Leafs Win Next Gen Game

 

Photo From TSN

Thursday afternoon the Maple Leafs were in action hosting the struggling Philadelphia Flyers and the building was full of kids on Christmas break excited to watch their favorite Leaf players up close. Ilya Samsonov would get the start in goal for Toronto as he would be looking to rebound from losing his last start in Washington. For the Flyers Carter Hart would be in goal and his numbers despite the Flyers struggles he has maintained a save percentage above .900%, so it looks as if Hart is turning into the goalie the Flyers and their fans had hoped he was going to be.

The Leafs didn’t get off to the greatest of starts because just three minutes into the first Toronto would find themselves shorthanded as Nylander would be called for tripping. The Leafs while shorthanded would end up with a breakaway but Mitch Marner would see Carter Hart make the big save. The Flyers would then make their way into Toronto’s end, Philly would set up their power play and Tony DeAngelo would beat a screened Samsonov for his 5^th goal of the season giving the Flyers the early 1-0 advantage. The Leafs although trailing in the game would settle down and begin to take control of the contest. The Leafs would see the shots weigh heavily in their favor, but Carter Hart would do a great job turning every Leafs attempt aside.  The first period would end with the Flyers leading 1-0 but the Leafs leading 11-3 in shots.

 

The second period would see the Leafs continue to dominate with wave after wave of pressure once again piling up countless scoring opportunities, but they would all continue to be turned aside by Hart. Late in the second period with momentum fully in Toronto’s favor they would be outshooting their opponent 15-5 in the second frame but were still unable to break the goose egg on the scoreboard. However, with just four minutes remaining in the second the Leafs would head to the powerplay where Toronto would finally solve Carter Hart and find the back of the net. Unfortunately for the Leafs they would be unable to score with the man advantage but just as it expired Calle Jarnkrok would deflect a Mitch Marner shot giving Calle six goals on the season. As we are all aware Marner saw his 23-game point streak recently come to an end although with his primary assist, he extended his home game point streak extend to 14 games. Late in the second Toronto would once again be on the powerplay as the Flyers would be called for interference. The Leafs this time around would find the back of the net with their powerplay as William Nylander would set up Mitch Marner for his 13^th goal of the season. This is a goal that Hart would like back because he managed to get a piece of the Marner shot with his pad, but the puck would bounce up and over and slide into the net.

 

The Leafs would begin the final period with a 2-1 lead which probably had Leaf fans breathing a little easier than they were after the first twenty minutes. The kids in attendance wouldn’t have to wait long before getting to celebrate again. William Nylander would send a quick pass up to Auston Matthews and with everyone expecting him to shoot he decided to set up Michael Bunting who would score his 9^th goal of the season giving Bunting twelve points in the last thirteen games. The Leafs who are now playing with a two-goal cushion would continue their strong play and midway through period three they would add to their lead once again. Justin Holl would send the puck down low to Mark Giordano who would quickly center a pass to William Nylander who would beat Carter Hart with a backhand shot for his 20^th goal of the season and his third point of the afternoon. With Toronto now leading the game 4-1 I am sure everyone in attendance and everyone watching at home thought this game was all wrapped up and the Leafs would just coast to victory, but the Flyers had other plans because in the span of two minutes Philadelphia would manage to cut the Leafs lead to one. First Morgan Frost would begin the Flyers comeback by beating Samsonov between the pads for his 7^th goal of the season and then just one minute later Joel Farabee would score his 6^th goal of the season beating Samsonov from the slot which is a goal that Ilya would usually stop.

 

So, with the game within reach for the Flyers and plenty of time left in regulation the visitors would begin to really press for the equalizing goal and shortly after the Flyers scored their third goal there was a heart stopping moment for Leaf fans. Travis Konecny would be looking at a wide-open net, but Auston Matthews would manage to tie up Travis’s sticking forcing his attempt on goal to go wide keeping Toronto’s lead intact. We have heard throughout this season about how Matthews isn’t producing at the level he was last season, and no kidding not many players reach the 60-goal total. At this current pace Auston Matthews is on the verge of a 50-goal season but we need to put more of our focus on his defensive play. Everyone knows if you can make an impact on both the offensive and defensive side of the puck the chances are you are going to have a long and successful career and Patrice Bergeron of the Boston Bruins is the perfect example of this. Auston has worked on the defensive side of his game a great deal and we have seen the results because more and more we have seen Matthews coming back breaking plays up or quickly taking the puck from the opponent allowing the Leafs to go onto the attack.

 

Despite the late push by the Flyers Toronto would manage to hang on and win this game 4-3 sending the kids home happy. This win would be the 9^th straight home win for Ilya matching a Franchise Record set by Bruce Gamble who backstopped the Leafs and set the record in the 67-68 season. Ilya Samsonov in his post-game conference said he wasn’t too happy with his play in his last few starts and said he will use the Christmas break to reset and come back stronger. Toronto returns to action on Tuesday when they begin a three-game road trip in St Louis to close out 2022 so Samsonov will have to wait untill the first week of January to hopefully set a new home winning streak by a Leafs netminder.

 

So, with the Holidays in full swing to everyone all over the world who supports this blog, and honestly some of the countries that I get views from simply blow my mind but a massive thank you goes out to everyone, but also have a safe and happy holiday. For those who have access to it enjoy the World Junior Championships and Spengler Cup beginning on December 26^th. I won’t be doing write ups for the Canada games because the Leafs will be on during some of the games, but I will be posting results for both Canada at the Juniors and at the Spengler Cup on my Facebook.

 

Thanks as always for reading,