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.
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.
