Bunting’s First Ices the Sens

 

Tonight, the Leafs and Ottawa Senators squared off on Hockey Night in Canada in a rematch from Thursday night. This morning because of cap issues the Leafs had to sign an emergency back up goalie to replace Petr Mrazek because they cannot call up Michael Hutchinson untill tomorrow. So, the EBUG the Leafs signed was University of Toronto goalie Alex Bishop who funny enough I crossed paths with a few years ago when I was with the Newmarket Hurricanes as a volunteer coach Bishop was a call up for Newmarket for few games.

For the first few games of the season so far, we have seen the Leafs struggle with their starts falling behind in games tonight however would be different as it would be Toronto with the quick start applying early pressure and the home fans didn’t have to wait long because with just over two minutes played in the first Scarborough native Wayne Simmons would collect his first goal of the season. After a won faceoff in the Ottawa zone Spezza’s won draw would go back to Dermott who would send the puck to Rasmus Sandin. With Wayne Simmons standing in front of Anton Forsberg the Ottawa starter once again Sandin would center a pass that Simmons would deflect through the five whole and into the Ottawa goal to give the Leafs the early 1-0 lead.

Jack Campbell would get the start for Toronto and during the game on the broadcast they mentioned that Campbell going into this start was unbeaten on Saturday night starts as a Maple Leaf as he was 8-0 heading into this matchup. Even though the Leafs were up early, Ottawa was not going to roll over they were going to try and establish their game and make the even difficult for Campbell and the Leafs, Ottawa would generate some scoring chances, but Campbell would be up for the challenge turning the Senator chances aside.

Alex Kerfoot who heading into this game was yet to record a shot on goal this season which I found surprising would add his name to the goal category as William Nylander would intercept the puck off Ottawa’s Shane Pinto and then quickly send a pass out to Alex Kerfoot who was wide open and all alone, Kerfoot would fire a wrist shot passed Forsberg and with his first shot of the season Kerfoot would have his first goal of the campaign and Toronto would quickly be up 2-0. 

With the lead for the Leafs now doubled they were in control of this opening frame and a notable example of this would be late in period one when Ottawa’s Thomas Chabot would be handed a cross checking minor for his infraction on Simmons. For the next three minutes and change fans would get to see how dominate the Leafs power play can be as they spent the entire remainder of the first with Ottawa on their heels trying to defend. Even though Toronto was unable to cash in on this powerplay if you are a special teams coach you would be incredibly happy with how your two powerplay units were able to generate chances and maintain pressure. The Leafs would head to the dressing room with a well deserved 2-0 advantage on the scoreboard.

The second period would start just like the first did for Toronto, they would once again be on the front foot controlling the play. Their shot count would continue to climb but the score would remain the same thanks to some great saves from Forsberg. One Forsberg save that will make an appearance on the morning highlight shows took place around the five-minute mark when Mitch Marner would send a perfect pass to John Tavares who all alone in front of Ottawa’s goal with what was thought to be a sure goal, but Tavares would see his backhand attempt wind up in the glove of Anton Forsberg. Midway through the second period the Leafs would be given an excellent opportunity to add to their lead as Ottawa would have to play the next few minutes on a five on three penalty kill. The Leafs despite managing a few chances they were once again unable to break through and Forsberg’s strong play in goal would continue to keep his Senators within reach of this game. After Ottawa killed off Toronto’s five on three advantage the game started to turn, and Ottawa began to play with a level of confidence allowing them to spend more time in the Leafs end of the rink forcing Campbell to make so big saves. 

Late in period two Toronto would find themselves shorthanded as Nick Ritchie would need to serve a two-minute minor for cross checking on Ottawa’s Drake Batherson. On this man advantage Ottawa would finally find a way to solve Jack Campbell. Marner was unable to clear the puck and Batherson would collect the loose puck and with all Leaf players focused on him Josh Norris would be left all by himself on the opposite side. Batherson would send puck across to Norris who would slide the puck under Campbell finally getting Ottawa on the board as they trailed now 2-1. Campbell though actually played this goal properly because he knew with the Batherson pass he had to get across the goal quickly because majority of the time the pass will be followed up by a one timer in that situation. Unfortunately for Campbell Ottawa’s Norris hesitated for a split second causing the Toronto netminder to think he needed to get back up and doing this gave the Sens goal scorer enough space to slide the puck under Jack and into the goal cutting the Leaf lead in half.

In the final minute of play in the second period Drake Batherson would receive a stretch pass and come in all alone on a breakaway Jack Campbell would come out aggressively attempting the Johnny Bower poke check but as Batherson fell down the puck would go bouncing into the open Leaf net and Ottawa would tie the game at two’s or so they thought. Coach Sheldon Keefe would challenge to goal claiming the Ottawa Forward was offside and after a lengthy review the challenge paid off and video showed Batherson was a fraction offside meaning the goal was taken off the board and the score would remain 2-1. 

The third period would see both teams try and push the play as Toronto would try and add to their lead and Ottawa of course would try and level the contest. Ottawa would generate a decent amount of pressure early as their point shots would manage to get through traffic forcing Campbell to battle and make some difficult saves. A goalie’s best friend the post would be a benefit to Toronto as on one point shot Campbell did not see the shot, but it thankfully rang off the bar and went into the corner in what was Ottawa’s best chance in the period. With eight minutes played in the final frame the Leafs would get that all important insurance goal. Tyler Ennis for Ottawa would see his shot attempt blocked by defender Timothy Liljegren who I forgot to mention was in the lineup in the place of Justin Holl who was out because of flu symptoms. Anyway, Liljegren’s shot block would allow Toronto to quickly jump on the counterattack as Kerfoot and Bunting would rush in two on one and after some back and forth passes Bunting would stop allowing himself to step around Ottawa’s Victor Mete who managed to get back into to play. The nice move around the defender would give Michael Bunting a clear chance on goal and his shot would beat Anton Forsberg sending the crowd into a frenzy as like fellow Scarborough native did in the first period opening the score Bunting capped off the evening with his third period goal, his first as a member of the Maple Leafs. As time would wind down Ottawa would pull their goalie playing with the man advantage in the hopes of climbing out of the two-goal deficit. For Marner and Tavares their frustrating night would continue as with an open cage Tavares would see his attempt ring off the post and then Marner would see his two empty net chances be blocked. The horn would sound, and Toronto would win this game picking up the well-deserved two points.

After the game Bunting was about scoring his first goal as a member of the Leafs and he would answer by saying it was a special feeling seeing all the Leaf jerseys in the crowd knowing they were cheering for him. I have said it before, and I will say it again Michael Bunting will quickly become a fan favorite because Toronto fans always gravitate to guys that work hard every shift. Also, after these three games of the regular season it is clear how important Auston Matthews is to this Leaf roster. Hopefully, he returns to action very soon because having him on the ice in my opinion will give a boost to the games of Tavares and Marner.

The Leafs next action will come Monday night when the Leafs square off against fellow original six team the New York Rangers.

Thanks, as always for reading.