Campbell and The Leafs Stand Tall

 

Well Leaf fans here we are after finishing the preseason with a record of 5-1 the Leafs kicked off their 21-22 campaign at home Wednesday against the Montreal Canadiens. Of course, before I discuss the game and how things went, I must talk about the news surrounding Montreal and their goalie situation. Last week Carey Price announced that he would be stepping away from the NHL for an indefinite amount of time and his wife mentioned that he needed to focus on his mental health. I am not going to speculate on what may be the issue for Price all I am going to say his I hope he gets whatever help he needs to get himself healthy because not only Montreal fans, but hockey fans enjoy watching Carey Price perform at his absolute best.

 

There was still a game to be played however and Jake Allen would start in goal, and he is hoping the regular season goes better for him because he really didn’t perform all that well in the preseason. For the hometown Maple Leafs Jack Campbell who was able to rise to the occasion last season as Toronto’s number one starter was given the chance to start the home opener.

 

The first period if you are a Leaf fan didn’t start like you would want as it would be Montreal who start with the upper hand as the Canadiens would be all over Toronto spending the first few minutes of the game keeping the Leafs hemmed in their end of the rink. Montreal caused numerous turnovers leading to odd man rushes and some high-quality scoring chances but thankfully for Toronto and their fans Jack Campbell was ready to play because he made countless saves keeping the game from getting out of hand. The turnovers would end up costing Toronto when while trying to lead the rush Jake Muzzin would turn the puck over to Montreal’s Josh Anderson and he would go onto the counterattack. The Habs would open the scoring as Anderson would slide the puck over to Jonathan Drouin who would send the puck passed a sprawling Campbell and into the net giving Montreal the early 1-0 lead. With Toronto trailing they would quickly get a chance to equalize as Montreal would find themselves shorthanded meaning the Leafs would head to the man advantage. The Leafs would manage to cash in on the powerplay opportunity when Rasmus Sandin would pass over to Pierre Engvall who moved into the high slot and with Nick Ritchie providing the screen in front Engvall’s wrist shot would beat Jake Allen on the blocker side and the Leafs would tie the game at ones. Along with Sandin Michael Bunting would collect a secondary assist giving the Scarborough native his first official point as a Maple Leaf and with Ilya Mikheyev out of action for eight weeks after thumb surgery this could be a golden opportunity for Engvall to show what he can bring to the Leafs so it will be interesting to see how things pan out for Engvall.

 

With the game now level at 1-1 the Leafs would begin searching for the next goal but honestly for the remainder of the period not much would happen aside from a last-minute surge by the Leafs and after twenty minutes of action the teams would head to the intermission tied 1-1 after what in my opinion was a very disappointing period for Toronto.

 

The second period would see Toronto begin to gain control of the game as they would begin to outshoot there opponents early in the period however, Toronto would find themselves a man down as John Tavares would get called for hooking. Montreal would see their powerplay go scoreless thanks to a new aggressive penalty kill allowing Toronto to add to their momentum and throughout the second period we would see Nylander have a scoring chance turned aside then a few minutes later both Marner and Ondrej Kase would have opportunities in close turned aside by Montreal’s netminder. Midway through the period we would again see Jake Allen stand tall as Toronto would send a point shot into traffic and Bunting would be searching for a rebound but despite all the chaos in front of Allen, he managed to keep the puck from going in and we would remain tied at a goal each. The remaining minutes of period two would run out and as teams headed to their dressing rooms the score would be what it was after the first, 1-1.

 

Fans of both teams would ne wondering who would score the next goal as we headed into the third and final period and we didn’t have to wait long for our answer. With just over a minute played Marner would drop the puck back to Morgan Reilly in the Leaf end of the ice and he would turn and send a stretch pass to William Nylander who was speeding down the wing and Nylander would fire the puck over the glove of Allen for his first of the season and the Leafs would grab the lead 2-1. A few minutes later we would see Toronto run into some penalty trouble as Montreal would play with a two-man advantage as both Jason Spezza and Mitch Marner would both serve tripping minors just seconds apart from each other. So, with the Canadiens on the powerplay they were of course pressing for and equalizing goal of their own. Montreal would come close a few times, but Jake Muzzin would do a great job clearing the puck from their zone. Montreal on the first penalty would have what was thought to be a sure goal on a few occasions but the Leafs had luck go their way as Montreal would fan on a few scoring chances. Late in the two-man advantage we would see what I think was easily the play of the game as once again the Canadiens were looking dangerous in the second half of the five on three as Montreal had possession in close Toronto’s Justin Holl would drop down to make a crucial block allowing the Leafs to once again clear the puck killing off both minors to Spezza and Marner.

Things would get interesting late in regulation when Montreal’s Brendan Gallagher would crash the Toronto goal making contact with Jack Campbell, Toronto would take exception to this, and a scrum would ensue. As players were dealing with Gallagher Montreal’s Josh Anderson would join in on the fun throwing a punch ton the first Leaf he saw. Unfortunately for him he would be the only person sent to the sin bin a decision he was very unhappy with. Toronto would now have a chance to finish this game on the man advantage but if you’re a Leaf fan you know that nothing is ever easy when it comes to the Maple Leafs. With a little over twenty seconds left Pierre Engvall who scored Toronto’s first girl had thoughts of scoring his second and instead of skating to the center ice line before dumping the puck he decided to shoot for the open cage from his end. He ended up icing the puck meaning Montreal would have twelve seconds to possibly tie the game and send it to overtime. Cole Caufield would have the best chance for the Habs as he would skate into the slot looking to score but Toronto’s defense would block the attempt and time would run out and the Leafs would grind their way to a home opening victory winning this one 2-1.

After the game coach Sheldon Keefe praised the play of new Leaf David Kampf saying he was impressed with Kampf’s work on faceoffs especially during the five on three penalty kill and I would absolutely agree his play was great. I know when the Leafs signed him this summer many fans questioned the move because they looked at his point production and saw that it is no where to really be found. Trust me don’t look at those numbers when it comes to this player. Goals from Kampf are a bonus this guy was brought in to take part in important faceoffs in the defensive end of the rink. Kampf has a faceoff win percentage in the mid fifties, so this addition has a good chance at being a positive one for Toronto.

Well, that’s a wrap on this game Toronto is back in action Thursday night as they travel to the Nations Capital to play the Ottawa Senators and Leaf fans will get to see the regular season debut of Petr Mrazek as he will get the start in goal. It was mentioned after the win against Montreal that Ottawa’s Matt Murray may not be available for the Sens so it’s possible Anton Forsberg will start in Ottawa’s home opener.

Lastly, the right up for Thursday’s game will be available Friday afternoon/evening because I will be coaching my own game and will have to record the Leaf game and watch it in the morning.

 

Thanks, as always for reading