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Game in 10: Stars light it up, power play scores four as Maple Leafs lay a touchdown on the Habs in final regular-season home game

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1 year ago

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Utter annihilation of the Habs in the final home game of the regular season.

Not a bad note to finish the 41-game home slate on. In terms of firing up the home crowd, it was a good primer for the playoff home opener next week.

Your game in 10:

1.   Through 20 minutes, the shots were 18-1 in favour of the Leafs, the scoring chances were 16-1, the expected goals were 2.02-0.08 (96%), and they drew three power plays while dominating the puck, taking advantage of two of those man-advantage opportunities. In terms of controlling the run of play, a period of NHL hockey doesn’t get much more lopsided than that.

It was never a competitive contest tonight, and the Leafs showed the killer instinct that hasn’t always been visible against the bottom feeders. When David Kampf is attempting the Michigan in the first period, the night’s either totally off the rails or going so well that the team is positively giddy. Thankfully, it was the latter tonight.

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On that note, Kampf also partly pulled off a between-the-legs move in a one-on-one rush against a Bruins defenseman the other night in Boston. He also stared at Sheldon Keefe on the bench wanting the opportunity when the Leafs drew the penalty shot vs. Detroit. He seems to be feeling it with the puck lately. It’s only led to one point in his last eight games, but good for him nonetheless.

2.    One of the more interesting wrinkles with tonight’s lineup was shifting Ryan O’Reilly into the bumper spot on the top power-play unit, with William Nylander shifted to PP2.

It’s worth noting that the Blues’ power play was one of the best in the league last season and converted on 30% of their power-play opportunities during their 12 playoff games last spring, with O’Reilly alone scoring four goals on the man advantage in the playoffs (after tallying nine there in the regular season).

We’ve seen many postseason opponents figure out the Leafs‘ power play over the duration of a playoff series. As the cross-seam passes and looks off the half walls dry up, it’s not always been able to adjust, simplify, and score the dirtier goals when it’s really needed them.

With John Tavares and ROR down the middle — two veterans who are really heavy on their sticks and are skilled finishers / tippers of the puck in tight to the net — there is the option available to simplify things by funneling pucks toward the blue paint with the idea that they can win those battles in front and force a few over the line.

3.   The first power-play goal from the Leafs to make it 1-0 was a bit of a joke with how easy it was. Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner just basically skated straight down the slot off the entry with the Montreal D backing off.

The third one was exactly what we were describing above in terms of greasing one over the line. Ryan O’Reilly was down on the ice basically on top of the goalie, and John Tavares located the loose puck and swatted it in.

The second one — which made it 2-0 Leafs in the first period — was nearly tipped in by O’Reilly initially before he recovered a puck and Marner picked out Tavares at the top of the blue paint.

The Habs’ PK coverage was laughable tonight, but there could definitely be something here. It’s worth looking at further against a more competitive team.

Overall, I liked the simple but effective approach that led to the four power-play goals tonight, including Michael Bunting’s 7-1 goal where Matthews just shot one in for a tip. There have been a couple of pretty seam plays leading to goals on the PP, but a lot of it has just come through these kinds of plays lately.

4.     Somewhat quietly, John Tavares is up to 18 power-play goals this season with his two PPGs tonight. For further context on how good this is, only 10 NHLers have hit 20 power-play goals in a season in the last 10 years. This is far and away a career-high — his next-best was 13 in 2014-15. He’s sixth in the league tied with David Pastrnak, and one off of Tage Thompson’s total.

He’s really bearing down on his chances in front, especially lately with seven power-play goals in just the last 16 games. It’s a big part of what’s elevated the power play into second in the league/best in the East at 26.1%.

5.   Besides avoiding injury, the hope in the final regular season home game against a bad Habs team decimated by injuries is that the Leafs could get some of their slumping players feeling good again offensively with the regular season winding down. The Leafs’ overall game has been in a good place of late, but they hadn’t blown a team out in a while. It was mission accomplished and then some tonight.

Ryan O’Reilly entered the game without a point in his last six and walked away with three assists.

Mitch Marner entered the game in his first three-game pointless “slump” of the year and walked away with three points, including his 29th and 30th goals of the year. He also helped create Auston Matthews‘ gorgeous 6-1 goal with the area pass that didn’t receive official credit for the assist.

