The Ducks Weren't So Mighty

 

After coming off a dominate performance Friday night that saw the Leafs pick up a win in the shark tank the Toronto Maple Leafs would close out their California trip Sunday night in Anaheim facing the likes of Ryan Getzlaf and World Juniors standout Trevor Zegras and the uprising Ducks. Jack Campbell would get the start in goal for the Leafs and John Gibson would get the start in goal for Anaheim.

Now, in the three earlier games of this four-game road trip the Leafs would “start on time” as coaches say but last night against the Ducks the first period was a little different. It would be the Ducks playing with skill and speed controlling the play and thanks to some strong play in goal the Leafs were able to keep the game scoreless. Although things looked a little challenging as Toronto would give up high quality chances and be heavily outshot in the early part of the opening period. When it looked as if the Leafs were going to be in for a long night Toronto would manage to settle in find their footing and slowly take over the game and after twenty minutes despite being outshot teams would head into the intermission with the game goalless.

 

The second period would see the Leafs play the way fans were familiar with in their current hot streak as the Leafs would spend more time in the Ducks zone allowing the group to gain momentum. This game against the Ducks would also be the 1200^th in the career of Jason Spezza and unfortunately, he would celebrate the occasion by taking a two-minute minor just prior to the midway point of the second period. The Leafs would manage to kill off the Spezza minor despite the Ducks having a top ten powerplay, and just a few minutes after the successful penalty kill the visitors would open the scoring. Michael Bunting would have the puck in the slot but would end up passing it to the point where Brodie would send an attempt towards goal that Auston Matthews would manage to tip in and collect his tenth goal of this season giving the Leafs the well deserved 1-0 lead. After this goal the Leafs would look to add to their lead but first, they would have to deal with a quick sequence by the Ducks that Campbell was able to turn aside. One thing we have seen from this Leaf team is that they like to run and gun and are very quick on the transition and this second goal was a fitting example of that. After the Campbell save Jake Muzzin would gather the puck and look up ice to see Marner streaking down the wing. Mitch would receive the pass and would have all the Duck defenders focus on him leaving Bunting all alone on the opposite wing. Seeing his linemate all alone Mitch would send a pass over to Bunting who would send the puck into a wide-open cage for his sixth goal of the season and Toronto’s lead would grow to 2-0. The remainder of the period would turn into somewhat of a goalie duel as both netminder’s would match each other save for save as Gibson would rob both Nylander and Ritchie who each had chances on the Ducks doorstep and the Ducks would see chances of their own turned aside as Adam Henrique would see his wrap around stopped after Campbell went post to post and then Josh Manson would step into a slap shot from the point that Jack Campbell would send into the netting stopping play. The horn would sound, and the Leafs would carry a 2-0 advantage with them into the second intermission and the game well in hand.

 

The final frame started with a bang as on the first shift and just thirteen seconds in Toronto would find their third goal of the evening as after a won puck battle by John Tavares he would send the puck into the slot to William Nylander and instead of shooting Nylander would make another pass to Alex Kerfoot who was by himself at the right faceoff circle and his shot would find the back of the net beating Gibson on the short side. Kerfoot’s fourth goal would see Tavares collecting his eleventh assist of the season adding to his team leading total and in my opinion Tavares along with a few other Leafs have to be in heavy consideration for the Canadian Olympic team in Beijing which in my opinion the NHL will send their players despite CTV News reporting that Canada and the NHL are considering a boycott over Covid and the Human Rights issues in China. Politics aside honestly Tavares so far this season has played great for Toronto which has surely put fans at ease when everyone was wondering how he would perform after the horrific injury suffered in the post season against Montreal.

With Toronto now ahead 3-0 their strong play would continue, and it would lead to their first and only powerplay of the game as Wayne Simmonds would draw a hooking penalty sending Trevor Zegras to the box. The Leafs would be unable to score on the powerplay as their few attempts would ring off a post and crossbar but overall, they still had to be satisfied with their performance. Anaheim would have a great chance to get on the board as Zegras who earlier saw his breakaway chance turned aside by Campbell would once again have a terrific opportunity as he would walk in from the point only to see his wrist shot kicked aside by the Toronto netminder. Jack Campbell’s bid for yet another shutout this season would come to an end when seven and a half minutes into the third Anaheim would finally light the lamp as Ryan Getzlaf would send a shot on goal that would be gathered by Hampus Lindholm and he would slide the puck under Campbell and into the net cutting the Leaf lead to 3-1 with just his second goal of the season. With the Ducks finally on the board they would try to apply more pressure with the hopes of climbing back into this contest but with Toronto’s strong defensive play combined with the consistent play by Jack Campbell in net the Leafs would manage to keep the Ducks from inching any closer in the game. Toronto would put the game out of reach as Anaheim would pull their goalie to play with an extra attacker William Nylander and Alex Kerfoot would counterattack on a two on one breakaway where the two would finish off a passing play when Nylander would send the puck into the open net collecting his ninth goal of the season and second point on the evening. Less then one minute later Wayne Simmonds would get in on the scoring fun as the play would start with Simmonds on the fore check and after gaining possession Pierre Engvall would see his shot attempt stopped but the rebound would be collected by Wayne Simmonds who would score on the rebound registering his third goal of the year and Anaheim’s night would go from bad to absolutely terrible as the Leafs would go on and win this game by a score of 5-1.

 

Toronto has now won the most games in any month in Franchise history finishing November with twelve wins in the month a record of 12-2 overall and collecting seven road wins on the road their most since the 2002-2003 season. Also, one thing I want to mention is this Leafs team is finally turning the corner in my opinion and I do not mean with their play on the ice that speaks for itself, but I am talking about their mindset as a team. William Nylander when speaking to reporter Luke Fox mentioned that in the past if the team were a positive run like they are currently they would sometimes take their foot off the gas and take nights off and now that can not happen anymore. It is one thing for the veterans like Muzzin or Spezza to say that but for a young member of the team in this case Nylander to say that to me it shows that the core of the team is finally buying into the mindset of playing a complete game every night because that is what translates into playoff success. I know it is still early and there are still plenty of games left in the season but for me this is an incredibly positive sign in the mentality of this Leafs team.

Toronto returns to action Wednesday night when they host a familiar friend in Nazem Kadri and the Colorado Avalanche. That is all for this write up thanks as always for reading.