Reilly Nets Pair Against Rangers

 

After a week or so the blog is back after setting up a new monitor for my computer before I talk about last nights game against the Rangers there are some news and notes to cover for the readers. Since the four-game losing streak when things seemed to be all doom and gloom in Leaf land. Everyone knows that I vented some frustrations after the team lost 4-1 to Carolina but since that four-game skid this Leaf team has gone on quite the run that has seen them win nine of their last ten games heading into last nights matchup against the blue shirts from Broadway the New York Rangers. Tuesday night before the Leafs would shutout the Nashville Predators Kyle Dubas made a trade that might have caught fans by surprise as Kyle Clifford has returned to the Leafs organization in a trade with the St Louis Blues that would see the Leafs Offer Future Considerations in return. Now I can honestly say I do not know if this means that there could be a forward that is on his way out of Toronto but apparently the Leafs because they did not claim Clifford off Waivers can send him down to the Marlies or call him up to the big club without any waiver possibility, So I think for now Kyle Clifford is going to get some game action down at Coca Cola Coliseum as a member of the Toronto Marlies. Lastly also before Tuesday’s game former Leaf captain and in fact the longest captain since Mats Sundin for the Leafs Dion Phaneuf formally announced his retirement from the National Hockey League. Dion has not played a game for two years but chose to wait and officially announce his retirement as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs because he really enjoyed playing for Toronto despite his tenure would see the Leafs have some difficult and frustrating years. So obviously I would like to thank Dion for his time as captain of the Leafs and it will be interesting to see what is next for him as Dion stated he would like to continue in the game of hockey maybe as a scout and there is also a lot of speculation that he will likely end up as a member of the Leafs staff in some capacity.

All right now onto the game, last night the Leafs continued this short stint at home playing host to the New York Rangers in an original six matchup. Jack Campbell who has been phenomenal so far this season would get the start for the streaking Leafs and the visiting Rangers would look to Igor Shesterkin. This game would start out a little conservative and defensive minded as neither team seemed like they wanted to take any risks with fear of a mistake ending up in their goal. Although the game started a little sluggish the fans in attendance would only have to wait a few minutes to celebrate as while the puck would be behind the Rangers goal Michael Bunting would gather the puck and leave it for Wayne Simmonds who would work the puck back to the point and a waiting Morgan Reilly. Reilly would see some traffic gather in front of Shesterkin and his wrist shot had eyes as the puck would find its way by the glove of Igor Shesterkin and Morgan would collect his second goal of the season. With the Rangers trailing they would continue to work and search for a quick equalizer but when called upon Campbell was able to keep the door closed. Aside from the goal and the occasional save from Jack Campbell the opening period was for the most part quiet and after twenty minutes the host Leafs would head to the intermission up 1-0.

Period two would see the Leafs have some more jump as they would up the pressure with the hopes of adding to their lead, but Shesterkin would face some difficult chances from the likes of Matthews and Marner, but he would make some big saves keeping the score close. At the nine -minute mark the Maple Leafs would head to the man advantage as New York’s Dryden Hunt would trip Jason Spezza. The two-minute powerplay did not start out like the Leafs had planned as an attempted pass would skip over the stick of Auston Matthews sending the Rangers away on a shorthanded two on one rush but Kevin Rooney’s shot would end up in the glove of Jack Campbell. The Leafs would manage to score on this powerplay. New York would attempt to clear the zone but Auston Matthews would keep the puck in possession of Toronto, he would send a pass over to Reilly and Morgan seeing some open space would begin to walk in and fire another shot that would find its way by Shesterkin as the puck would slide between his legs and into the net for Reilly’s second of the night and the teams tenth powerplay goal in as many games and the Leafs lead would grow to 2-0. As everyone knows a 2-0 lead is the worst lead in hockey because teams do not know if they need to keep pressing for offense or can they sit back and defend and even though the Leaf lead was doubled the Rangers were beginning to collect some dangerous scoring chances because the middle of  the ice, the most dangerous part of the ice was left open by Toronto allowing New York to gain chances as mentioned but also gain confidence. Even though the Rangers were beginning to gain momentum the lead would remain 2-0 after forty minutes of play.

The Leafs in the final frame would put the pedal down but once again Shesterkin would continue to stand tall this time stopping Nick Ritchie and John Tavares. Before I go any further I have to mention that in my opinion although the production is not there so far from Ritchie, in this current hot streak the team is on his play has been fairly positive Nick has picked up a few assists, he has begun to throw his weight around and has even dropped the gloves recently sticking up for his teammates, and of course he has been collecting scoring chances and although he has not been able to net his first goal as a Leaf I honestly believe the levy is about to break and Nick Ritchie will find his name in the goal column very soon.

All right back to the game, After Shesterkin was able to stop the Leafs once again from scoring a third goal and likely putting the game out of reach it would be the Rangers who would finally get on the board cutting the lead in half just four minutes into the third as a Kaapo Kakko shot would be blocked but the puck would come all the way out to Dryden Hunt who would redeem himself for the tripping minor by scoring his first goal as a member of the Rangers. With the score now 2-1 Sheldon Keefe would call a timeout to settle his troops down but also prepare them for offensive push that the Rangers would soon bring. Midway through the third as expected the Rangers would press for the equalizing goal but thankfully for the Leafs and their fans Jack Campbell was ready for the Rangers attack and his first test would be stopping the overtime hero from the previous meeting Artemi Panarin on a clear-cut breakaway. Late in the period Panarin on a rush would pass to himself only to drop to puck back to Jacob Trouba but Campbell would catch the Trouba chance in his glove for a whistle and an opportunity to slow things down for the home team. The most dangerous chance for the trailing Rangers would come with the extra attacker when in the final seconds of regulation New York’s Ryan Strome would have what he thought was a sure goal on his stick, but his shot would go off the skate of defender Jake Muzzin sending the puck over the crossbar as time runs out and the final horn sounds.

 

After the game when speaking to the media Sheldon Keefe when asked if there were any teachable moments from the game, he mentioned the Panarin breakaway in the third period. Keefe believes the team needs to understand that although pressing for more offense is always a positive but at the same time the players on the ice need to be aware of the defensive side of the game as well and even though the breakaway chance was stopped on this occasion chances like that will not always work out in their favor.

Morgan Reilly in his post-game media conference was asked about the defensive play of the team recently and he talked about how it is a mindset and if you go into the game knowing that defensively you are going to face challenges a key thing is having confidence that the team will rise to the occasion when it is needed.

So with the Leafs winning this matchup 2-1 they have now won ten of their last eleven games and will now turn their focus to the Pittsburgh Penguins with the Leafs looking for redemption after that 7-1 drubbing they received earlier in the year but redemption won’t be easy as the Penguins who had lost their last three games ended their streak in convincing fashion shutting out Montreal Thursday night by a score of 6-0. So, Saturday night is going to be an interesting matchup when the Leafs finish their short stay at home playing host to Sidney Crosby and the Penguins.

 

Thanks, as always for reading,