.

While the Leafs gained some momentum from the 3-2, it came to a halt due to this questionable penalty assessed to Nylander on what appeared to be a 50-50 puck battle with both players tugging at one another.

Vancouver did not test Andersen in a serious way and the Leafs were able to keep their lead intact.

The pace of the game settled down from there as Toronto played a responsible game in possession of the lead. The Leafs did generate a couple of sequences of sustained pressure in search of an insurance marker:

With the Canucks generating a bit of a push late on, the best chance went to J.T. Miller, who Andersen calmy denied:

Vancouver then pulled their goalie, but it was to no avail as Zach “the Sidney Crosby of 6-on-5” Hyman put it away by blocking a shot, making a good defensive play, and icing the game with the empty-net goal.

Post-Game Notes

  • After last Saturday night’s debacle, the Toronto Maple Leafs have responded admirably with three well-earned wins over the week. It’s quite the turnaround for a team that appeared to be on life support last week after a number of demoralizing defeats; even more interesting, two of the teams that doled out the shellackings, Pittsburgh and Carolina, are now struggling majorly (a lot can change in a hurry in this league). This wasn’t the Leafs’ best effort of their three straight wins; they were dangerous early but not as consistently threatening offensively as they are when they’re at the top of their game, and the xGF% and CF% (expected Goals and shot attempts) slightly favoured the Canucks over the 60 minutes. But the team is clearly digging in deeper through all the adversity and their overall team play, in terms of how they’re checking back and supporting the puck defensively, is really encouraging. They’re now finding ways to win rather than new and interesting ways to lose — this time complete with the “deepest” of depth scoring courtesy of Frederik Gauthier and Martin Marincin.
  • The best and at times worst player for the Leafs tonight had to be Martin Marincin, who was having a tough time handling the puck at times throughout the game before he went into beast mode to start the third period. At even strength, he registered a 38.46 CF%, a 42.31 FF%, a 35.29 SF%, a 39.82 xGF%, a 38.89 SCF%, and a 20.00 HDCF%. The third period was his best of the night as he was playing with a lot of confidence and the puck seemed to be finding him a lot out there. He also did a bang-up job on the penalty kill of getting himself into shooting lanes for key shot blocks. It was a 60-minute encaspulation of the good and bad of Marty Marincin, but the good definitely outweighed the bad on the whole.
  • Auston Matthews was again pursuing pucks aggressively on the forecheck to good effect and playing 200 feet better than he ever has in his young career. He recorded a 50.00 CF%, a 66.67 FF%, a 66.67 SF%, an 80.82 xGF%, a 61.54 SCF%, and a 60.00 HDCF% at even strength. In the matchup against the Elias Pettersson, Tyler Toffoli and JT Miller line, the Canucks’ best offensive trio didn’t generate a single shot on goal at 5v5 in the ~10:30 against Matthews’ line. On top of his sublime offensive contributions, his leadership in regards to buying in and playing responsibly over 200 feet has been exemplary since the Leafs have turned their fortunes around. It was the Matthews line on the ice for the key faceoff late on that led to Hyman’s empty-net goal; while Matthews lost the initial draw, the line did a good job of staying composed and protecting the middle of the ice for a few key shot blocks before Dermott (two assists, +2) did a nice job of skating the puck out of danger and finding Marner, who made a nice airmail play into Hyman to end the game.
  • The D pair that drew the majority of that above-mentioned matchup was Travis Dermott–Justin Holl pairing, which had a second consecutive solid outing. It’s important to mention how the Matthews line (which drew a good chunk of the Barkov matchup in Florida as well) is supporting this pairing in terms of defending in five-man units and owning the puck/tiling the ice, but the pair did a good job protecting the middle of the ice, were moving the puck well, and jumped up into the rush effectively when the opportunity presented itself. With Jake Muzzin, Morgan Rielly, and Cody Ceci out of commission for the next few weeks, Dermott, Holl, and Tyson Barrie are carrying the load and keeping the Leafs team afloat on a backend with minimal experience at the NHL level. Holl and Dermott are rather green as far as cumulative NHL experience goes, but they are de facto veterans on this unit for the time being and their first two games in the top pairing role have been pretty reassuring against very credible top-line opposition in the Pettersson and Barkov lines.
  • One “game within the game” against the Vancouver Canucks is the faceoff circle, where they’re a particularly strong team with over 54% success rate on the season (2nd in the NHL). The Leafs are third in the category, though, and came out with 54% of the draws on the night. As John Tavares mentioned before the game, it was a point of emphasis in the prescout how competitive the Canucks are at winning draws and puck battles off of the initial draw, and the Leafs executed well in that detail of the game.
  • Some wondered if this might be a Jack Campbell start on home ice before the team hits the road for the California road trip, but the Leafs are rolling with Frederik Andersen with the aim of getting him back into a groove, and this was largely mission accomplished in that regard. He might’ve had a fighting chance on the 2-2 Tanner Pearson goal, but he was solid otherwise and made some key saves late in the second and as the Canucks generated a bit of a push late on. The numbers: 25 saves, a .926 SV%, and a .778 HDSV%. As important as anything right now is getting Andersen’s confidence back where it needs to be, and he appears to be working his way there one start at a time.

