The entire roster of the Toronto Maple Leafs had the chance to punch Jonathan Toews in the face, and amazingly, they all passed up the opportunity.
Other than that though, it was a great game for the Toronto Maple Leafs who overcame some continued bad shooting luck to beat the league’s worst team.
A pessimist might complain that it took overtime to get the job done.
A pessimist might also point out that the Leafs had to get about seven five-alarm saves from Jack Campbell to win the game, and while that is true, it was still a solid performance, and one where the Leafs finally got the bounces going their way.
Toronto Maple Leafs and Blackhawks
The Leafs had the puck for nearly this entire game, posting puck possession numbers, by period, of 62% /62%/74%.
This made being down 2-0 after one especially frustrating, because Chicago’s plan was essentially to just let the Leafs do whatever they want while they clogged the middle of the ice. It made for an extremely boring game, and one where the scoring chances weren’t drastically different, even though the Leafs had the puck all night.
Thanks to Jack Campbell and the first goal of David Kampf’s Toronto Maple Leafs career the Leafs were able to get the job done.
One welcome development in last night’s game was a return to form from Mitch Marner. Marner had seven shots on goal and looked like his old self in the offensive zone. Now, I don’t personally think that Marner has been even 1% as bad as some are making him out to be (his metrics continue to be more or less excellent) but this is Toronto and randomly dumping on an undeserving player for no reason other than group-think scapegoating is nothing new. (all stats from naturalstattrick.com).
Marner has taken 46 shots on goal since his last goal. Based on his career average he should have five goals in that time, instead of zero. Players go on streaks, and it all balances out in the end.
Ultimately, the criticism of Marner is stupid. Trading him is stupid. He is a top-five player in the world (for proof, consider that he finished second in 5v5 scoring, 4th overall and provided elite defense last season) and trading him would instantly be the worst trade in the history of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Marner is worth every dollar he’s paid. As for the Leafs, they probably could have scored five last night if they were hot, but they still got the win. The three goals they did get moved them into 30th in shooting-percentage, and as they climb back up those charts, they’ll win a lot more games.
The Toronto Maple Leafs won, and though they’ve played better games and lost this season so far, a win is a win. Next up: the Red Wings.