Game Two Does Not Go Well for the Toronto Maple Leafs

The Toronto Maple Leafs throw away an opportunity to spoil the home opener for the Ottawa Senators, losing 5-3 in a game that they probably should have won.

The first game in the back-to-back set wasn’t as thrilling as the Toronto Maple Leafs opening night against Montreal.  30 minutes in, after the Leafs controlled most of the play and were leading 2-1, I began to worry.

Something this team battled at times last year looked to be creeping into their game.  It’s a cliche.  All coaches preach it.  Play the game for 60 minutes.  Well, the Senators did just that, and overcame a 2-1 deficit to go up 1-0 in the battle of Ontario.

The start was on time

The Leafs were quick and competitive in the first.  The PP looked dominant.  Wayne Simmons and Zack Hyman wreaked havoc in front of the net.  You could see the emphasis on making it tough on the opposing goalie, the coaching staff has been preaching this and it was evident with the man advantage.  Hyman ended up with a nice baseball goal in front to score the first goal of the game.

There was one area of concern that continued from opening night, bad penalties.  Dermott took a slashing penalty (the 3rd bad minor for this pair in 4 periods), and they had too many men on the ice while on the PK late in the period.  The latter of which ended up in a Chabot goal on the PP before the buzzer to tie the game at 1 going into the intermission.  Not a good way to end the period.

Ottawa grabs the momentum

The Leafs absolutely dominated the first 10 minutes of the second period.  Kerfoot scored from the point, with Hyman again wreaking havoc in front for the screen, to put the Toronto Maple Leafs up 2-1.  You can really see the emphasis on getting to the blue paint.  Mikheyev was also cutting to the front of the net at the time of the shot.  This line of Kerfoot/Hyman/Mikheyev had some good moments in this game.

Then the Toronto Maple Leafs just stopped playing and the Senators did not.  Brady Tkachuk made it 2-2 with a tip in front off a Zaitsev shot from the point.  Brodie with soft coverage and a weak box out.

Austin Watson then snapped a shot by Freddie from the circle to make it 3-2 Sens.  Nick Paul won a puck battle against two Leafs along the boards (Rielly and Spezza) to set up the shot.  The Sens clearly had the momentum at this point.

Thornton then took a delayed penalty, and Chris Tierney scored during a scramble in the front of the net to put the Sens up 4-2.  Both Brodie and Rielly were again responsible for some loose coverage in front of Andersen.  Leafs get a PP opportunity late in the period but Spezza takes a tripping penalty that negates it and turns it into a 4 on 4.  Leafs go into the dressing room down 4-2 and I doubt Keefe had anything nice to say.

The 3rd period was more of the same.  The Leafs got a great opportunity on the PP early but didn’t generate much, giving even more momentum to the Sens.  Brodie then turned the puck over in the defensive zone and it resulted in Patirk Stefan making it 5-2 Sens.

Andersen had some good saves in the 3rd and seemed to track the puck well, and Tavares had a wicked wrist shot on the PP to make it 5-3, but it was all too little too late.

Important notes from the game

Tavares looked really good.  He had a ton of zip on his shot and was moving well.  He was a handful along the boards.  He’s off to a great start with 5 points in 2 games.

Matthews had two reverse-hits during the game to keep puck possession, and he drilled a Sens defenseman into the boards hard in the second period.  This development in his game began last season and it is continuing.  He is turning into an absolute beast.

Muzzin and Holl looked much better in this game.  They had more cohesiveness and were harder to play against.  Both posted a 55.9 CF% while getting heavy usage in the defensive zone (all stats from hockey-reference.com).  Really impressive.

Rielly and Brodie were not good.  Brodie especially had the worst chance differential on the team and was a main part of weak coverage in front of Andersen on two of Ottawa’s goals.  This tandem got a lot of starts in the offensive zone as well.  Just a poor performance here and one to flush in the toilet.  Brodie is going to have some struggles early on as he gets acclimated to his new team.  Honestly, I’m not worried about Brodie.  I don’t expect this to happen very often.

Dermott and Bogosian were relatively invisible most of the night.  Dermott looks fast and isn’t out of place very often, which is a good thing, but the bad penalties for this tandem continue to add up in the early going.  They are just not on the ice often enough, or against good enough competition, to justify taking 3 unwarranted minors in the first 2 games.

Freddie Andersen looked mediocre.  He doesn’t look horrible to me but he is definitely fighting it early on, which unfortunately seems to be a consistent trend for him.  Hopefully he finds his rhythm soon.  We need him.

Post-game press conference

Keefe didn’t look happy.  It’s just a guess, but he was probably nicer to the media than he was to his own team. It’s only two games into the season so I’m not going to panic about this performance, we can flush this game and get ready for tomorrow.

I expect a good response Saturday night.  This team has much more veteran leadership than last year’s team, and Keefe seems much more committed to a higher level of accountability.  The rust has been evident with a lot of new faces and a very short camp, but there are signs of good things to come.  The Toronto Maple Leafs are going to be a great team.  Dial it up boys.  Go get ’em.