Leafs Top Sens as Murray is Sidelined

 

Photo From Editor in Leaf

Saturday got off to a frustrating as the Leafs announced that Matt Murray would be placed on Long Term Injury Reserve for a minimum of 4 weeks. This news is without a doubt very frustrating for Matt Murray as he was slated to play his former team the Ottawa Senators. For the next few weeks at least the goalie tandem will be Ilya Samsonov and Erik Kallgren for the Leafs. After falling the other night to the Sabres Anton Forsberg and his Sens would visit Scotiabank Arena with the hopes of getting their first win of the young season while Toronto would hand the starting role to Ilya Samsonov Saturday who picked up his first win as a Maple Leaf Thursday.

The opening period saw the two rivals battling for control of the game, but it would be the hometown Leafs off to a decent start testing Forsberg early, but he would make some big saves to keep the game scoreless. Penalties have been a concern for the Maple Leafs the first few games of this young season and eight minutes into this contest Mitch Marner would be sent off for holding. Toronto’s penalty killing unit has been pretty reliable early on but unfortunately Ottawa would find the back of the net with this man advantage as the Sens would do a nice job moving the puck around the Leafs zone and Claude Giroux would send a pass to Shane Pinto who was at the left circle whose wrist shot would find a way through Samsonov for Pinto’s first goal of the season, and just prior to the midway point of the first period the Leafs would find themselves trailing for the third consecutive game.

So, with the Leafs trailing they would look to solve Forsberg while the Sens to their credit did a great job making things difficult for the Leafs as they found it challenging at times to enter the Ottawa zone and then once they were able to occasionally enter Forsberg would make a nice save keeping the Sens in the lead. Late in the opening period the Leafs would be pressing once again trying to get on the board but a clearance by an Ottawa defender was sent over the glass and out of play, now I am the biggest critic of the Delay of Game penalty but it’s a penalty and with four officials on the ice they some how missed the penalty. I understand that the officials don’t have the benefit of instant replay like those in the arena or watching at home but with four men in striped jerseys on the ice I find it very difficult to believe how no one could see that the clearance went directly out of play. Despite the frustration over the missed penalty Toronto would continue to search for the tying goal but despite out shooting their opponent the Leafs would head into the first intermission trailing 1-0.

The second period would begin with Toronto continuing to apply pressure but once again Forsberg’s strong play in goal continued, the Leafs though would see their high-quality chances pile upas Nylander and Marner would see shots beat Anton Forsberg but ring off the post. The Leafs would head to the man advantage seven minutes into period two as Tim Stutzle would be called for Hooking. Toronto’s first powerplay would go the entire two minutes without registering a shot on goal and little to no zone time and because of the teams struggles we would hear some boos coming from the audience. I found this surprising because even though they were losing the Leafs were in my opinion beginning to build momentum in this game as their scoring chances were piling up and their zone time was becoming more and more. As time was winding down in the middle frame it looked as if the Leafs would go into the second period break continuing to trail but in the dying seconds Toronto had other plans. The Leafs would enter the zone with Muzzin and Jarnkrok quickly moving the puck back and forth hoping for an open lane. Usually in a situation like this you would see the defenseman rush a shot that would normally end up being blocked but this time we would see Jake Muzzin show great patience before sending a shot towards David Kampf who would deflect the puck by Forsberg for his first goal of the season bringing some much needed energy into the building and a needed spark to the Leafs as they headed into the intermission tied at ones.

During the intermission online I saw fans still feeling a little frustrated over the teams play but fans need to understand that this can’t play flashy highlight reel hockey every single night, games aren’t going to be easy sometimes when your best effort isn’t there good teams find ways to win and tonight’s game was a good example of that. Of course, we would like every game to be an easy convincing win, but the NHL is an elite league, and every opponent is going to bring a different challenge and if the Leafs can win games with a gritty effort now and then I think we can all agree we would be very happy with it.

The two teams would begin the final twenty minutes with the score tied at one, but the late Kampf goal combined with strong play in goal from Samsonov the Leafs would have some nice energy as they looked for their first lead of the contest. As time was running down in the third and anxiety was continuing to grow Toronto would head to the powerplay for the second time thanks to a Parker Kelly interference minor. As the Leafs tried to set things up in the Ottawa zone the Sens would gather possession and it looked as if they would clear the zone forcing the Leafs to reset and attempt another attack. Mitch Marner though would cover the point allowing the Leafs to continue their search for the lead. Marner’s great play at the point would allow Tavares to chip the puck down low to Auston Matthews, he would quickly center the puck to a wide-open William Nylander and Willy would make no mistake firing a shot over the glove of Forsberg and with his second goal of the season the Leafs would lead this game 2-1. With their assists on the Nylander goal John Tavares and Auston Matthews each get a little closer to a milestone as Tavares is sitting at 898 career points needing just two more to reach 900 career points and last years MVP Matthews is just one assist away from 200 in his career.

Toronto’s lead would be short lived because less than two minutes later the game would once again be tied. Ottawa would win a faceoff in the Leafs end, and it would turn into a wild scramble after a centering pass from Alex Debrincat the puck would be lose in a crowd in front of Samsonov and while he thought he had the puck under him Claude Giroux would poke the puck in at the side of the net for his first goal as a member of the Sens tying the score at 2-2.

Both teams would now search for what would likely be the winning goal with just a few minutes left in the game and we thankfully wouldn’t have to wait long because with just under two minutes remaining in period three. Mitch Marner would have the puck at the half wall before dropping the puck off to Justin Holl who would dive the net before passing it off to Michael Bunting. His backhand attempt would be stopped by Forsberg, but the rebound would be chipped in by Holl for his first goal of the season and Toronto would lead this game 3-2. The remaining one minute and fifty seconds would expire, and the Toronto Maple Leafs would win a hard-fought contest and Samsonov would pick up his second win of the young season.

Like I said this game may not have been flashy and fancy like some wins have been in seasons passed but any time your team can pick up points in the standings that is always a positive. Toronto will now have Sunday off before returning to action Monday night as they host the rebuilding Arizona Coyotes who last season frustrated the Leafs beating them in both meetings.

One last thing before wrapping this one up during the second intermission of the Oilers and Flames game on Hockey Night in Canada Elliott Freidman announced that with the Leafs sudden cap space that the Leafs had called up Nick Robertson from the Marlies. Nick who played Saturday afternoon in the Marlies home opener scored a powerplay goal in a 3-1 win over the Rochester Americans. So, Monday night against Arizona has the potential to be an interesting game until then that’s all for now thanks as always for reading.