Jan 7, 2018
Matthews helps Leafs mount late charge over Canucks
The Toronto Maple Leafs were down, but not out, against the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night, as Auston Matthews helped the Leafs overcome a 2-0 third period deficit to top the visitors 3-2 in the shootout.
TORONTO – The Maple Leafs were down, but not out, against the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night, overcoming a 2-0 third period deficit to top the visitors 3-2 in the shootout. It was the second consecutive game that Toronto has gone to a shootout, and Tyler Bozak scored the winner on both occasions. The Leafs move to 25-16-2 on the season with the victory.
Takeaways
A tale of two halves
Some games break wide open early. Others are an affair of inches, which is what the Leafs and Canucks were contending with on Saturday. The two sides traded chances in a first period that ended 0-0, but it was the Canucks making life difficult on the Leafs by blocking nine shots to Toronto’s two. Vancouver broke the stalemate when Brock Boeser barely batted a Leafs’ clearing attempt out of the air to keep play alive in the offensive zone, and he ended up finishing strong with a high shot past Andersen. The Leafs didn’t have the same energy Vancouver did, and it showed in lost puck battles and being a beat behind the Canucks through the neutral zone. The lack of offence in the game’s first 30 minutes was reflective of how Toronto’s played of late – they’d scored only eight goals in regulation over their previous four games heading into Saturday night, a far cry from the production their previously explosive offence used to provide. While trailing 2-0 in the final frame, the switch flipped for the Leafs, with Auston Matthews providing the spark. He finally solved Jacob Markstrom with a goal from the slot that injected all the jump Toronto had lacked back into their game. In quick succession, Tyler Bozak was the benefactor of a terrific pass from Morgan Rielly and used it to tie the game with his eighth of the season. Frederik Andersen held the Canucks at bay with a series of furious saves to end the third and get Toronto a point in overtime. When the Leafs reached the skills competition, it was Matthews and Bozak who tallied scores again to secure consecutive wins for the first time in 2018.
Matthews Mode
Matthews is almost always the Leafs’ most dangerous forward on the ice, and even as Toronto’s offence lagged, he and his line still found a way to make an impact. They were leading the way in possession for much of the night and generating quality scoring chances. So, when the Leafs were trailing 2-0 midway through the third period, it was of little surprise when Matthews broke free into the slot and Zach Hyman found him with a perfect cross-crease pad to cut the Canucks’ lead to one. It was a bit of a broken play by the Canucks that offered Matthews so much space in tight, but capitalizing on opportunity is something he does better than anyone on the Leafs. During this stretch where the Leafs’ offence has been more stagnant than usual, Mike Babcock mentioned on Friday he thought Matthews’ group could be getting more pucks to the net and actually utilizing the hard work they do to establish zone time. Matthews seemed to take that to heart, with him and Rielly pacing all Leafs with four shots on goal by the game’s end. Saturday’s matchup also provided an extra incentive for Matthews to perform – he and Boeser were roommates while playing together at the World Junior Championship in Helsinki two years ago. The two have kept in touch since, and they shared more than a few words as the game went on, clearly relishing in the one-upmanship of the evening. Matthews’ line finished the night at 53 per cent possession.
Welcome to the show, kid
Saturday night was a long time coming for Travis Dermott. The Leafs’ top defensive prospect had been a dominant force in the American Hockey League all season and finally got the call to make his NHL debut against the Canucks. It couldn’t have gone much better for the 21-year-old – once he shook off the nerves, Dermott was solid throughout and tallied his first NHL point with an assist on Bozak’s goal. Even Dermott admitted he was a little rocky out of the gate, as evidenced by him and Roman Polak getting hemmed into their own zone on his first shift. Dermott looked more confident as the game went on, and started putting together a string of solid shifts in the second period – and wasn’t afraid to get physical, either. He took out Nic Dowd along the boards in a puck battle and challenged Markus Granlund in front of the net on consecutive plays, all the while showing good awareness with the puck when he had it. Dermott laid another big hit on Granlund along the boards minutes later, showing a fearlessness in asserting himself that’s similar to what Andreas Borgman brings when he’s in the lineup. Dermott got a look in the waning seconds of a penalty kill as well in the third period and would have been utilized in the overtime period but Babcock couldn’t get to him before it was over. Overall, Babcock was pleased with Dermott’s effort, but provided no insight on whether he’ll be a regular for the Leafs going forward. Dermott finished with one shot on goal in 12:03 of ice time.
No signs of life?
When scoring is at a premium for a club, special teams become that much more important. The Leafs’ penalty kill had been excellent for them in their previous three games, but the power play had been straggling. On Saturday that trend continued, with the Leafs failing to get much going with the extra man. Their tendency to favour the pretty play over the simple one has been an admitted problem all season, and against the Canucks there were some missed opportunities involving easy tap-ins and open nets that the Leafs’ couldn’t capitalize on. Toronto went 0-for-3 on the power play in regulation, and then had a 4-on-3 overtime chance that totally floundered. With Babcock electing not to have Matthews on the ice for much of the session, there was too much passing and not enough shooting that led to easy clears for the Canucks. The Leafs power play has only three goals in the last seven games, which could prompt changes for Babcock from his units. One day after he mused that Leo Komarov’s lack of production with the extra man would cause him to re-evaluate his standing there, Babcock removed him from the power play entirely. Whether that holds remains to be seen, but it could be a signal of what’s to come to try and get that group back on track.
Next game
Toronto continues its homestand with a Monday meeting against the Columbus Blue Jackets.