Toronto Maple Leafs: A Game of Chances, Skid Snapped
The Toronto Maple Leafs had a good showing Wednesday night against the Anaheim Ducks.
After a tough loss to the San Jose Sharks on Monday night, the Toronto Maple Leafs really needed a win to end their three-game skid.
Mission accomplished.
Not long after I wrote that Frederik Andersen would turn things around did he perform well in San Jose and then doubled back for the game in Anaheim, but I won’t say I told you so.
Nevertheless, it must’ve been a nice win for him against his former team, I just wish the same could’ve been said for Patrick Marleau in his return to his old barn.
I’ll try and get back on topic now, did you watch that game last night?
Wow, was it ever fun to watch, there were chances all over the ice throughout the game, it was fast paced and well played from start to finish.
The West Coast road trip is never a fun one as all three California teams are pretty good, but going 1/2 isn’t bad to start, let’s just hope the Leafs can beat the LA Kings tonight.
Anyways, it’s time to take a look at the team statistical comparison.
Outlook
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That’s a game any coach would like, let alone Mike Babcock, as his players were defensively responsible, especially Auston Matthews, but we’ll get to him later.
Dominic Moore was a healthy scratch, giving room for some roster shuffling and some pretty strange lines, more so than we’re used to.
I like that Babcock put Marleau in as a center, though, and rotated around some of his wingers to take certain draws.
We knew coming into this season that it would take 20 games or so before Babcock would be content with his line makeup, expect more shuffling to continue.
And just to reiterate what I said above, Andersen played a heck of a game, made some big saves and played the puck well, he’s beginning to look very sharp.
Alright, without further ado, here’s the chart.
| Team | SOG | TFO% | PP | PIM | HITS | BLKS | GVA |
| Leafs | 29 | 43% | 0/2 | 8 | 20 | 14 | 17 |
| Ducks | 29 | 57% | 0/4 | 4 | 27 | 15 | 17 |
Shots were dead even and hits, blocks and giveaways were pretty close for both teams, but faceoffs and special teams is where things differ.
This is another rarer occasion where the Leafs didn’t win the majority of the draws, but then again, the Ducks have always been terrific at winning faceoffs.
The Leafs powerplay struggled again, but their penalty kill was on point, even without Moore and Roman Polak (healthy scratch) in the lineup.
Individual Statistics
Time for the points.
- Patrick Marleau: one goal, one assist
- Ron Hainsey: two assists
- Connor Brown: one goal
- Leo Komarov: one assist
- James van Riemsdyk: one assist
It probably goes without saying, but I think everyone had wished Marleau had that performance two nights prior against the Sharks, but oh whale (I’ll see myself out).
He’s on pace for over 30 goals, not bad.
Okay, what with the who now, Ron Hainsey had a multi-point game and has nine assists/points on the year, yikes.
Back to Matthews, his offense was there, nobody’s questioning how talented he is offensively, but that may have been his best defensive game to date, he’s just so good in every situation.
Last, but not least, Andersen stopped 28 of 29 shots, posting a Sv% .966, bringing his season totals to a .901 Sv% and a 3.25 GAA.
The latter of the two is coming down, don’t worry.