CON: Morgan Rielly and Ron Hainsey
Morgan Rielly might have just had two of his worst games of his season. It is tough to pinpoint what has gone wrong with Rielly at even strength, although the play of Ron Hainsey is the most likely cause. Rielly sas been on for five goals in two games (most out of any Leaf) when playing 5v5. In addition, he currently ranks last among Leafs in both shot differential and expected goals against at even strength.
Below are the goals that Rielly has been on the ice for.
Hard to blame Rielly here. Although he loses the race to the puck, he stays with Bergeron and takes him out of the shooting lane. Plekanec is late (twice) when getting to Pastrnak who is sitting comfortably in the slot. It’s a mini three on four that goes horribly wrong for the Leafs.
An unlucky bounce off the post leads to Kurally batting the puck into the goal. Rielly could have done a better job staying with Kurally but it is an incredibly fortuitous bounce for the Bruins.
Once again, a mini 3 on 4 goes horribly for the Leafs. Marchand somehow gets a pass through both Marner and Nylander, Rielly sluggishly challenges Pastrnak then Hainsey completely ignores Krejci going to the net. It is a fast, precise tic-tac-toe from the Bruins, but one that the Leafs should have prevented.
Rielly turns the puck over in the neutral zone which leads to a giant mess. Pastrnak gets his second. The Leafs are down three here and willing to be riskier, so hard to blame anyone here.
Here, Rielly elects to throw the puck up to open space. Unfortunately, it lands on a Bruins stick. He then instinctively attempts to break up Bergeron’s pass along the boards which allows Pastrnak to freely skate to the front of the net. Matthews and Marleau probably should have done a better job helping their defensemen here. Once again, a mini three on four goes horribly for the Leafs.
