Your game in 10:

  1. Things started well tonight, as the famous Maple Leafs top line scored a goal very early. Mitch Marner helped loosen the jar and Michael Badding made the pass to Oston Matthews in the circle and finished from there. One of the most effortless shots in the NHL, Matthew’s shot beat Jake Allen and equaled his career record of 47 goals: AUSTON MATTHEWS 🚨 47th season! pic.twitter.com/zD7EPzioHB – Omar (@TicTacTOmar) March 26, 2022 We did not know that this shot was the only thing that would beat Allen tonight. The Leafs dominated the Canadiens in the first period, but only walked away 1-0, partly in a masterful game from the Montreal netminder. This will continue to advance the competition. As for the first line, each member finished this game with about 88% xGF% on EV tonight, being on the ice for two whole xGFs. Simply dominant material for this unit, which we are used to seeing at this point.
  2. This was the second night of the couple Mark Giordano and Timothy Liljegren and they had a good game. He was on the ice for a goal against, but I thought they showed solid chemistry and came out of this game with good analytical numbers. Giordano finished at 72.7 xGF% in EV, while Liljegren rose to 86.75%. It was very nice to see this separation: I love this defensive recovery from Giordano-Liljegren pic.twitter.com/8xJXITd49l – Omar (@TicTacTOmar) March 26, 2022 The more I think about it, the more I believe that this duo could work stylistically. Throughout this season, we have not yet seen Liljegren in a pair where the * aggressive * element of the pair was explicit. With Rasmus Sandin, no one had defined roles, but Sandin was more often the one who flew on the ice and Liljegren was left behind. With Morgan Rielly, you know what role Liljegren played there. But with Giordano, Liljegren really has the opportunity to be the offensive guy. Moreover, if we consider the elements with which Liljegren has struggled, they tend to be the very things in which Giordano is good. Liljegren had trouble tying opponents in front of the net and occasionally identifying his man in the belt, which Giordano took to Toronto to handle. Giordano, on the other hand, is not the same aggressive transitional player at this point in his career, while Liljegren is quietly very good at this part of the game. I think it could work between the two.
  3. Another note for the Toronto defenders: we saw Justin Hall being very aggressive. For example, he seemed unexpectedly fast in this movement towards the nets, bypassing Alexander Romanov: Romanov loses the hip check leaving Hall free to take the elf into the net pic.twitter.com/MXzuCGNkJ1 – Omar (@TicTacTOmar) March 26, 2022 He also slipped on the wall a lot and helped create some opportunities. Holl and TJ Brodie continue to play well together (Holl finished 84% xGF% in EV), but it ‘s just interesting for me to see Holl take more of the offensive reins in the pair. Ilya Lyubushkin also chased goals tonight, trying to double his total NHL career goals to two, going more than normal and making an astonishing number of shots (tied for third place with four shots on goal tonight) . Despite the defeat, I feel that the Leafs have three defensive pairs that all seem to work. Obviously, we will have a much better sense of whether this is true when they face Florida and Boston in the coming days.
  4. I don’t think people in NHL circles have talked enough about how awesome coach Dominique Ducharme was, because it ‘s honestly amazing how much better the Canadians play under Martin St. Louis. It’s an extremely limited roster, but the few true NHL pieces that St. Louis has to work with. Louis (mostly Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield) look miles better than Ducharme. One thing I like about the way the St. Louis team plays is their willingness to attack the counters with speed. They bring attacking to the neutral zone in breakouts and push the opponent’s defense and the Leafs had problems with that tonight in the first and third goals. In the first goal, the Leafs threw it, Jake Allen played it and entered the neutral zone, and then the Habs and the three forwards in attack position, with defender David Savard also being sent to the ice. Giordano and Liliegren found it difficult to set up at first, but the big culprit is the attackers and their defensive effort, especially William Nylander: Okay, that counts 🚨 @ CanadiensMTL | #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/76ukBo8No8 – Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) March 27, 2022 Montreal’s speed and willingness to be aggressive in the transition game forces opponents to get on horseback and back and Nylander does not do that here. When you are one of the fastest and most effective transitional attackers in the NHL, you can never beat a big, 220 pound defender like David Savard on the spot. I have a lot of admiration for Nylander’s offensive abilities, but this kind of defensive effort is unacceptable. Maybe light it up in the postseason like it did last year and cash in, but the Leafs need more of it on both ends of the ice right now at 5v5. Did we see that Nylander is there (remember his start to the season?)? just have to go back.