Clip of the Night

Notable Stats

Game Flow: 5v5 Shot Attempts

Heat Map: 5v5 Shot Locations

Condensed Game

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Flames re-sign defenceman Ilya Solovyov, centre Cole Schwindt

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September 18, 2024

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CALGARY – The Calgary Flames have re-signed defenceman Ilya Solovyov and centre Cole Schwindt, the NHL club announced Wednesday.

Solovyov signed a two-year deal which is a two-way contract in year one and a one-way deal in year two and carries an average annual value of US$775,000 at the NHL level.

Schwindt signed a one-year, two-way contract with an average annual value of $800,000 at the NHL level.

The 24-year-old Solovyov, from Mogilev, Belarus, made his NHL debut last season and had three assists in 10 games for the Flames. He also had five goals and 10 assists in 51 games with the American Hockey League’s Calgary Wranglers and added one goal in six Calder Cup playoff games.

Schwindt, from Kitchener, Ont., made his Flames debut last season and appeared in four games with the club.

The 23-year-old also had 14 goals and 22 assists in 66 regular-season games with the Wranglers and added a team-leading four goals, including one game-winning goal, in the playoffs.

Schwindt was selected by Florida in the third round, 81st overall, at the 2019 NHL draft. He came to Calgary in July 2022 along with forward Jonathan Huberdeau and defenceman MacKenzie Weegar in the trade that sent star forward Matthew Tkachuk to the Panthers.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Oman holds on to edge Nepal with one ball to spare in cricket thriller

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September 18, 2024

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KING CITY, Ont. – Oman scored 10 runs in the final over to edge Nepal by one wicket with just one ball remaining in ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 play Wednesday.

Kaleemullah, the No. 11 batsman who goes by one name, hit a four with the penultimate ball as Oman finished at 223 for nine. Nepal had scored 220 for nine in its 50 overs.

Kaleemullah and No. 9 batsman Shakeel Ahmed each scored five in the final over off Sompal Kami. They finished with six and 17 runs, respectively.

Opener Latinder Singh led Oman with 41 runs.

Nepal’s Gulsan Jha was named man of the match after scoring 53 runs and recording a career-best five-wicket haul. The 18-year-old slammed five sixes and three-fours in his 35-ball knock, scoring 23 runs in the 46th over alone when he hit six, six, four, two, four and one off Aqib Ilyas.

Captain Rohit Paudel led Nepal with 60 runs.

The 19th-ranked Canadians, who opened the triangular series Monday with a 103-run win over No. 17 Nepal, face No. 16 Oman on Friday, Nepal on Sunday and Oman again on Sept. 26. All the games are at the Maple Leaf Cricket Ground.

The eight World League 2 teams each play 36 one-day internationals spread across nine triangular series through December 2026. The top four sides will go through to a World Cup qualifier that will decide the last four berths in the expanded 14-team Cricket World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.

Canada (5-4) stands second in the World League 2 table. The 14th-ranked Dutch top the table at 6-2.

Oman (2-2 with one no-result) stands sixth, ahead of Nepal (1-5).

Canada won all four matches in its opening tri-series in February-March, sweeping No. 11 Scotland and the 20th-ranked host Emirates. But the Canadians lost four in a row to the 18th-ranked U.S. and host Netherlands in August.

