Columnist image

TSN Toronto Maple Leafs Reporter

| Archive

The Maple Leafs’ top performers shined on Saturday in a dominant 5-0 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins. Toronto scored at even strength, on the power play and shorthanded while Frederik Andersen posted his first shutout of the season in a 31-save showing to halt the team's two-game losing streak and extend its perfect road record to 6-0-0 on the season. 

 

Takeaways

Big night for big players 

Contending with a two-game slide where the Leafs scored two total goals, Toronto needed its most important players to come up big on Saturday - and they did. 

It started with Mitch Marner and John Tavares, who were Toronto’s best skaters through three periods on a line with Zach Hyman going up against Sidney Crosby’s line. Marner set up Tavares’ game-opening goal with a great individual effort along the boards and through the Penguins’ zone, sending a shot right towards Matt Murray that Tavares tipped past the goaltender. With that play, Marner now has the first assist on six of Tavares’ eight goals this season. Marner had a few more tricks up his sleeve in the first period, nearly setting up his other linemate Hyman’s first goal of the season with another great individual play deking Brian Dumoulin out of his skates, but he couldn’t get enough air under his pass over Dumoulin’s stick to hit a wide-open Hyman. 

With the Leafs’ first line on the board, Toronto’s second group with Nazem Kadri, Patrick Marleau and Kasperi Kapanen got going when Marleau buried a two-on-one set up from Kapanen that extended Toronto’s lead to 2-0. It was Marleau’s second goal in as many games, and the 538th of this career, tying Keith Tkachuk for 32nd on the NHL’s all-time scoring list. Kapanen’s speed and tenacity also created a handful of breakaway or near-breakaway chances for him over the course of the game, but he couldn’t get any to fall.  

Tavares was back in the scoring mix in the second period with an assist on Morgan Rielly’s first goal in four games to put the Leafs’ up 3-0. Rielly would come calling again with a power play score late in the third thanks to a lucky bounce off the end boards that put him in perfect position to beat Murray. It was Rielly’s first multi-goal game of the season, and fifth multi-point game. 

The game was well in hand for the Leafs by the time Hyman scored shorthanded late in the third period, breaking his season-long scoring drought to secure the win for Toronto. 

All told, the Leafs’ top two forward lines combined for nine points in the victory, after posting two even strength points in their last two games. 

 

Andersen’s steady start continues

No conversation about the resurgence of Toronto’s top players would be complete without including Andersen in a 31-save shutout, his first of the season. But then, he’s been fairly steady throughout the last few weeks, just frequently without the kind of goal support the Leafs offered on Saturday. 

Facing the Penguins, Andersen played a textbook game, staying square to the puck, not overreacting to chaos around his crease, making tidy saves with minimal rebounds and then moving on. A couple of times Andersen’s teammates made things harder than necessary on him, like when Crosby got loose in the slot and when Frederik Gauthier turned the puck over and gave a clear high-quality chance to Matt Cullen, but Andersen had the answers. He saw less action than Murray for most of the night, with Toronto outshooting Pittsburgh 30-18 through two periods and 33-31 overall, and Andersen was also aided late in the second period by a pair of Pittsburgh’s shots ringing off the crossbar. But when it mattered most, Andersen kept the Penguins at bay and helped keep Toronto in control. 

Now sitting at 7-5-0 on the season, Andersen has posted a .934 save percentage over his last seven starts. 

 

Fans of the road 

With Saturday's victory, the Leafs improved their record on the road to 6-0-0 this season, compared to a 3-5-0 mark in their building. Over the course of the year, Toronto has outscored opponents 32-17 on the road, while being outscored 22-16 at home. It’s an eye-opening disparity all around, and yet the Leafs have been at a loss to explain it. 

There’s just a different level of control and confidence that Toronto displays out of town that’s often missing in their rink, and it translates into results. Kapanen has theorized that perhaps Toronto keeps things simple on the road, and that could in fact be part of their success. When the Leafs aren’t concerned with last change or who they’re matching up with, there’s more freedom to just play their game, and that allows players to thrive. It’s not as if the speed and transition game Toronto showcased against Pittsburgh isn’t present at home; it is, but without nearly as much finish. 

Consider the numbers: After a two-point night in Pittsburgh, Rielly has 18 points on the season, 12 of which have come on the road. Tavares reached 16 points, with 12 coming on the road. Kapanen has nine of his 12 points on the road, while Marner has 12 of 19 points. The Leafs biggest performers are dominant away from Toronto, and somehow they’ll eventually have to bring that scoring touch back home.

 

Powerful penalty kill

The Penguins have boasted one of the NHL’s top power plays for years and entered Saturday’s game with the sixth-best man advantage in the league (29 per cent). But the Leafs countered that with an even stronger penalty kill, finishing a perfect 4-for-4.

Marleau was in the box early for Toronto, while the team’s killers got to work holding the Penguins’ top power play unit off from generating many quality opportunities. By their second kill early in the second, the Leafs were spending nearly as much time in the Penguins’ end shorthanded as Pittsburgh did on the offensive, as evidenced by Toronto registering four shots on goal over their first three kills. Beyond just keeping the Penguins at bay, Marner and Kapanen both made great offensive plays themselves to try and add to the Leafs’ goal haul. But it was Hyman who finally broke through with a shorthanded score on the Penguins last power play chance, en route to the kill finishing at 5-for-5 on the night. 

Toronto’s own power play kept rolling on Saturday, too, posting a goal for the third straight game. Those units have been more stagnant of late after starting hot, and Rielly’s score put them at 3-for-20 in their last seven games, as the power play finished 1-for-3 on the night in Pittsburgh. 

 

Blue & White Trending

Tracking Leafs’ trends all season long

When Tavares scored to give the Leafs’ a 1-0 lead, it marked just the fourth time in 14 games that Toronto has scored first in a game this season. The Leafs have a perfect 4-0-0 record when that happens (compared to 5-5-0 when giving up the first goal).​

 

Next game

Toronto comes home to face the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday.​