Through three games the Toronto Maple Leafs lead their series versus Tampa Bay, two games to one. Things didn’t start well in the series opener for the Leafs, but that game has faded into the past already.
Toronto has made some adjustments. Certain players have increased their role, while others have played exactly to their expected identity.
Here are some observations from the Leafs’ overtime win in Game 3, and what it means going into Monday’s Game 4:
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Before he arrived in Toronto I was on record stating Matthew Knies could slot into a third or fourth line role, and be deployed on the second power-play unit. I also described him as a player who doesn’t have to score to contribute. He brings wide-ranging value to the Leafs lineup. He plays quick, finishes his checks, extends plays along the boards and below the goal line, and battles net front.
His style of play benefits his linemates and the entire group on the ice. He looks more comfortable by the minute. Knies skated just shy of 20 minutes in the Leafs’ Game 3 overtime victory, so he’s evolving in a pressure packed environment.
When breaking down Knies’ game, overall I’m looking for examples of positive plays and ones he requires more detail. The attached clip provides both.
Matthew Knies’ entire shift leading up to his first career playoff point
Summary of the sequence:
• Knies establishes proper positioning in the offensive zone above the play when the Leafs don’t have clear possession of the puck or control of the play.
• He back checks aggressively.
• He shows sound awareness in the defensive zone, taking away the slot and moving with his head on a swivel.
• One negative: slow reaction to Zach Bogosian keeping play alive along the boards.
• One positive: Knies jumps up ice following the chip out of the Leafs zone, easily out-races Bogosian and ends up with the puck on his stick for a zone entry. He makes a nice drop pass to Acciari in middle of the ice, Acciari scores and Knies has the first playoff assist of his career.
THE PLUS-MINUS DEBATE
One of the most debatable statistics is plus-minus and here’s an example of why the stat is so polarizing:
John Tavares has won 53 per cent of his face-offs so far in the series. He loses the draw I’ll show below here, but watch him closely. The Leafs play man-on-man coverage in their zone and Tavares sticks with Steven Stamkos after he loses the face-off. He fronts his check and keeps him from getting open.
The breakdown in the play happens when the puck moves behind the net and Jake McCabe overplays the scenario by trying to apply a big hit on eventual goal scorer Darren Raddysh. All McCabe had to do was either make a play on the puck, or allow Raddysh to continue moving towards the corner. McCabe would have been better off positioning himself off Raddysh’s right hip. Instead, he loses position altogether and ends up losing containment.
Raddysh scores, and Tavares is handed a minus for his solid effort.
Does Jake McCabe’s missed check leads to Darren Raddysh’s go-ahead goal?
Summary of the sequence:
• It’s Tavares’ job to win defensive zone face-offs. He’s one of the best draw guys the Leafs have.
• Lost face-offs happen all game long. Teams practice how to defend off lost draws in the defensive zone. Tavares did his job after the loss, but others in the sequence did not.
THE GOOD AND THE NOT SO GOOD
Ilya Samsonov was strong in net for the Leafs in their overtime victory in Game 3 and he deserves credit for bouncing back from a poor performance to open the series. The Leafs have won two straight and Samsonov has elevated his game.
Game 4 is now a must win for the Lightning. I’m anticipating Samsonov will have to provide his best game of the series for the Leafs to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the series.
When Samsonov is at his best, he tracks the play moving side to side without ending up outside his posts, or too high in his crease. He gets into trouble when he starts “swimming” around, lacks rebound control, or when his read/react tracking is off.
Here are some examples of the good:
Samsonov shows proper tracking on the Kucherov pp chance
Samsonov shows off perfect shot-tracking getting over to rob Hedman
And … Here is an example of the bad:
Samsonov losing his place in net a bit on the Brandon Hagel goal
Summary:
• Positive: In the first clip Samsonov reads the play developing and moves laterally in time to square up and make a save on Nikita Kucherov.
• Positive: Also in the first clip (second highlight) Samsonov remains crease ready after a small scramble out in front of his net. His glove is in position, his chest is square to the puck and when it spills to Victor Hedman at the left side Samsonov reads and reacts and makes an athletic save moving from side to side.
• Negative: To be fair, the entire sequence on the Brandon Hagel goal is a bit of a tire fire for the Leafs in their zone, but my eyes were on Samsonov in the sequence. He loses sight of the puck behind his net , ends up out of position and flopping around, and deflects the puck into his own net from his stomach
Ilya Samsonov is 6-foot-3, 214 pounds and when he’s at his best he doesn’t overextend himself. He uses his size and quickness to make saves without losing his net. He’s been much better the past two games for the Leafs, but he still has his acrobatic moments. The Leafs are counting on him to continue to elevate and give them a chance to win Game 4, and beyond.