William Nylander entered with one point in his last seven. Nylander’s goal — O’Reilly recovered the puck along the wall and threw it in front for a friendly deflection off of #88’s skate — was nothing special, but he definitely deserved more than the one in the game, hitting two posts (one was a rip off the crossbar on the power play while running the second unit), and he put a career-high 10 shots on goal. It was the most Nylander has been on and around the puck in quite some time.

6.   The only (minor) negative in tonight’s game was the injury scare with Ilya Samsonov, who stretched to make a save to his left and seemed to be wincing afterward. He shook it off and stayed in the game, making a couple of really athletic saves shortly afterward in which he showed no signs of being worse for wear.

There was a good line by Jeff Ralph on the radio tonight: “Even if it’s just his feelings that are hurt, take him out of the game!”

We can only trust the Leafs’ training and medical staff was all over this one with their due diligence, which based on Sheldon Keefe’s recounting of the number of check-ins that were done with Samsonov at TV timeouts and at the intermission, you have to think they were. The organization has shown nothing but an abundance of caution when managing injuries lately.

7.     There actually was one more negative development tonight halfway through the third period. If a chat was had between Kyle Dubas and the league after the Detroit game, it appears to have gotten the team absolutely nowhere with the officials, as Michael Bunting was again assessed an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in the third period for an embellishment. After a cross-check by the Habs started a scrum, the Leafs somehow came out of it down a man.

At times, I’ve felt like Bunting is making bad investments by flopping at unnecessary points in games; the reality is you have to pick your spots, or else NHL officials are a sensitive and egomaniacal enough bunch to make life really hard on you. But this actually seemed like it might’ve been a fairly firm cross-check that Bunting didn’t anticipate coming so late after the whistle.

The reputation is proceeding Bunting at this point (to state the obvious), and we’ll see how the officials handle it in the playoffs against a Tampa team that plays on or over the line as much as any club in the league. This wasn’t a promising sign.

8.    He’s in no one’s playoff lineup when the team is healthy, but it’s been nice to have Wayne Simmonds around down the stretch with so little to play for in the standings. He brings a fire that helps bring others into the fight a little more on games without much to get up for. He drew a couple of penalties (the first one led to Tavares’ 2-0 goal), dropped the gloves, and stepped in for teammates in scrums.

Mark Giordano — someone who is in everyone’s playoff lineup — also really stands out for his competitive intensity in games like this where it would be easy to make business decisions to avoid hits or pull up on blocked shots, especially at his age and especially in a game that was firmly in hand for the Leafs. He’s the ultimate competitor who has only one speed.

9.   The other benefit of blowing this game out is that it allowed the Leafs to not only get the W while resting key players on the blue line (Brodie, Rielly) but also keep all 18 skaters below 20 minutes of ice time. Luke Schenn nearly hit 19 minutes (highest since the trade) and Erik Gustafsson, in his first game in a while, played nearly 20.

Gustafsson’s confidence with the puck, particularly leading breakouts (including one solo rush at one point) and facilitating on the power play, was impressive, particularly after so much time off. His track record of production in the league is pretty impressive, and he’s now racked up 42 points in 70 games off the blue line this season with his three assists tonight.

Theoretically, it’s another contingency plan on the power play that could help the Leafs if it runs cold and/or if Rielly is for some reason unavailable.

10.   If putting an amateur goalie in the net is insulting to the opposition, what do you call the Habs starting Sam Montembeault?

Turns out it doesn’t take a secret Uber dashcam to catch Chris Wideman saying something stupid. He’ll speak it straight into a microphone!

For what it’s worth, the rest of the Habs’ players (and head coach Martin St. Louis) dismissed the Leafs’ decision to put EBUG Jett Alexander in the net for a nice moment at the end of the game as something they weren’t at all concerned about on the other side.

Game Flow: 5v5 Shot Attempts

Heat Map: 5v5 Shot Attempts

 

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Need to Know: Bruins at Maple Leafs | Game 3 | Boston Bruins – NHL.com

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5 hours ago

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April 24, 2024

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Familiar Territory

James van Riemsdyk has played his fair share of playoff contests here in Toronto – but all of them have come in blue and white. On Wednesday night, he would be on the other side for the first time if he indeed makes his Bruins postseason debut, which appeared to be a strong possibility based on the Black & Gold’s morning skate.