  5. Sheldon Keefe was also unhappy, who shuffled his lineups after that goal and disbanded Tavares and Nylander. He picked up Ilya Mikheyev and Alex Kerfoot to play with Tavares and dropped Nylander to play with Pierre Engvall and David Kämpf. I do not like this move because I do not think Nylander is fit to play with Kämpf stylistically, and also because I like the third line as it is now constructed. That said, I also agree with Keefe on splitting the second line. For me, there is an answer to starting the second line: splitting the first line. Until William Nylander decides to turn it on and start leading the game again as he did in the fall, the Leafs have only two dynamites, top strikers and their names are Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner. At the moment, they are playing on the same line, and yet Keefe can not understand the answer to the problems of the second line. Perhaps the most disappointing thing in the last month following the Leafs was seeing how well John Tavares played with Mitch Marner and Bunting during the Matthews suspension and how Keefe immediately returned to playing with the Tavares and Nylander when Matthews returned. Mitch Marner is a good enough hockey player on his own to lead a great line. So is Auston Mathews. The fact that Keefe insists on using them on one line instead of putting them on two large lines separately is very frustrating. Look, I got it. Marner and Matthews are great together. This was finally the first point of this game review. But they are also awesome players in their own right. Marner’s performance during Matthews’s suspension showed that, as well as the fact that every line in which Auston Matthews was part of this season playing at least 30 minutes together in 5v5 is at least 56% xGF% or better, regardless of whether she is with him or not. Marner. Instead of dealing with irrational line combinations (again, Nylander and Kämpf?), Keefe must recognize that his team has two top drivers and the fastest way to have two very good top six lines is to split them.
  6. Speaking of line combinations, it’s time to discuss the fourth line again. I thought this was a very nice game by Colin Blackwell, who was again very notable as an energy bunny player. Analytics consider him much better in EV than his teammates. Blackwell finished at 87.89% xGF%, while Jason Spezza fell to 61.14% and Wayne Simmonds to the horrible 5.24%. At this point, I think it is quite obvious that if / when Ondrej Kaše returns, Simmonds should return to the press. He had a remarkable moment, a mini break after a great pass from Spezza, which ended with Josh Anderson chasing him and the elf slipping off his stick: Such a clean pass from Spezza to Simmonds pic.twitter.com/YA2smsOZoN – Omar (@TicTacTOmar) March 27, 2022 Somehow it is at this point. It’s sad to see that, but Simmonds is not one of Toronto’s top 12 forwards when everyone is healthy. And right now I think we need to look at whether he is Spezza. I remain convinced that there is a real chance that Spezza will save his energy for the big moments (he happens to come to life late in the games or in PP, not to mention the playoffs last year) and he could be ready to go when May comes. But with Nick Abruzzese signing today, and Matthew Knies coming soon as well – not to mention Nick Robertson as an option – I’d like to see some of these guys try out for Spezza in April. The fourth line remains lifeless when Blackwell does not make things happen.
  7. The teams exchanged power-play goals in the last two seasons, as the Habs got a PPG of this rocket from Cole Caufield: Cole Caufield made it 2-1 pic.twitter.com/hbYARGShfB – Omar (@TicTacTOmar) March 27, 2022 This kid can shoot the elf. The Leafs got a back when Nylander cleared a loose …