Canada which debuted in the T20 World Cup this summer in the U.S. and West Indies, is looking to get back to the showcase 50-over Cricket World Cup for the first time since 2011 after failing to qualify for the last three editions. The Canadian men also played in the 1979, 2003 and 2007 tournaments, exiting after the group stage in all four tournament appearances.

The Canadian men regained their one-day international status for the first time in almost a decade by finishing in the top four of the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier Playoff in April 2023 in Bermuda.

—

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2024

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Vancouver Canucks will miss Demko, Joshua, others to start training camp

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September 18, 2024

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PENTICTON, B.C. – Rick Tocchet has already warned his Vancouver Canucks players — the looming NHL season won’t be easy.

The team made strides last year, the head coach said Wednesday ahead of training camp. The bar has been raised for this year’s campaign.

“To get to the next plateau, there are higher expectations and it’s going to be hard. We know that,” Tocchet said in Penticton, B.C., where the team will open its camp on Thursday.

“So that’s the next level. It starts day one (on Thursday). My thing is don’t waste a rep out there.”

The Canucks finished atop the Pacific Division with a 50-23-9 record last season, then ousted the Nashville Predators from the playoffs in a gritty, six-game first-round series. Vancouver then fell to the Edmonton Oilers in a seven-game second-round set.

Last fall, Jim Rutherford, the Canucks president of hockey operations, said everything would have to go right for the team to make a playoff push. That doesn’t change this season, he said, despite last year’s success.

“The challenges will be greater, certainly. But I believe the team that we started with last year, we have just as good a team to start the season this year and probably better,” he said.

“As long as the team builds off what they did last year, stick to what the coaches tell them, stick to the system, stick together in good times and bad times, this team has a chance to do pretty well.”

Some key players will be missing as Vancouver’s training camp begins, however.

Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin announced Wednesday that star goalie Thatcher Demko will not be on the ice when the team begins it’s pre-season preparation.

Allvin did not disclose the reason for Demko’s absence, but said the 28-year-old American has been making progress.

“He’s been in working extremely hard and he seems to be in a great mindset,” the GM said.

Demko missed several weeks of the regular season and much of Vancouver’s playoff run last spring with a knee injury.

The six-foot-four, 192-pound goalie has a career 213-116-81 regular-season record with a .912 save percentage, a 2.79 goals-against average and eight shutouts across seven seasons with the Canucks.

Allvin also announced that veteran centre Teddy Blueger and defensive prospect Cole McWard will also miss the start of training camp after each had “minor lower-body surgery.”

Vancouver previously announced winger Dakota Joshua won’t be present for the start of camp as he recovers from surgery for testicular cancer.

Tocchet said he’ll have no problem filling the holes, and plans to switch his lines up a lot in Penticton.

“Nothing’s set in stone,” he said. “I think it’s important that you have different puzzles at different times.”

The coach added that he expects standout centre Elias Pettersson to begin on a line with Canucks newcomer Jake DeBrusk.

Vancouver inked DeBrusk, a former Boston Bruins forward, to a seven-year, US$38.5 million deal when the NHL’s free agent market opened on July 1.

The glare on Pettersson is expected to be bright once again as he enters the first year of a new eight-year, $92.8 million contract. The 25-year-old Swede struggled at times last season and put 89 points (34 goals, 55 assists) in 82 games.

Rutherford said he was impressed with how Pettersson looked when he returned to Vancouver ahead of camp.

“He seems to be a guy that’s more relaxed and more comfortable. And for obvious reasons,” said the president of hockey ops. “This is a guy that I believe has worked really hard this summer. He’s done everything he can to play as a top-line player. … The expectation for him is to be one of the top players on our team.”

A number of Canucks hit milestones last season, including Quinn Hughes, who led all NHL defencemen in scoring with 92 points and won the Norris Trophy as the league’s top blue liner.

Several players could once again have career-best years for Vancouver, Tocchet said, but they’ll need to be consistent and not allow frustration to creep in when things go wrong.

“You’ve just got to drive yourself every day when you have a great year,” the coach said. “You’ve got to keep creating that environment where they can achieve those goals, whatever they are. And the main goal is winning. That’s really what it comes down to.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2024.

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