“It’s always special to play in this building,” said van Riemsdyk, who played in 20 postseason games with Toronto, including nine at Scotiabank Arena. “In this rivalry, it’s always a lot of fun. This time of year is always amazing, no matter where you’re at – if you’re at a 500-seat arena or a rink with all the tradition and history like this. It’s always fun and always a great opportunity to get in there.”

van Riemsdyk was a healthy scratch for the first two games of this series, following a trend across the second half of the regular season, during which he sat out several games.

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“Playoff time of year is always the best time of year,” said van Riemsdyk, who has 20 goals and 31 points in 71 career playoff games between Philadelphia and Toronto. “Obviously, in this rivalry, it’s always a lot of fun – two fun buildings to play in. You cherish every opportunity you get.

“This time of year, you learn that along the way, it’s all about the team. Whatever the team’s asking you to do, that’s always got to be your mindset and approach…you stay at it every day and just take it one day at a time.”

Montgomery said that if van Riemsdyk does re-enter the lineup, he’ll be looking for the veteran winger to help the Bruins’ offensive game. He also complimented van Riemsdyk’s professionalism throughout a trying second half.

“I guess getting his stick on more pucks,” Montgomery said on what he wants to see from van Riemsdyk. “We’ve talked about it a lot of times internally. Him and [Kevin] Shattenkirk have been great. They’re true pros. Every day come to work, come to get better. It’s not an easy situation, but he’s been great.”

van Riemsdyk concurred with his coach’s sentiments about helping Boston’s offensive attack, saying that he’ll be aiming to be around the net as much as possible.

“I think you’ve got to stay true to who you are as a player and play with good details and manage the game well and play to your strengths as a player,” he said. “This time of year, being around the net is always an important trait. You see all the goals being scored, it’s all within 5-10 feet of the net. That’s an area that I pride myself on, so going to be doing my best to get there and have an impact there.”

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NHL teams, take note: Alexandar Georgiev is proof that anything can happen in the playoffs

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16 hours ago

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April 24, 2024

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It’s hard to say when, exactly, Alexandar Georgiev truly began to win some hearts and change some minds on Tuesday night.

Maybe it was in the back half of the second period; that was when the Colorado Avalanche, for the first time in their first-round Stanley Cup playoff series against the Winnipeg Jets, actually managed to hold a lead for more than, oh, two minutes or thereabouts. Maybe it was when the Avs walked into the locker room up 4-2 with 20 minutes to play.

Maybe it was midway through the third, when a series of saves by the Avalanche’s beleaguered starting goaltender helped preserve their two-goal buffer. Maybe it was when the buzzer sounded after their 5-2 win. Maybe it didn’t happen until the Avs made it into their locker room at Canada Life Centre, tied 1-1 with the Jets and headed for Denver.

At some point, though, it should’ve happened. If you were watching, you should’ve realized that Colorado — after a 7-6 Game 1 loss that had us all talking not just about all those goals, but at least one of the guys who’d allowed them — had squared things up, thanks in part to … well, that same guy.

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Georgiev, indeed, was the story of Game 2, stopping 28 of 30 shots, improving as the game progressed and providing a lesson on how quickly things can change in the playoffs — series to series, game to game, period to period, moment to moment. The narrative doesn’t always hold. Facts don’t always cooperate. Alexandar Georgiev, for one night and counting, was not a problem for the Colorado Avalanche. He was, in direct opposition to the way he played in Game 1, a solution. How could we view him as anything else?

He had a few big-moment saves, and most of them came midway through the third period with his team up 4-2. There he was with 12:44 remaining, stopping a puck that had awkwardly rolled off Nino Niederreiter’s stick; two missed posts by the Avs at the other end had helped spring Niederreiter for a breakaway. Game 1 Georgiev doesn’t make that save.

There he was, stopping Nikolaj Ehlers from the circle a few minutes later. There wasn’t an Avs defender within five feet, and there was nothing awkward about the puck Ehlers fired at his shoulder. Game 1 Georgiev gets scored on twice.

