Leafs Perfect Against Penguins

 

Photo From Fox News

Last night the Maple Leafs returned home after a trip out west that saw Toronto pick up one win out of three games for a meeting with the Penguins who had won four straight games heading into this matchup. The two previous meetings between the Leafs and Penguins didn’t favor the Leafs as they lost both games by a combined score of 9-1 so it was understandable if Leaf fans were a little skeptic heading into last night’s game. Jack Campbell would once again get the start in goal and for the visiting Penguins Tristian Jarry would be in goal. Also, last night there were roughly 10,000 people and even though the Scotiabank Arena was only half full it was great having an atmosphere back in the arena. Usually when a team returns from a western trip teams have a habit of being sluggish, but all concerns were erased instantly because twenty seconds into the action the Leafs would open the scoring. When clearing the zone TJ Brodie would send a stretch pass to Auston Matthews who was in all alone and his wrist shot would beat Jarry blocker side thanks to Auston’s 33^rd goal of the season the Leafs would have the 1-0 lead. The Leafs would continue their strong start by peppering Jarry with many dangerous opportunities but to his credit he rose to the occasion and managed to shut the door keeping the Penguins deficit from getting any worse. The Pens had a few high-quality chances of their own as Jack Campbell would be tested by one time teammate Jeff Carter would have a breakaway, but Campbell would turn him aside with a pad save. Late in the opening period Jack Campbell would be tested once again and this time it would be Jake Guentzel and Sidney Crosby teaming up, Now Sid had scored his 500^th career goal earlier this week and any fan knows he is always a threat when he has the puck but thankfully on this attempt Guentzel would take the shot which Jack would turn aside giving fans in attendance to show their appreciation with their infamous “Soup” chants. Thanks to a strong start and solid goaltending the Leafs would head into the first intermission with the 1-0 advantage.

Photo From Leafs Nation 

In the first intermission the Maple Leafs unveiled their jersey for the Heritage Classic game against Buffalo which will be played in Hamilton at Tim Horton’s Field in March. Simply put I love the jersey the team decided to honor their history by wearing the jersey from their inaugural season when they were known as the Toronto Arenas playing out of the Mutual Street Arena. The jersey is simple with a dark blue base and a solid white T for the crest and bold white lettering on the back. I am such a fan of these jersey’s that I ordered a Jack Campbell one this morning and can’t wait for it to arrive.

The second period would see both teams show off their special teams play, early in the period Toronto would head to their second powerplay as Ondrej Kase would draw a holding powerplay. The Leafs had a powerplay opportunity in the first period and despite some great pressure Toronto was unable to find the back of the net. This time Morgan Rielly took matters into his own hands and went coast to coast with the puck and would fire the puck off the post and in beating Jarry on the glove side doubling the Leafs lead 2-0 with his 6^th goal of the season. You would think teams around the league would know you shouldn’t let Toronto and their league leading powerplay hit the ice by now, but I guess teams are having a hard time learning. After this powerplay goal, the Leafs would find themselves shorthanded with three straight minors. The Leafs and their penalty killing were put to the test but would wind up being successful on every Penguins power play in fact late in the second period with Alex Kerfoot serving a minor the Leafs would find the back of the net while shorthanded. David Kampf would force a turnover at center ice that Morgan Rielly would collect and take off on a break away and instead of taking a shot on goal he would pass to David Kampf who showed great patience and would slide the puck around Tristian Jarry for his 7^th goal of the year. This goal would also mark the first time the same player scored a shorthanded goal for the Leafs in back-to-back games, the last player to do this was Tyler Bozak who accomplished this eight years ago. The Leafs after forty minutes of play would lead this game 3-0 and Jack Campbell too this point was doing a fantastic job in goal.

In the final period with the game well in hand for Toronto I’m sure fans watching this game were hoping that Jack Campbell would come away from this game with a shutout but three minutes into the final frame those hopes would be dashed as Evgeni Malkin would finally get the Penguins on the board. Jeff Carter would enter the Leaf zone with a nice display of skill he would drop a pass to Malkin who would see his original shot stopped but he would gather his own rebound and score his 6^th goal of the season. Toronto would hit the reset button and get right back to work and just a few minutes later they would have a response for the Pittsburgh goal. Mitch Marner would enter the Penguins zone and send a pass to the far side where Auston Matthews would be waiting he would then quickly center the puck to Michael Bunting who would beat Jarry with a backhand shot for his 16^th goal of the season giving the Leafs a 4-1 lead. Now on the broadcast Chris Cuthbert mentioned that Michael Bunting is leading all NHL Rookies in goals, I will admit I was and still am very confused as to how Bunting can still be considered a rookie when this is his third season with 73 games under his belt but honestly if there’s a chance where a Leaf player can pick up some hardware I am all for it I just hope he wins the Calder Trophy after the Leafs have a deep playoff run. Toronto would find themselves shorthanded in the third but would once again kill it off and regulation would expire with the Leafs return home a successful one as the Leafs would win 4-1. They will now have Friday off before Saturday’s meeting with St Louis on Hockey Night in Canada.

Photo From Toronto Star

Lastly, I want to give a well-deserved congratulations to Canada’s women’s team who late Wednesday night beat their rival Americans in a thrilling 3-2 victory resulting in Canada winning the countries 5^th Olympic Title all time, and it likely won’t come as a surprise when I say that captain Marie Philip Poulin scored two goals in the gold medal game. I said it in my write up after the win against Carolina, but women’s hockey belongs in the Olympics and this tournament showed us that the game is getting better and better every year. With arena’s once again allowing fans take a look at their schedule of the Toronto 6ix and take the family out to some exciting NWHL action, but if you’re someone like me who can’t drive to a game you can watch their games for free on Twitch and trust me their games are worth checking out and please do your part in helping the women’s game grow because if more and more people tune in or buy a ticket more companies will invest money into developing the league bringing more and more exposure to the sport.

 

Thanks as always for reading. 

Quick Update:

As I was writing this the Leafs announced they have signed 19 year old Russian Forward Dmitry Ovchinnikov to an entry level deal that will be affective this season where he will join the Marlies once his Canadian Work Permit is approved. In 22 games has registered 13 goals and 16 assists for 29 points with Sibirskie Snaipery Novosibirisk of the MHL, a Russian Junior League.