Toronto Maple Leafs Week 6 News and Notes, Stats and Quotes
By William Cann
MONTREAL, QC – FEBRUARY 10: Jesperi Kotkaniemi #15 and goaltender Carey Price #31 of the Montreal Canadiens react as Ilya Mikheyev #65 of the Toronto Maple Leafs (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images).
Game of the week: 5-3 win vs the Canadiens
The Toronto Maple Leafs were outplayed at 5v5 in this game, but brilliant performances by Andersen and Matthews, plus three power play goals, basically stole two points in enemy territory. The power play has been absolutely lethal, and with Andersen performing well, it’s a an easy recipe for success in the regular season. This has kept the Leafs rolling through injuries and is exactly what the team needs right now.
I should briefly mention the disallowed goal. This was similar to the goal that Thornton scored against Ottawa where he pushed Murray’s pad in the net. That goal was rightfully disallowed and so was this one. The puck was under Andersen’s pad and Kotkaniemi’s stick clearly pushed the pad as the puck crossed the goal line. We can argue whether or not we think this “should” be a goal, but the rules clearly state that is isn’t, you cannot push the goalie into the net. If you want that to be a goal, change the rule. The refs got the call right in both cases.
Along with the win, there was a very dramatic turn of events in the 3rd period that Leafs nation is bound to go crazy over. William Nylander was benched late in this game for not matching the teams defensive effort in the 3rd period. What?! Benched? Kudos to Keefe. Keefe has raised the bar for this team in terms of effort and accountability, so yeah, a guy got benched. I thought it was great. Nylander will be fine. The smoke will clear. There is no fire.
Now to my favorite part of the game. The hit (and possible elbow) that Muzzin threw on Anderson. Josh Anderson was on a mission in this game. He had 9 hits and was flying around the rink with reckless abandon, the guy looked like superman. And then…at 16:05 of the 3rd period…Muzzin crushes him.
Anderson was upset and wanted to fight Muzzin, thankfully Muzzin declined the invite, and I screamed at the TV…”YES!! They pushed back!”. Both guys went to the box, but the Leafs had some fight in them, and to me, that was the most important part of the entire game. No Simmonds? No problem. We have Muzzin.
I know the Leafs have to improve their 5v5 play if they want to have playoff success, but getting wins with a depleted lineup is the most important stat right now. They deserve credit for doing what they need to do in order to keep the wins coming.