Toronto Maple Leafs Win and Jake Gardiner Is Elite

The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the New York Rangers 8-5 last night.

A game like that is what you hope for every Saturday. Most NHL games are 2-1 or 3-2 and, as the regular season grinds on, some of those are pretty boring. So an 8-5 barn-burner is a blast. The Toronto Maple Leafs won, the game was highly entertaining, what more could you want?

Absolutely nothing.

But, if we’re going to analyze the game with an eye towards the Leafs becoming the best team in the NHL (and I’ve said before they aren’t far) there were certainly some concerns.

Like blowing a 4-1 lead in about 20 minutes.

And this comes back to penalties. Sure, the NHL is cracking down on a few things, so there are going to be more calls. However, that just means being disciplined is more important. The number-one, mathematically proven, most-important thing a team can do to win a hockey game is stay out of the box.

Last night, at 5v5 the Leafs outscored the Rangers 5-2. That is awesome. Not only is five regular-strength goals excellent, but so is only allowing two. The Leafs were 53% overall, and had 16 more scoring chances than the Rangers. They were dominant 5v5, but they took too many penalties (two PP goals against, and one delayed-penalty goal) and almost lost a game that, at one point, they had roughly a 99% chance of winning.

Jake Gardiner

Jake Gardiner led all players in ice time (5v5 and total) had a goal and assist and was the Leafs best player. He was 55%, and scored one of the nicest goals you’ll ever see, and probably the nicest of his career.

Back when everyone hated Gardiner as much as they currently hate Marincin, I used to write about how great and underappreciated he was. Now it’s quite possible that he’s one of the best defenseman in the NHL. I’ve argued before that he’s in the top 20 and after watching him for the first two games of the season, maybe he’s even better than that.

More from Editor In Leaf

Maybe the Leafs have their own Norris candidate and a #1 Dman after all.

After two games, he has three points (1-2-3), a 51% CF and he leads all Toronto Maple Leafs players in ice-time. He’s clearly the Leafs number-one dman, and at 27 years-old, looks primed to enter into the stratosphere occupied by the likes of Erik Karlsson and Victor Hedman. Now, maybe he’s not quite at that level (who is?) but if he continues to play like he has, we’re going to have to start talking about it.

Next: How Does Eichel's Contract Effect the Leafs?

Auston Matthews gets the press, but Jake Gardiner may very well be the Toronto Maple Leafs most important player.

stats from naturalstattrick.com

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