(That one might’ve been poetic justice. It was Ehlers who’d put the first puck of the night on Georgiev — a chip from center ice that he stopped, and that the crowd in Winnipeg greeted with the ol’ mock cheer. Whoops.)

By the end of it all, Georgiev had stared down Connor Hellebuyck and won, saving nearly 0.5 goals more than expected according to Natural Stat Trick, giving the Avalanche precisely what they needed and looking almost nothing like the guy we’d seen a couple days before. Conventional wisdom coming into this series was twofold: That the Avs have firepower, high-end talent and an overall edge — slight as it may be — on Winnipeg, and that Georgiev is shaky enough to nuke the whole thing.

That wasn’t without merit, either. Georgiev’s .897 save percentage in the regular season was six percentage points below the league average, and he hadn’t broken even in expected goals allowed (minus-0.21). He’d been even worse down the stretch, putting up an .856 save percentage in his final eight appearances, and worse still in Game 1, allowing seven goals on 23 shots and more than five goals more than expected. That’s not bad; that’s an oil spill. Writing him off would’ve been understandable. Writing off Jared Bednar for rolling him out there in Game 2 would’ve been understandable. Writing the Avs off — for all of Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar’s greatness — would’ve been understandable.

It just wouldn’t have been correct.

The fact that this all went down now, four days into a two-month ordeal, is a gift — because the postseason thus far has been short on surprises, almost as a rule. The Rangers and Oilers are overwhelming the Capitals and Kings. The Hurricanes are halfway done with the Islanders. The Canucks are struggling with the Predators. Panthers–Lightning is tight, but one team is clearly better than the other. Bruins–Maple Leafs is a close matchup featuring psychic baggage that we don’t have time to unpack. In Golden Knights–Stars, Mark Stone came back and scored a huge goal.

None of that should shock you. None of that should make you blink.

Georgiev being good enough for Colorado, though? After what we saw in Game 1? Strange, surprising and completely true. For now.

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"Laugh it off": Evander Kane says Oilers won’t take the bait against Kings | Offside

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1 day ago

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April 23, 2024

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The LA Kings tried every trick in the book to get the Edmonton Oilers off their game last night.

Hacks after the whistle, punches to the face, and interference with line changes were just some of the things that the Oilers had to endure, and throughout it all, there was not an ounce of retaliation.

All that badgering by the Kings resulted in at least two penalties against them and fuelled a red-hot Oilers power play that made them pay with three goals on four chances. That was by design for Edmonton, who knew that LA was going to try to pester them as much as they could.

That may have worked on past Oilers teams, but not this one.

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“We’ve been in a series now for the third year in a row with these guys,” Kane said after practice this morning. “We know them, they know us… it’s one of those things where maybe it makes it a little easier to kind of laugh it off, walk away, or take a shot.

“That type of stuff isn’t gonna affect us.”

Once upon a time, this type of play would get under the Oilers’ skin and result in retaliatory penalties. Yet, with a few hard-knock lessons handed down to them in the past few seasons, it seems like the team is as determined as ever to cut the extracurriculars and focus on getting revenge on the scoreboard.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, the longest-tenured player on this Oilers team, had to keep his emotions in check with Kings defender Vladislav Gavrikov, who punched him in the face early in the game. The easy reaction would be to punch back, but the veteran Nugen-Hopkins took his licks and wound up scoring later in the game.

“It’s going to be physical, the emotions are high, and there’s probably going to be some stuff after the whistle,” Nugent-Hopkins told reporters this morning. “I think it’s important to stay poised out there and not retaliate and just play through the whistles and let the other stuff just kind of happen.”

Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch also noticed his team’s discipline. Playoff hockey is full of emotion, and keeping those in check to focus on the larger goal is difficult. He was happy with how his team set the tone.

“It’s not necessarily easy to do,” Knoblauch said. “You get punched in the face and sometimes the referees feel it’s enough to call a penalty, sometimes it’s not… You just have to take them, and sometimes, you get rewarded with the power play.

“I liked our guy’s response and we want to be sticking up for each other, we want to have that pack mentality, but it’s really important that we’re not the ones taking that extra penalty.”

There is no doubt that the Kings will continue to poke and prod at the Oilers as the series continues. Keeping those retaliations in check will only get more difficult, but if the team can continue to succeed on the scoreboard, it could get easier.

 

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