First Period

So, for the first 6 minutes, instead of Arvind’s notes, you get Katya’s notes, because I was on my way home from the gym. Here are her thoughts:

  • Freddie with a couple of early saves
  • Matthews line with first chance for on a Nylander carry in
  • Borgman assimilated Scheifele on his first shift.
  • call that was a bit cheesy on Rielly
  • Leo getting a visor lecture. [Arvind: dramatic foreshadowing]
  • Tim Peel game [Arvind: continued foreshadowing]
  • Fehr is very good on the PK - made a nice defensive move on a Laine bomb
  • Marleau with a great chance with Hyman and Nylander on a post PK shift
  • Jets owned the first five minutes except when Nylander was on ice
  • Bozak line outmatched by Little line, spending time hemmed in
  • [14:00] Let’s get going.
  • [13:50] Early on, I’m not a fan of the Laine group against Bozak’s.
  • [13:34] Leo takes a penalty for an equipment violation. Presumably, it’s his visor? Jesus, what a dumb penalty to take.
  • [13:34] That’s a ticky-tack call, but Leo, figure it out.
  • [13:13] On their first PP, Winnipeg looked dominant. Hopefully the Leafs figure something out.
  • [12:25] Trouba walks through the Leafs PK and is just barely stoned by Andersen. Phew.
  • [12:10] Laine’s beard broke my monitor.
  • [11:40] Leafs kill off the power play.
  • [10:45] Honestly, the Leafs are kind of getting fucked up right now.
  • [9:25] Even the Matthews line is getting totalled right now.
  • [8:39] Another penalty for the Leafs, this time as Brown high-sticks someone going for a rebound on a rare Leafs offensive shift. Fantastic.
  • [8:39] This is going to cost the Leafs.
  • [7:37] Another strong power play for the Jets. They look great.
  • [7:11] Andersen has been the best player by far, on either team. He’s the only Leaf who has shown up.
  • [6:07] Leafs kill it off, and need to get SOMETHING going on offense.
  • [5:24] Nope, Carrick ices it instead. Phenomenal.
  • [5:00] This time, Winnipeg takes a penalty, as Trouba hooks Bozak. Leafs get a chance to build some momentum and take a lead, against the run of play.
  • [5:00] I like how they start with the Kadri unit. That’s the better of the Leafs two units, or at least it was last year.
  • [4:15] Leafs score! 1-0. Nazem Kadri with the first of the season, as great puck movement leads to a scramble in front of the net. Naz gets to the net, and pots it. Big goal to give the Leafs a buffer./
  • [4:10] JVR and Bozak with the assists.
  • [2:55] Marleau has looked really ineffective thus far. Notoriously slow starter, but yeah, not great thus far.
  • [2:22] Strong 4th line shift, including some effective forechecking from Martin. Leafs starting to play now.
  • [2:20] JVR! 2-0. The Leafs are smashing and grabbing right now. Right off a faceoff, JVR snaps it, and it fools Mason, who can’t be feeling confident right about now./
  • [2:20] Wheeler jumped the gun to try and cheat a bit on a breakout, which gave JVR a clear shooting lane. Big two goal lead for Toronto.
  • [1:37] NYLANDER! Oh my goodness, what has happened here! The Matthews line gets their first real dominant shift, and Matthews draws a penalty on Byfuglien. The Jets seemingly stop playing when the ref’s arm goes up, and Gardiner finds Nylander all alone at the side of the net, with acres of space and time. He pots it without trouble. Bizarre play, but the Leafs are now in the ascendancy. 3-0 Leafs/
  • [1:37] Side note: a weakness of xG is that it’s reliant on the NHL’s data. This data said that Nylander scored from 22 feet out, which is frankly, ridiculous. Another weakness is that defensive positioning isn’t accounted for. The Nylander goal was as close to sure as possible, because of the goalie’s positioning.
  • [0:24] Another penalty, as Gardiner takes a high-sticking call after getting out-muscled by Laine. Annoying for the Leafs, and hopefully the Jets don’t do anything on it, which will likely continue into the second.
  • [0:05] Wow, great save from Andersen. Wheeler centres to Lowry, who is stopped point blank. Freddie has been awesome
  • [0:00] Leafs survive it.
  • [0:00] Really weird period. The Jets dominated the bulk of it, but they completely capitulated after the Kadri goal, and Mason couldn’t protect them the way Andersen had for Toronto./

