If sports games, as many joke about, are written with a script, then game one of this series felt like it was written by the most clichéd Leafs hater of all time. It had all the old tropes: out-goalie’d, bad penalties and penalty kill, lack of offence from the stars, etc. But game two? Game two must have been written by someone who had a window directly into the hearts and minds of Leaf fans because last night’s game could not have felt any better for those who cheer for the Blue and White. A monumental game from Auston Matthews with a game-winning goal, coming from behind to get the victory and a confidence-inspiring bounce-back game from the guy between the pipes. And they did it all without William Nylander. Let’s dig into game two.
It was another fast start for Toronto, not dissimilar to game one. They seemed to be the quicker and more ready-to-play team, which hasn’t been the case for Sheldon Keefe’s hockey teams in years past. It didn’t result in much of the way of dangerous chances, but I think it’s important to point out that the Leafs are getting out of the blocks hot.
Any slight momentum they might have gathered from that start was halted after a silly penalty from Jake McCabe. A cross-check after a goalie freeze that does seem to go unpunished more often than not (Brandon Carlo had a similar play on David Kampf with no call just a few minutes earlier), but still, after the lack of discipline in game one, it’s a tough look for McCabe. Of course, the Bruins scored on the ensuing power play, and it felt once again like everything was crashing down around the Leafs.
However, an immediate response from the first line tied the game up just thirteen seconds later. Max Domi, Tyler Bertuzzi, and Matthews didn’t allow the Bruin goal to change their mindset, and right off the centre-ice faceoff, the three forwards chased down the puck in the Boston zone and forced a turnover. From there, Matthews found a pocket of space and dug the puck away from the crowd, firing a shot off the post. Thankfully, the rebound fell right to Domi, who made a sneaky, skilled play in tight and finished off the chance. It was important for the Leafs not to be held off the scoresheet too long and the first line delivered.
Toronto continued to play well after the two goals, and the fourth line, in particular, was dominating its minutes against the Bruins’ bottom line. Here’s one example in the first:
Reaves, Dewar, and Kampf are ferocious forecheckers and did a great job supporting each other down low on retrievals. Moving the puck low to high and generating chaos in front of Ullmark was a clear strategy for the Leafs in game two, and the fourth line excelled at that. In their 7:57 of ice time together, the line had twelve shot attempts and just five against. Their physicality was effective, and Reaves legitimately looked like a bowling ball out there, just running guys over like they were pins.
All was well until the last few seconds of the first period, and a faceoff in the Leafs zone. After that, it was a masterclass of pull-your-hair-out defensive play from the Buds. I know many blame Mitch Marner for this one, but that’s a blatant misunderstanding of defensive zone coverage, and at worst, Marner is the third-biggest guy to blame for this goal. The Leafs are clearly playing man-to-man here.
Take a look at Simon Benoit and Matthew Knies, who are both too eager to press the puck, and lose touch with their targets entirely. Benoit gets turned around after chasing out, leaving Pastrnak to float into a soft spot. At the same time, McCabe is far too slow to get tight to Pavel Zacha (his man) because he’s scared to leave the front of the net, and that allows Zacha to have the time to receive and fire a spinarama pass all in one motion across the ice. Marner is late to cover for his teammates’ mistakes because he’s focused on covering the right point (his man), and the puck ends up in the back of the net. It’s a disaster all around, and it could have been the death blow in the Leafs’ chances ending a period like that.
But it wasn’t! The second period began with some odd-man chances for the Bruins; one was stifled brilliantly by McCabe, and another stopped by the pad of Samsonov after a brutal turnover by Timothy Liljegren at centre ice (he struuuuuggled tonight). Then Toronto started to claw back and got gifted a power play, thanks to a Too Many Men call on Boston.
The power play wasn’t incredibly effective, and Marner had some very odd shot choices, including a slap shot from the boards that was easily directed away. Still, Ullmark did come up big shortly after the penalty was over. The Swede robbed compatriot Calle Jarnkrok seemingly without even knowing after a nice pass from Knies found a wide-open Jarnkrok in the slot, and his shot went directly into Ullmark’s glove.
Some decent offensive zone pressure near the end of the period gave Toronto another power play, and this time, they didn’t let the opportunity pass them by. After Bertuzzi had a goal called off due to a high stick, it felt like a matter of time, and once the puck slipped through to John Tavares all alone in the slot, it was in the back of the net in an instant. It was a fantastic moment for the captain, and such a good feeling to go into the third tied at two.
Almost immediately, at the start of the third period, Samsonov was forced to make his best save of the series so far.
He used incredible reflexes and tracking of his own rebound to get across and deny Brad Marchand when the Leafs needed it most. It was a Samsonov performance reminiscent of his games against Tampa Bay last year. He lets in a few early ones but just sort of decides that nothing else is going to go in for the rest of the game, and nothing ever does. If the Leafs win this series, we might consider this save a defining one.
As the clock started to trickle down, chances became few and far between. Nick Robertson, who had a great game again, got absolutely robbed by Ullmark on what looked like an open net, and this game seemed destined for overtime. However, it was clear that Auston Matthews had no interest of allowing his team to leave Boston without a win. The Leafs have struggled in the first two games with breaking the puck out and through Boston’s neutral zone setup. Many of Toronto’s best chances have come from long-distance passes and faster build-up instead of trying to dissect their way past the Bruins system. We see that in this goal.
Domi spots Matthews coming across from the far side of the ice and throws it up, bypassing two lines of Bruins and isolating Matthews with the smaller McAvoy. Using his speed and athleticism, Matthews turns into Randy Moss, high points the puck and takes it in all in one stride. And the breakaway move is a work of art. I’ve never seen #34 embarrass a goalie on a backhand forehand deke like that. Ullmark bit so hard that his mouth is probably bleeding right now. It was an absolutely disgusting hesitation move, and put the puck right into the top corner, leaving ZERO doubt. Honestly, it was one of my favourite Leaf goals of all time. Matthews is usually the best Leaf in almost every playoff game. Still, if he isn’t scoring, it’s understandable that he gets some criticism, especially when you look across the country and see McDavid’s stats in playoff games. But game two showed just how good he is, and more than that, it showed just how badly he wants to win. Three points, eight shots and a 65% expected goals share on the night for Papi. MVP?
The Bruins got another power play near the end of the game after their captain’s pathetic excuse of a dive. It was childish, unsportsmanlike, and classless stuff from a guy who has crossed the line more than enough times to not deserve ANY benefit of the doubt.
Nonetheless, the puck does not lie, as Toronto had their best penalty kill of the series to close the game out and go home with the series tied.
Overall, you have to be quite pleased as a Leaf fan with how this series has begun. Boston has holes, and the Leafs have done a pretty good job of exposing them. At five-on-five, it’s not even really a contest, and that’s with Toronto missing a 40-goal scorer and their best zone entry player, Nylander.
As I said in my game one recap, if the Buds can stick to playing their game and not force the stupid “playoff hockey” bullshit that just ends up with them in the penalty box, it should be their series to lose. They need more from Marner, and they need more from Morgan Rielly, but that should be even more reason to be excited. Marner is certainly getting piled on, and I also gave him a bunch of shit last game, so I’m by no means holier than thou. He wasn’t good again in game two. But, at some point, he’ll have to step up, and he knows he will have to because if he doesn’t, he won’t have a future here.
I am so jacked up for the rest of this series, and the boys have shown excellent resilience yet again. Scotiabank will be rocking come Wednesday. See you then.
Go Leafs Go 🙂
The Morning Skate 