Leafs Breakthrough in Game 2

 

Game 2 of this first round series between the Canadiens and Maple Leafs took place Saturday night with Toronto looking to tie the series at 1. Yesterday afternoon General Manager Kyle Dubas provided an update on the condition of injured captain John Tavares. In the update Dubas informed the fans and media that John had also suffered a slight MCL strain in his knee in the collision with Chairot and there is approximately a 2-week recovery period for the knee injury, However the timetable for the concussion is still unknown.

 

Last night’s starters would once again be Jack Campbell for the Leafs and Carey Price for the visiting Canadiens. The start of this game was much better for Toronto then the previous night because this time the Leafs would try and match the physical play with the likes of Wayne Simmonds who would quickly make his presence known by throwing his weight around. Toronto would generate a few quality scoring chances early but shots would be fanned on or Carey Price would do what he seems to do best come playoff time and that is making highlight reel saves. With the Leafs off to a better start in game to they would unfortunately find themselves trailing as just shy of the 8-minute mark of period one Montreal’s Jespari Kotkaniemi would score the games first goal as with the Leafs in full scramble mode and goalie Jack Campbell trying to get back into the play Kotkaniemi would send the puck into the goal for his first of this postseason. A strange moment would take place as his celebration would be him holding up four fingers. Now on the broadcast they would try and play it of that he had scored four goals in however many games but any hockey fan watching this with a brain knew he was implying that the Habs were possibly going to sweep their rivals. Now thankfully we would not have to wait untill the second period for the equalizing goal as while the Leafs were trailing, they did not abandon their game plan and they would continue to apply pressure and just after the midway mark veteran Jason Spezza would fire the puck passed Carey Price and Toronto would find themselves tied 1-1. The teams would then trade chances but after 20 minutes of play the score would remain level at 1-1.

 

The second period would see the Leafs continue with their game plan and their aggressive play along with their speed with lead to the go-ahead goal for the Leafs as Mitch Marner would send Justin Holl into the Montreal zone Holl would then fire a quick shot onto Price forcing him to give up a big rebound that Auston Matthews would pounce on and slide into the goal putting Toronto ahead by a score of 2-1. After this goal, the Canadiens seemed to fall into some penalty trouble as in the middle frame Montreal would see themselves called for three consecutive minors and with Kotkaniemi serving a minor for cross checking the Maple Leafs would add to their lead on said power play as Maner would set up defender Rasmus Sandin for a point shot that would beat Price blocker side and on the power play Sandin would extend the Leafs lead to 3-1 thanks to his first career playoff goal. For some reason, the Montreal Canadiens felt the need to challenge this goal because they believed that Joe Thornton who was providing traffic in front of Price was interfering with him. However, after a surprisingly long review the call would stand the Leafs would lead 3-1 and because of a questionable decision Montreal would once again be a man down as they would be given a delay of game penalty, but this time Toronto was not able to score. The second intermission would follow, and the Leafs would be comfortably ahead 3-1.

 

With the Leafs 20 minutes away from evening the series Toronto would not sit back and coast their way to the final horn they continued pressuring on offense and frustrating the Canadiens leading to more power play opportunities and that is just what would happen as Montreal Captain Shea Webber would be called for cross checking on Pierre Engvall. So as the Leafs are once again on the man advantage the power play would convert for a second time as Auston Matthews would fire a shot that would ring off the post and with Carey sprawling in his goal William Nylander would pick up the lose puck and send it into the roof of the open cage to put Toronto ahead 4-1. After the fourth goal at the midway point of the third period the leading Leafs would begin to run the clock down and surprisingly with six and a half minutes remaining Montreal would pull Carey Price giving Montreal a six on five-man advantage for the remainder of regulation. Toronto would see numerous attempts to the open goal go wide but finally Alex Kerfoot would collect the Leafs fifth and final goal of the contest as with a little over two minutes remaining Kerfoot would manage to hit the open net and the Leafs would tie the series at ones thanks to this victory. This win would be Campbells first NHL Playoff win and I forgot to mention the league has fined Webber $5000 for his cross check on Toronto’s Engvall.

 

After the game it was mentioned by the Rocket Richard winner Auston Matthews that the team dedicated the game 2 victory to their captain John Tavares and judging by the play of the Leafs it was clear they were playing with some extra motivation. These two teams will now travel to Quebec for two games at the Bell Centre as game three of the series take place Monday night.