It is safe to say that the Toronto Maple Leafs won that game in a matter that was extremely encouraging despite Detroit being the worst team in the NHL.
The Toronto Maple Leafs really dominated this game, putting up an incredible 64% Corsi-for. Puck possession is really something that the Toronto Maple Leafs are prioritizing more under Sheldon Keefe. (stats naturalstattrick.com).
Recently Money Puck.com added an amazing new feature to their site called the “deserved to win o’meter” which is a model that simulates the game based on the expected goals that have occurred, what is so amazing is the simulations are done live in real time.
The Leafs deserved to win 93.6% of the time over1000 simulations.
Historical Win
It’s a pretty good night when the Leafs PR account tweets (or re-tweets) three historical records in one game.
Sheldon Keefe became the first head coach in @MapleLeafs history to win each of his first three games of his NHL career. #NHLStats pic.twitter.com/rMpIjhHRAs
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) November 28, 2019
The first was Tyson Barrie being the first Toronto Maple Leafs defensemen ever to score a goal in three consecutive team games on the road.
The second consisted of, the Leafs 42 shots on goal through the first two periods marking only the fourth time in since 1965-66 that the club had recorded 40 or more shots after 40 minutes of play.
The last but not the least was Sheldon Keefe being the first head coach in Leafs history to win each of his first three games of his NHL career.
There were certain points in the game where as a fan of the other team you must of felt bad for the other team.
When an ill Jonathan Bernier was forced to take the crease after Jimmy Howard got injured, you almost feel like taking back the Tavares goal to make it more fair. I suppose no one could do anything about what happened with the goaltenders other than hope for a healthy recovery in the future.
To add on to the topic of goaltenders, I don’t believe this article would be complete without the mentioning of Andersen’s shutout, there was no point in this game where I was worried about losing this game, Freddy has be as steady as one can imagine. If I were handing out the game ball tonight I think it would have to go to Andersen, he played as perfect of a game as possible.
It is safe to say everyone on the team contributed as a net positive, yes even Cody Ceci.
Every member of Leafs nation should be feeling pretty positive after this game, for myself I bet I will watch this Nylander goal at least twenty times until the next game in Buffalo.
The Leafs have a lot of talent and there is so no limitations to what this team has the possibility of becoming, we just need to focus on making the playoffs for now which seem like far more of a possibility compared to a week ago.