It Wasn't Toronto's Knight

 

Photo From San Diego Tribune

After returning from Carolina capping off a well-deserved four-point weekend Toronto was back in action against the leagues best Vegas Golden Knights, Erik Kallgren would once again be in goal for the Leafs and Logan Thompson would be in goal for Vegas who had won seven games in a row prior to last night.

Things didn’t get off to the greatest of starts because Rasmus Sandin while trying to send the puck ahead ended coughing up a turnover that would end up in the Leafs net and just 45 seconds into the game Nicolas Roy would score his 4^th goal of the season. With Toronto trailing 1-0 they would hit the reset button and respond because the Leafs would begin to pressure the Knights in their end and five minutes into the opening period Toronto would find themselves level as David Kampf’s centering pass to Timothy Liljegren would find the net for his first goal of the season. With the game tied Toronto would begin searching for the go-ahead goal but Logan Thompson would shut the door every time Toronto had an attempt on goal.  Late in the first turnovers would cost the Leafs again as this time Leaf goal scorer Timothy Liljegren would cough up the puck leading to a two on one that Jack Eichel would finish off for his 6^th goal of the season and after twenty minutes Toronto would head into the first intermission trailing 2-1.

Period two we fans would see an entirely different Leafs team there were points in this frame where Toronto absolutely dominated their opponent, and they would take complete control of the game but for the first half of the second they were unable to find the equalizing goal they were searching for. However, late in period two the Leafs would tie the score once again as Auston Matthews was in a board battle, Mitch Marner would come over in support and end up coming away with possession. Mitch would then show his great hands by stick handling his way through the Vegas defense before beating Thompson glove side for his third goal of the season finishing off a fantastic shift by our Toronto Maple Leafs. The Leafs would take the lead for the first time in the contest just a few minutes later and we would see another dominate shift by Toronto as they would manage to keep the Vegas defenders on the ice for two whole minutes and Mitch Marner would pull off an unbelievable no look pass to Liljegren whose snapshot would beat Thompson on the blocker side for his second goal of the evening and the Leafs would have the lead for the first as the second intermission would approach leaving the Leafs twenty minutes away from victory.

Period three would see Vegas obviously push for their third goal of the game because the Knights were twenty minutes away from their seven-game winning streak ending. For the first half of the third period saw the Leafs Weathering the Knights attack thanks to strong defensive play combined with strong play in net from Kallgren. Midway through the period the Leafs would head to the powerplay after Michael Amadio would get called for holding giving Toronto a great opportunity to put last nights game to rest. On the powerplay Toronto would be moving the puck around the zone looking for a shot lane towards goal, unfortunately there would be an unlucky bounce forcing William Nylander to try and keep the puck in the zone. Doing this would end up slowing the puck down allowing Vegas to go in on yet another odd man rush and Riley Smith would score his 6^th goal of the season leveling the game at 3-3. The remainder of regulation would see both teams have chances to find the winning goal but both Erik Kallgren and Logan Thompson would stand tall, and we would see the 3-3 tie intact as the final horn sounded meaning overtime would be needed. The overtime session would last just twenty-three seconds when Riley Smith would capitalize on an exhausted Mitch Marner turnover where Smith would beat Kallgren with a breakaway goal giving Vegas would come away with a 4-3 win their first win in Toronto and their eighth consecutive win thus far.

During one of the intermissions Timothy Liljegren was interviewed and said he felt this was one of his worst games. After the game online I saw many fans wondering what Liljegren was talking about because he finished with two goals. It’s simple remember he’s a defenseman goals from the blueline are a bonus their priority is defense and Liljegren struggled in that aspect of the game but in just his third game back showed accountability recognizing his pour play which means this weekend we will likely see him bounce back Friday and again Saturday. Also, in his postgame media conference Sheldon Keefe said the Leafs will indeed get there but they need to learn how to finish games. Hearing him say this, this early in the season is great if you are a Leaf fan because he is trying to instill a playoff mindset with the group. All last year we heard Keefe and the team talk about how they needed to go to the net score playoff style goals to win playoff style games and for majority of the season we saw the Leafs play that style of hockey allowing them to finish with 115 points in the regular season setting a new franchise best. So last night hearing Keefe say the team needs to learn how to close out games is great because he knows that is what cup contending teams do and if this Leaf team wants to be respected and if they want to go deep in the post season, they need to learn how to close out games. Last night the Leafs managed to grab control of the game but couldn’t put it to bed because Vegas managed to capitalize on every opportunity given to them by the Leaf turnovers.

The Leafs of course will take the single point from last night’s game because one point is better than no points and every point you pick up brings you one step closer to the post season, the Leafs have Wednesday and Thursday off before entering another back-to-back weekend as they host Pittsburgh Friday night for the Hall of Fame game and then Saturday, they host the Vancouver Canucks. There likely won’t be write ups for this weekend’s games because Friday I am out watching a game with kids I once coached and then Saturday I will be watching the game against the Canucks live.

 

That’s all for this one thanks as always for reading.