Toronto Maple Leafs Miraculously Win 2nd Straight OT Game

The Toronto Maple Leafs remain red-hot, despite taking a break for turkey and presents.

The 3rd Franchise Level player on the Toronto Maple Leafs, William Nylander, scored his 21st goal of the season on an incredible effort in overtime for the win.

It was their third win in a row, and their 7th in their last nine games.

It was also their second overtime win in a row, despite Sheldon Keefe starting overtime with David Kampf and two defensemen on the ice.   Hey, it worked out, but I don’t really see how risking a loss with $45 million dollars in superstar offensive talent on the bench is a good look.

Especially when, unless you’re going up against Edmonton, the Leafs are guaranteed to have the best players on the ice to start overtime.

Toronto Maple Leafs vs Blues

The Leafs had no Sandin, no Rielly, no Robertson, and they still played a great game and come out with the victory.

It was the 8th game in a row that the Leafs finished with an Expected Goals rating above 57%.  They aren’t just winning, they are crushing their opponents.

What happens when this team adds a star for the playoff run, recognizes that Liljegren is their best defender, gets healthy, and has Auston Matthews consistently putting up multi-point games, all of which are going to happen eventually?

It is kind of scary how good they are doing despite there being obvious ways for them to get better.

Last night the Leafs player with the most ice time was Justin Holl, and he finished with a nearly 70% Expected Goals rating, while each of the teams scored twice while he was on.   This is the player people still complain about losing Jared McCann for.  This is the player most likely to be replaced if the Leafs want to upgrade their blueline.  (stats naturalstattrick.com).

He’s basically the Leafs #1 right now, and they keep winning.

As for the game, it was pretty crazy. Nine goals in total, the Leafs won despite some shaky goaltending from Samsonov and a seemingly off night from Mitch Marner who didn’t really seem as dangerous as he normally does.

There was a TJ Brodie penalty shot in overtime. I doubt TJ Brodie has had a breakaway since junior, but he nearly scored.  You do wish the Leafs could just elect to take the power-play over the shot, but whatever.

Also interesting was Keefe losing his mind over a horrible non-call.  The Leafs lost game six to Tampa last year because a similar call went against the Leafs, so you can see why Keefe would lose his mind.

Another reminder that the Leafs did beat Tampa last year, even if it didn’t technically count.