First Period
Auston Matthews opens the scoring a few minutes in with a delayed penalty.
William Nylander breaks through the Rangers and finds Matthews pic.twitter.com/a4I1LsdKNf
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) December 13, 2023
1-0 Leafs
Yes!!!
Conor Timmins makes it 2-0 Leafs.
offence from the defence pic.twitter.com/nvP2HWiTiQ
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) December 13, 2023
Uh-oh. Jones lets one in with the defence doing nothing at all good in front of him.
Blake Wheeler gets one back for the Rangers pic.twitter.com/aaxehPTarn
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) December 13, 2023
2-1 Leafs
The Rangers instantly take another penalty, and this seems to be one of those games. Taraves gets a great look and sends it to space. McCabe later gets a similar shot he fans on.
Tavares fans on it pic.twitter.com/xJsTOIkfgx
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) December 13, 2023
Leafs take a penalty in a hairy defensive situation, so it's the scary Rangers PP on tap.
The Rangers certainly seem to know what they're doing on the PP, but the Leafs defend decently well and Jones makes the saves he needs to make.
The post PP involves a lot of line blending and staggered changes, and that leads to Järnkrok on the ice with Tavares and Bertuzzi.
the power of rebounds and winning pucks back pic.twitter.com/PwSrj4GumI
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) December 13, 2023
3-1 Leafs
And now I'm rewinding because Marner scored 21 seconds later. Shesterkin is just flailing.
Marner lifts Trouba's stick on the zone entry and has a quick give-and-go with Matthews pic.twitter.com/j3xsOXXOBE
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) December 13, 2023
4-1 Leafs
Leafs run out the clock and the only question is, will it be Quick in the second?
Thoughts
The Leafs offence suddenly cooks.
So the Rangers shot the puck 10 times at five-on-five, 4 were blocked, and of the six remaining, only two counted as SOG. And that's how the Leafs got to 65% Expected Goals.
Second Period
It's more Shesterkin for the second period.
Leafs serve up some of their classic turnovers, but get away with it.
Marner trades his stick for a grenade launcher and sets up three teammates in a row to receive a pass surrounded by Blueshirts.
not a great start to the middle frame pic.twitter.com/kGSzA9AfV9
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) December 13, 2023
Hearing the name Jones a lot more in the second.
Kreider and Lagesson hug it out, so it's four-on-four for two minutes.
Martin Jones with the glove save pic.twitter.com/kk7sLXUaDe
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) December 13, 2023
Conor Timmins goes off for hooking with five minutes left.
The crowd gets a little boisterous as the Rangers have passing practice with no shots for about a minute and a half. It's the most New York they've sounded all night.
Alas, the penalty killers have been out here this whole time, and the shot, when it comes, goes in.
Mika Zibanejad scores on the power play pic.twitter.com/mNXEue53ky
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) December 13, 2023
4-2 Leafs
Also Zibanejad is just really good at this. (Remember when Ottawa traded him?)
Nylander sets up McMann who can't get it past Shesterkin, and then the Rangers take it up the ice and Blake Wheeler drops a few years and scores like he used to.
Bobby McMann almost had his first NHL goal from Nylander
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) December 13, 2023
great save from Shesterkin pic.twitter.com/VZvGwQHhMm
Blake Wheeler brings the Rangers within one pic.twitter.com/nLOFZ0aKkD
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) December 13, 2023
4-3 Leafs
Thoughts

Rangers found another gear, the Leafs stayed in neutral. Simple as that.
Third Period
The Leafs have a gorgeous chance and all the get is a drawn penalty.
are you kidding me!?
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) December 13, 2023
Shesterkin and Trouba make the saves pic.twitter.com/8CHhEs1185
Well that was quick. The guy who drew the penalty scored the goal, and that's Mitch Marner. Even when he struggles at five-on-five, he's still Mitch Marner with less than 10 skaters on the ice.
MITCH MARNER 🚨🚨
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) December 13, 2023
Power play deflection 6 seconds in pic.twitter.com/sGhTi3WaUo
5-3 Leafs
The Leafs have so many really good AHL defenders in the lineup right now that they actually seem to have the right sort of game and ego to slow this game down and get the win.
McCabe picks a more exciting way to kill some minutes and knocks Lindgren down hard. Zibanejad goes for McCabe. Leafs get a power play out of it... wow! Double minor to Zibanejad.
Jake McCabe with a huge hit on Ryan Lindgren pic.twitter.com/pgr9nN0NTC
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) December 13, 2023
McCabe vs. Zibanejad pic.twitter.com/fGoWse6NxS
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) December 13, 2023
Now the crowd sounds New York.
Not much of a power play until the second unit gets going.
Wow. Auston Matthews takes advantage of a juicy rebound:
AUSTON MATTHEWS 🚨🚨
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) December 13, 2023
Gets the rebound off Trouba and buries it pic.twitter.com/z7xA7qQGzH
6-3 Leafs
The Rangers pull the goalie so the Leafs can try for hat tricks.
David Kämpf goes for the ENG.
David Kampf gets the empty-netter pic.twitter.com/RsFXjj1xbx
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) December 13, 2023
7-3 Leafs
Leafs Win (in regulation, when it matters).
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