Second Period

  • [20:00] Leafs start on the PK. Let’s hope they can kill it off and maintain their momentum from the latter half of the first.
  • [19:13] More zone time for the Jets, but the Leafs limit most of the chances.
  • [18:25] Much more effective PK for the Leafs that time.
  • [17:49] Off an offensive zone draw, a bounce off a skate springs Shawn Matthias for a breakaway. Freddie stands tall again.
  • [15:49] Slower pace to start this period, though the Jets still are getting the better of things.
  • [14:49] Lot of ping-ponging back and forth between the zones, but no real shots or chances.
  • [14:17] Leafs take a too many men. Really playing with fire here, giving the Jets power play so many chances.
  • [13:25] It has to be said, the Leafs PK has been way better in the second.
  • [12:16] The best kill by far, of the Leafs. Nothing terribly dangerous from the Jets during the power play, though they sustain some zone time after.
  • [11:28] And in the story of this game, the Jets offensive dominance is unrewarded, while the Leafs are clinical. Marner passes to Matthews, who dishes to Marleau streaking in on goal, and his flashes his hands to tuck it by Mason. They say the hands are the last thing to go, and that was on full display there. 4-0 Leafs. Good for him to get on the scoresheet early. Could get used to that combination, by the way./
  • [10:45] Mason must be feeling awful. He has totally let his team down today. The Jets have been better on the whole, no question. The difference has been the goalies.
  • [9:32] Kadri gets overzealous in chasing the puck, and takes a dumb slashing call on Byfuglien. Another power play chance for Winnipeg.
  • [9:32] By the way, the Leafs 4th line has been their best by shot attempts today.
  • [8:30] More chances for the Jets PP, who are just lacking that final touch. As nice as the score has been, the Leafs have been second best tonight.
  • [7:25] 0/6 for the Jets now.
  • [6:39] Kadri taketh a penalty, Kadri draweth a penalty. A strong shift by Matthews/Kadri/Nylander results in some nice shots, and Josh Morrissey taking an exhaustion penalty against Naz.
  • [5:52] One thing I love about the Leafs PP is how little the defensemen shoot. Those are generally inefficient shots.
  • [4:35] Pretty mediocre PP from Toronto. Not much happened.
  • [3:48] Another decent 4th line shift. I’ve been very pleasantly surprised by them. In particular, Brown looks like a guy who doesn’t want to be there for long. Meanwhile, Bozak’s line hasn’t been that great, to my eye.
  • [3:22] In terms of D-pairs, it looks like MoRon is getting brutalized, and Zaitsev weirdly has way worse results than Gardiner, even though they’ve been played together. Competition is obviously an important factor.
  • [1:54] First really strong, sustained shift from the Kadri line, as they pin Trouba/Kulikov deep for a while.
  • [0:46] Brown pokes a loose puck to save a goal coming back on D.
  • [0:00] Leafs keep the shutout going for another period, exiting this with a 4-0 lead. I’m not sure any lead will be comfortable, given that this is the Leafs, but it’s hard to see them losing from here.
  • [0:00] They won the shot attempt battle that period, which is significant when you consider score effects. Much stronger from the Leafs in that period in that respect, but Marleau’s goal aside, they didn’t generate many grade-A chances./

Third Period

  • [19:24] Marleau again! What a great start to his Toronto career. 5-0 Toronto. Kadri makes a great play to gain the zone and retrieve the puck in the corner. Winnipeg seemingly forgets about the 509 goal man, making him a 510 goal man. Mason pulled for Connor Hellebuyck/
  • [16:48] Borgman with a terrible outlet pass straight to Adam Lowry, which results in a shot against. Not ideal from him there.
  • [16:34] What’s crazy is that the Matthews-Hyman-Nylander line hasn’t had a particularly crazy game to my eye. Yet Matthews still has two assists (one primary) and Nylander has a goal. Hyman, as always, was around.
  • [16:22] Borgman takes a penalty, a bit too antsy to check his man, who was receiving the puck. Another power play for the Jets.
  • [14:55] Same story as always for the PK. The Leafs are bleeding shots, but Andersen saves the day. Toronto needs to figure out how to suppress shots better with the man disadvantage.
  • [14:00] Absolutely moronic frustration penalty from Byfuglien. He interferes Kadri for basically no reason. Leafs to the PP.
  • [13:23] Brilliant passing for the Leafs to gain the zone - this Bozak unit has real chemistry. Hellebuyck makes the save.
  • [12:09] As the PP dies, Borgman draws another with an intrepid rush up ice. Nice play from the Swede, who gets some PP time during a blowout.
  • [11:53] Marner joins the fun, potting a rebound on the power play to make it 6-0. What a bloodbath./
  • [10:35] Another power play for the Jets. Wheeler takes a high stick from Rielly.
  • [8:51] Both Marleau and Marner getting time on the penalty kill now.
  • [8:29] Jets score! Mark Scheifele gets them off the board after the penalty expires, and it’s 6-1. Beautiful saucer pass on his backhand from Laine, and Scheifele won’t get an easier goal. /
  • [8:03] And it’s not a game until Auston Matthews gets a goal. Immediate response from the Leafs. Nylander makes a great play on the forecheck, the Leafs go D-to-D and tips in a Connor Carrick point shot. 7-1 Toronto. Borgman also gets his first NHL point. /
  • [7:03] We’re in an All-Star game now. Mathieu Perreault makes it 7-2, as the Leafs are statuesque in the D-zone right now. /
  • [5:45] Defense optional for the last part of this game. Neither team is doing anything on that end.
  • [1:43] Game slows down, as both teams are playing out the string. Not much to comment on here.
  • [0:00] Game over, Leafs win! Currently on pace to be the highest scoring team ever, I see no reason why that won’t continue. /

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