ANGLED SHOOT-INS
The Maple Leafs recognize Andrei Vasilevskiy is a goaltender who plays the puck very well. He has the ability to stop the puck behind his net on shoot-ins and outlet it up ice quickly and accurately. For this reason, I have noticed the Leafs directing pucks as far away from Vasilevskiy as possible on their shoot-ins.
Here are two examples:
Maple Leafs angling their dump-ins so Vasilevskiy can’t play them
Summary:
• Both shoot-ins are from one shift early in the first period of Game 3. Although the Leafs didn’t gain extended possession off either sequence, the Lightning weren’t afforded the opportunity to outlet the puck up ice quickly off Vasilevskiy’s stick. The tactic is a safe, responsible play to make. It gives the Leafs’ forwards a chance to get in behind the Tampa defenders and attempt to work plays off the cycle down low in the Lightning zone.
CHIP AND GO!
At every level, coaches preach making responsible plays from just inside the defensive and offensive blue lines. It’s imperative the Leafs don’t give the Lightning extended life in their own zone off poor decisions.
Watch the following clip closely. Acciari has clear control of the puck high in the Leafs zone. This is a prime example of the chaos that ensues when pucks aren’t promptly cleared from the defensive zone:
Lightning pepper Samsonov with chances after Acciari fails to clear the zone
Summary:
• Acciari had Knies coming across the top of the blue line. All he had to do was chip the puck off the boards and the Leafs would have had a clean zone exit.
• By trying to make a stick to stick outlet in the middle of the ice, Acciari turned the puck over and Tampa hemmed the Leafs in their zone for an extra 30 seconds, forcing Samsonov to make a couple of big saves (including one up high through traffic).
GAME WITHIN A GAME
• Through three games the goaltending battle favours Toronto. Vasilevskiy has posted a 4.22 GAA and .853 save percentage, while Samsonov has a 3.70 GAA and .878 save percentage.
• Morgan Rielly has scored a goal and four assists. He’s a plus-5 and being used at even strength and the power play. Rielly is averaging 22:32 of ice time per game.
• Trade deadline acquisitions Jake McCabe, Luke Schenn, and Noel Acciari have combined for 47 hits and 12 blocked shots in the first three games.
• Auston Matthews was a much more responsible three zone player this season and he’s continuing the trend so far these playoffs. Matthews has scored a goal and four assists, averaged 20 minutes of ice time, and been credited with 11 hits and four blocked shots.
• Ryan O’Reilly was acquired by the Leafs for a variety of reasons, one of them being his knack for winning key face-offs. O’Reilly has won 61 per cent of his draws so far in the series.
DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Red Wings signed forward Lucas Raymond to an eight-year, $64.6 million contract Monday, completing a deal with one of their best young players less than 72 hours before training camp begins.
Raymond will count $8.075 million against the salary cap through 2032. The 22-year-old was a restricted free agent without a contract for the upcoming NHL season and was coming off setting career highs with 31 goals, 41 assists and 72 points.
The Red Wings have another one of those in defenceman Moritz Seider, who won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year in 2021-22.
Detroit is looking to end an eight-year playoff drought dating to the Original Six franchise’s last appearance in 2016.
Raymond, a Swede who was the fourth pick in 2020, has 174 points in 238 games since breaking into the league.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Kirk Cousins led a flawless last-minute drive for Atlanta and connected with Drake London for a 7-yard touchdown with 34 seconds left to give the Falcons a 22-21 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday night.
Saquon Barkley dropped a short pass that stopped the clock with 1:46 left and forced the Eagles to settle for a field goal instead of a game-sealing first down. That was plenty of time for Cousins — especially against an Eagles defense playing soft coverage with a nonexistent pass rush.
The 36-year-old veteran, playing his second game since tearing his Achilles tendon last Oct. 29 while playing for Minnesota, shook off an uneven effort and hit Darnell Mooney for 21 and 26 yards on consecutive plays during the decisive drive.
Cousins found London on a short pass to his right for the tying score, and Younghoe Koo put Atlanta (1-1) on top with a 48-yard extra point after London was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct. The go-ahead drive took just 65 seconds.
Jalen Hurts had his final pass intercepted by Jessie Bates III to seal Atlanta’s win and set off a wild celebration on the sideline.
The Eagles (1-1) went ahead on Hurts’ 1-yard tush push score with 6:47 left. Barkley finished with 95 yards on 22 carries in his home debut for Philadelphia, but his drop provided the Falcons with some hope.
And then Cousins started playing like the QB Atlanta thought it was getting when it signed him to a four-year, $180 million contract.
Cousins finished 20 of 29 for 241 yards and two touchdowns. Atlanta’s first TD was a 41-yarder from Cousins to Mooney, who finished with three catches for 88 yards.
