Toronto Maple Leafs Move into 1st Place in NHL

The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Ducks in overtime last night by a final score of 2-1.

Morgan Rielly scored the overtime winner on a feed from Mitch Marner, and with the subsequent two points the Toronto Maple Leafs have surpassed the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Nashville Predators to move into first place overall.

The Leafs overcame a wonky first period (the Ducks had 12 shots and a 56% possession rating) to put away one of the NHL’s worst teams.  Now, even though the Ducks are terrible, and the Leafs are the best, it’s still the NHL and that means that your third game in four nights as an eastern team on the West Coast is going to be  a tough one.

There’s a reason the Leafs haven’t swept the trip since 1995. (And not just because they sucked for the large majority of that time!!!).

1st Place for the Toronto Maple Leafs

One thing about last night’s game: Besides the top line (which did almost 70% and was insane) I thought Josh Leivo was great. He was all over the ice, he got a bunch of shots, and really think the Leafs can take great advantage by moving him up the lineup.

Kasperi Kapanen (almost 60% CF dangerous on every shift) and Jake Gardiner (57% CF, hardest matchups, led team in ice time 5v5, as usual) also had great games, but that’s almost to be expected at this point.

Jake Gardiner was actually pretty spectacular in this one.  He saved a goal, he did what he wanted with the puck all night, and there is no one in the NHL as cool and laid back as he is with the puck in the defensive zone.  The guy is total Fonzie.  Plus, he did something I’ve never seen before in my life:  he stopped the game while holding the puck, took off his glove and fixed his jock.  Who does that?

Overall, it was a bit of a lucky win, because I don’t know how many open nets the Ducks missed in the third period, but it was more than one.  And Nikata Zaitsev is going to be sore this morning, after saving a goal by stopping the puck with a part of his leg not usually used for such things.

I read after the game ( I forget where) that the Leafs haven’t been in first place this late in the season since 2004, which seems about right. If I’m not mistaken, that was the last season in which it was correct to consider the Toronto Maple Leafs a decent bet to win the Stanley Cup.

This year, they ought to be the heavy favorites, since they’re currently leading the NHL while posting zero loser points, and missing two of the best hockey players in the entire world from their roster.

First place.  The Toronto Maple Leafs are in first place.  It just rolls off the tongue.  It shouldn’t.  But it does.

I can’t believe I almost went this whole recap without mentioning Garret Sparks. He was pretty good I thought, but he’s gonna get burned on those big rebounds eventually.  Still, he almost had a shutout and he’s about 100% better than the back-ups the Leafs waived in training camp, so I don’t get what all the criticism is about.  People just gonna  complain, I guess!

stats from naturalstattrick.com