Leafs Win 5 in A Row

 

 

Last night the Toronto Maple Leafs played host for the 9^th and final time this season and after the Leafs managed to beat Braeden Holtby on Thursday coach Travis Green would turn to Thatcher Demko to try and help end the Canucks road trip on a high note. Toronto would have Jack Campbell starting as his play has rebounded nicely since the teams five game losing streak. I am not going to dive into too much simply because I like most fans do not know many details about the situation but in the early afternoon yesterday it was announced that Vancouver’s Jake Vertanen would take a leave of absence from the Canucks as he is facing allegations of sexual misconduct after being identified by the apparent victim, Alright now onto the game.

In his pregame media conference Travis Green stated his team despite everything going on would be ready to play come game time and he was spot on as it would be the visitors that would come out with more energy to start as Vancouver would spend a quality amount of time in the offensive zone forcing Toronto to take long shifts and making Jack Campbell come up with some important saves. Just after the midway point of the opening period the Canucks, who were leading on the shot clock would open the scoring as Bo Horvat would beat John Tavares on a faceoff and then youngster Quinn Hughes would quickly pass to Tanner Pearson who would send a wrist shot through traffic where the puck would ring off the post and in for his 10^th goal of the season giving the Canucks the 1-0 lead. Vancouver’s lead however would be short lived as just two minutes later with the puck in the Canucks end Nick Foligno would cycle the puck to a waiting Mitch Marner and what seems to be a regular occurrence Marner would set up Auston Matthews who would like Pearson, Auston would send his shot off the post and passed Demko and with his 37^th goal of the season Auston Matthews and the Toronto Maple Leafs would find themselves level at a goal each. Late in the opening period it looked as if Toronto would grab the lead as Adam Brooks who has been a nice addition to this lineup would set up Joe Thornton with a great opportunity but thankfully for Canucks fans Demko would get just enough of the shot by Jumbo Joe to keep the game tied as the teams headed into the first intermission.

We would not have to wait long for the scoring to continue as just three minutes into the second period Marner and Matthews would team up once again as Matthews would extend his goal total to 38 with his second of the game and Maner thanks to his second assist would collect his 61^st multi assist game of his young career. With Toronto now leading 2-1 it would still be Vancouver pressing the action now looking for the equalizer, but Jack Campbell once again would continue his strong play in goal freezing the puck whenever Toronto would get caught in the defensive zone. Later in the period the Leafs would begin to find their footing and build momentum thanks to some physical play by the likes of Jake Muzzin and Wayne Simmonds who both seemed to all over former teammate Jimmy Vesey anytime he was on the ice. Despite not playing their best hockey the Toronto Maple Leafs would be leading by a score of 2-1 after 40 minutes of action.

 

Period three we would see an entirely different team would see Toronto play the game like we fans are used to seeing the Leafs would pile up their shots on goal and early into the period Toronto would extend their lead as Justin Holl would fire a shot from the slot that would beat Demko thanks to Adam Brooks who would redirect the shot by Holl for his 4^th of the campaign. So, with Toronto now leading by a score of 3-1 the Leafs would not look back and they would continue to dominate the play registering the first nine shots on goal before Vancouver finally managed to collect their first shot at the midway point of the third. Things would go from bad to worse for the struggling Canucks as birthday boy William Nylander who turned 25 yesterday would come streaking in after receiving a great pass from John Tavares but Thatcher Demko would make a huge save but Nylander instead of scoring a goal would pick up an assist as Alex Galchenyuk would pick up the rebound and shovel it into the back of the net for his 4^th of the season and after a stretch that saw Galchenyuk’s play slide causing to be a -9 he seems to be coming out of his struggles as he’s now picked up points in consecutive games.

 

With the Leafs playing with a 4-1 lead for the third straight game things looked to be smooth sailing the rest of the way but the hockey gods had other plans as Toronto’s blueline would take another hit. With Zach Bogosian out of the line up with a shoulder injury Justin Holl may be joining him for a few days as a precaution as he would get a puck in the face that would draw blood and in need of repairs. It is worth noting Sheldon Keefe mentioned after the game Holl was bloody but joking around with teammates but at that point did not know the extent of Justin’s injury.

 

Toronto would extend their lead once again as this time Vancouver would have the net empty and with two minutes left in the game Joe Thornton who was robbed in the first period would get the goal his was looking for as he would fire the puck into the wide-open cage for his 5^th goal of the season after receiving a stretch pass from Travis Dermott. The horn would sound for the final time between these two teams and Toronto would go onto win the game by a score of 5-1.

With the Leafs holding a 9-point lead on the 2^nd place Edmonton Oilers and just 5 games remaining in the regular season the Toronto Maple Leafs need to win three of their remaining games to guarantee their North Division victory. The Leafs will now look to continue their winning ways as tomorrow night they will play the first of three games against the Montreal Canadiens who thanks to their recent hot streak and Winnipeg on a slide Montreal is only two points from moving passed the grounded Jets for third in the division. With only a handful of games remaining in the regular season it will likely come down to the last possible day to see which team will earn the fourth playoff spot and a meeting with the Maple Leafs in the opening round one thing is for sure but as a fan of hockey this North Division has been an absolute blast to watch.