The Leafs Dance with the Devils

 

Photo From San Diego Tribune 

Last night Toronto played the first of a quick three game homestand and it wasn’t an easy matchup because their opponents were the red-hot New Jersey Devils who coming into this game had won ten straight games. Matt Murray would once again get the start in goal for his first home start as a Leaf and he was looking to build off his first Leaf win against Pittsburgh the other night. For this write up I’m not going to break down all the goals because we all surely watched the game so instead, I am just going to give my thoughts on what I liked and didn’t like.

The first period saw both teams play a cautious style of hockey which honestly was fine with me because the Leafs can’t always play the run and gun style like we usually see from them and when facing Jersey with their speed and fire power games can get out of hand real fast. Toronto managed to establish zone time against their opponent and we have seen throughout the season when the Leafs are able to spend multiple shifts in their opponents end of the rink it is likely to bring the team something positive like a goal or a powerplay, last night the Leafs zone time would reward them a powerplay and Toronto would make no mistake because after a great series of passes Auston Matthews would score his 8^th goal of the season giving the Leafs the 1-0 lead. This goal by Matthews had some history attached to it as it would be his 141^st career goal at the Scotiabank Arena passing Mats Sundin on the all-time list. With Toronto scoring the very important first goal it looked as if their positive start would carry them into the first intermission but sadly turnovers would prove costly because just seconds later Justin Holl would try and send the puck up the boards with a pass that would be held into by the pinching Devils defender and Jesper Bratt would score his 7^th of the season tying the game at one. I know it’s easy for me to critic someone’s game when I have never played hockey and I am currently sitting with a keyboard in front of me, but Justin Holl simply needs to read the ice and know the situation. He simply could have just skated the puck forward to centre ice and dumped the puck into the Devils zone and Toronto could have gotten to work on the forecheck. I have criticized Holl’s game all season because instead of keeping his game quiet by making the simple play he usually tries to force a low percentage play that ends up in the back of Toronto’s net. Despite this turnover the Leafs played a decent period and were level after twenty minutes.

Period two gave fans a real glimpse of how talented this New Jersey team is, three minutes into the 2^nd period Jordie Benn would carry the puck into the offensive zone but would end up turning the puck over resulting in a 2 on 1 for Jersey that would lead to the go-ahead goal as Devils captain Nico Hischier would beat Murray with a perfect shot over his glove and right under the bar. I know fans probably thought Murray should have stopped the shot, but we need to give Nico credit that was a great shot that would have beaten many goalies in the league. After taking the lead we would see why they had won ten games in a row before visiting Toronto because they would begin to play a perfect defensive game shutting down the Leafs attempts on offense. Toronto would have a few powerplay opportunities, but the Devils made the necessary adjustments to their penalty killing and the Leafs would see each advantage expire with little to no attempts towards goal and because of the strong defensive play the Devils would maintain their lead after forty minutes of action.

The third period would begin and the Devils would be twenty minutes away from extending their current win streak, usually when a team has a lead they play a conservative style and just run the clock down but the Devils played the third period as if they were the ones trailing because they would be the ones forechecking and pressing for more goals but Matt Murray in just his third start of the season did a great job keeping the teams deficit at just one goal thanks to many calm saves where he would freeze play slowing things down allowing the Leafs to reset at the faceoff. Toronto did manage to have a few powerplays in this final period of regulation although despite some pressure Vitek Vanecek made some huge saves keeping his New Jersey Devils in the lead. As time was expiring it looked as if the Devils would come away with the 2-1 win but William Nylander had other plans because he would be skating down the wing, then his wrist shot would deflect off a New Jersey player and into the net for his 8^th goal of the season leveling the game at two when it looked as if Toronto wasn’t going to manage anything in the third. Regulation would expire and Toronto would prepare for the three-on-three overtime. Unfortunately, the overtime would last one minute as Mitch Marner would force a turnover and John Tavares instead of carrying the puck ahead tried passing back to Marner for a possible breakaway, this would cost Toronto as Jersey managed to keep the puck in the Toronto end allowing the Devils to score the overtime winner giving them the 3-2 win extending their streak to eleven games.

I know many fans are frustrated with the loss which I can understand because losing sucks obviously but, in all honesty, overall, I am happy with the result. In years past we would have seen Leaf teams get caved in and a game last night would have ended 5 or 6-1. Last night we saw a team who faced struggles offensively, but they didn’t fold and give up they kept pressing and searching for the tying goal. The fact that we saw our Leafs battle back to earn a point should be looked upon positively because any point your team gains in the standings brings them one step closer to the playoffs. It is a short sample size but since the 4-2 loss at the Hall of Fame game against Pittsburgh the Leafs have managed five out of a possible six points for a 5-1-2 record so far this month. If this was the Detroit Red Wings or the Ottawa Senators a 5-1-2 record for the month would be given all kinds of praise and compliments but because it’s the Toronto Maple Leafs for some reason it isn’t good enough.

A good reason this Leaf fanbase has such a bad reputation is because so many of them read articles from the news paper or online, or they watch the “insider” shows and hear a talking head give an outrageous take and the fan at home watching or reading thinks what they see or hear is truth. Trust me when I tell you people like Steve Simmons when it comes to hockey are like a brick wall, he and the wall don’t know a thing when it comes to hockey. Remember Simmonds and his Phil Kessel hot dog article? That was proven to be false, but it got traction because of how bizarre it was. Simmons isn’t the first Toronto reporter to report a false story remember Howard Berger? He was fired from sportsnet and the Fan 590 after reporting Jason Blake then with the Leafs having cancer before his family was even aware. Reporters like that don’t care about the human being they just want the story and the clicks on the article and so many Leaf fans feed into their game thinking what is written is truth. Honestly fans need to start using the eye test, sit and watch the games and the more hockey you watch the more you’ll learn on your own and then the more you will be able to determine on your own about what was good and bad from whatever team you support when watching them play.

Matt Murray despite the overtime loss was very good and gave Toronto a chance to get to overtime and we all know in overtime anything can happen. Sheldon Keefe I’m sure is happy with the single point but will want his team to clean up the turnovers. The Leafs will look to get back into the win column as we will see the first round in this season’s Battle of the QEW as the struggling Buffalo Sabres head to Toronto Saturday night as they look to snap their seven-game losing streak, and of course as Leaf fans we know all to well how frustrating games can be against Buffalo.

As usual Leaf fans thanks as always for reading.