Hurts was 23 of 30 for 183 yards, including a touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith. With No. 1 receiver A.J. Brown out with a hamstring injury, Smith led the Eagles with seven catches for 76 yards and a score.
Jake Elliott kicked two field goals for the Eagles. His 28-yarder with 1:39 left made it 21-15.
Atlanta kept stalling in the red zone, getting three field goals from Koo, before Cousins fired over the middle to Mooney, who shook loose from C.J. Gardner-Johnson and left him on the turf before he somersaulted into the end zone with 1:21 left in the third quarter for a 15-10 lead. Cousins failed on the 2-point conversion pass.
Hurts had some juice in his step during a second-quarter TD drive, running with abandon for big plays much like he did in the 2022 season. He spiked the ball in a rare, raw show of emotion on a 23-yard run, earning a delay-of-game penalty. He shrugged off the 5-yard setback and scrambled for 9 yards and 15 yards to move the Eagles to Atlanta’s 19.
With comedian Shane Gillis and actor Bradley Cooper among the fans cheering on the Eagles, Hurts connected with Smith in the back of the end zone for a 7-yard TD that made it 7-3.
Under new defensive coordinator Vince Fangio, the Eagles have established an early knack for allowing long drives that end with three points instead of seven. Koo kicked field goals of 39, 22 and 34 yards, the last one enough for a 9-7 lead in the third quarter. In their opener, the Eagles held the Packers to just three field goals when they drove inside the 20.
Questionable call
Rather than take a chip-shot field goal from Elliott, the Eagles’ fourth-and-4 gamble at Atlanta’s 9-yard line in the first quarter failed when Hurts threw an incomplete pass.
Elliott kicked a 29-yarder with 4:31 left in the third quarter for a 10-9 lead.
Running wild
Bijan Robinson ran for 97 yards for the Falcons. The Eagles stuffed him late on fourth-and-1 at the Atlanta 39.
Barkley was quiet until the go-ahead drive, a week after he rushed for 109 yards and scored three touchdowns against Green Bay. Eagles fans booed when the opening drive of the game ended without Barkley touching the ball. They went wild when he had consecutive 9-yard runs to open the second drive. Barkley had 40 yards rushing in the first half.
Foles honored
Former Eagles QB Nick Foles, who led the franchise to its only Super Bowl title, served as an honorary captain and led the crowd in a rendition of “Fly, Eagles, Fly.”
Injuries
The Falcons played without LB Nate Landman (calf, quad).
Up next
Atlanta hosts Super Bowl champion Kansas City on Sunday.
TORONTO – Singles star Leylah Fernandez and doubles specialist Gabriela Dabrowski will anchor Canada’s five-player lineup when the team tries to defend its Billie Jean King Cup title in mid-November.
The 26th-ranked Fernandez, the 2021 U.S. Open finalist from Laval, Que., is the lone Canadian in the top 100 of the WTA Tour’s singles rankings.
Dabrowski, from Ottawa, is ranked fourth on the doubles list. The 2023 U.S. Open women’s doubles champion won mixed doubles bronze with Felix Auger-Aliassime at the recent Paris Olympics.
Marina Stakusic of Mississauga, Ont., returns after a breakout performance last year, capped by her singles win in Canada’s 2-0 victory over Italy in the final. Vancouver’s Rebecca Marino is also back and Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion from Mississauga, Ont., returns to the squad for the first time since 2022.
“Winning the Billie Jean King Cup in 2023 was a dream come true for us, and not only that, but I feel like we made a statement to the world about the strength of this nation when it comes to tennis,” Canada captain Heidi El Tabakh said Monday in a release. “Once again, we have a very strong team this year with Bianca joining Leylah, Gaby, Rebecca and Marina, making it an extremely powerful team that is more than capable of going all the way.
“At the end of the day, our goal is to make Canada proud, and we’ll do our best to bring the same level of effort and excitement that we had in last year’s finals.”
Fernandez, who beat Jasmine Paolini to clinch Canada’s first-ever title at the competition, is ranked No. 42 in doubles.
Canada, which received an automatic berth as defending champion, will play the winner of the first-round tie between Great Britain and Germany on Nov. 17 at Malaga’s Martin Carpena Arena.
Australia, Italy and wild-card entry Czechia also received first-round byes. The tournament, which continues through Nov. 20, also includes host Spain, Slovakia, the United States, Poland, Japan and Romania.
Stakusic is up 27 spots to No. 128 in the latest world singles rankings. Marino is at No. 134 and Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion, is ranked 167th.
Canada will look to become the first team since Czechia in 2016 to successfully defend its Billie Jean King Cup title.
Malaga will also host the Nov. 19-24 Davis Cup Final 8. The Canadian men qualified over the weekend with a 2-1 victory over Great Britain in Manchester.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
