The Leafs give it their absolute all but unfortunately come up short as they lose 4-3 in overtime to the Vegas Golden Knights. It was a real treat seeing vintage Mitch Marner in this one, as he was around the puck the entire game making things happen.
It was hardly an ideal start for the Leafs in this one as Golden Knights opened the scoring just 45 seconds into the game on a goal from Nic Roy, who scored his fourth goal of the year. William Carrier recorded the lone assist on the goal. The Leafs would respond with a goal of their own at 5:05 from defenceman Timothy Liljegren, his first goal of the season. The goal came after an insanely close play at the Vegas blue line by Morgan Rielly to keep the puck inside. Vegas contemplated challenging the goal; however, they elected not to, and the goal would stand. David Kampf and Zach Aston-Reese with the assists on the goal. Shortly after the Leafs tied the game, the Golden Knights were called for a too-many-men penalty giving the Leafs the first power play of the night. The top unit would generate a couple of chances, one, in particular, came off of a fantastic cross-ice pass from William Nylander to Auston Matthews. Unfortunately, Matthews was unable to capitalize on the chance. Vegas would go on to kill off the man advantage successfully. 11:06 into the period Michael Bunting took an undisciplined interference penalty giving the Golden Knights their first power play of the game. Vegas could only generate a single shot on goal with the man advantage, resulting in Källgren being forced to make an incredible save. Both teams would trade chances back and forth, eventually leading to a brutal turnover by Timothy Liljegren, resulting in a Vegas goal from Jack Eichel, his sixth goal of the season. Mark Stone and Chandler Stephenson with assists on the go-ahead goal with just 2:05 remaining in the opening frame. The first period would come to a close, with the Golden Knights leading 2-1. Shots on goal after 20 minutes of play were 8-7 in favor of the Golden Knights. TOI leader for the blue and white was Morgan Rielly with 7:46.
The first half of the second period wasn’t nearly as high-tempo or fast-paced as the first. Yes, both teams traded chances, but the game just didn’t have the same level of jump. The Leafs finally managed to tie this one up 13:50 into the period on a beautiful goal by Mitch Marner, his third goal of the year. The goal would instantly go to the Leafs’ legs as they would continue to control the majority of the play from there on out for the remainder of the period. The blue and white had the Golden Knights hemmed in their zone for a couple of minutes. The relentless pressure eventually led to the go-ahead goal from Timothy Liljegren at 16:56, his second goal of the game. Assists on the goal went to Mitch Marner, who made a ridiculous pass to find Liljegren and Morgan Rielly. Once again, it was evident in this one that the Leafs will go as far as the “core four” will carry them. When the big boys show up, it usually ends well for the blue and white. Surprisingly enough, there were no penalties to either team in the frame. Shots on goal in the middle frame were 15-5 in favor of the blue and white, who put on an absolute clinic throughout the period. TOI leader after 40 minutes was Auston Matthews with 15:36.
After a fantastic effort through 40 minutes, Mitch Marner gets called for a delay of game penalty as he shot the puck over the glass from his own zone. This gave Vegas their second power play of the game. The Leafs managed to kill off the man advantage, and once again, Erik Källgren came up with another big save for the Leafs. Fantastic work by Michael Bunting to keep his feet moving to draw the Leafs their second power play of the game on a holding call against Michael Amadio at 10:22. The power play could not have gone much worse for the Leafs as the Golden Knights broke out on a two on 1. They made no mistake as William Karlsson found Reilly Smith, who made absolutely no mistake firing home the one-timer 11:43 into the frame. This game had a great pace from start to finish, with the Leafs dominating most of the play. Shots on goal in the third period were 9-6 in favor of the blue and white and 31-19 in favor of the Leafs at the end of regulation. TOI leader after 60 minutes was Auston Matthews with 22:39.
Overtime didn’t last long as Reilly Smith busted in all alone and made no mistake burying his second goal of the game to end this one just 23 seconds into the frame. I completely understand that the Leafs are down to their 3rd string goalie with Erik Källgren, but four goals against on 21 shots simply is not good enough. If Samsonov and Murray are going to be out for much longer, Leafs GM Kyle Dubas will have no choice but to trade for a goaltender. The Leafs move on from this one to take on the Pittsburgh Penguins Friday night for the Hockey Hall of Fame game. Then another quick turnaround as they have yet another back-to-back, and they take on the Vancouver Canucks Saturday night during hockey night in Canada. If Matt Murray isn’t ready to go by the weekend, what do the Leafs do with their goaltending situation? Only time will tell!
Tonight’s Three Stars
1. Reilly Smith: 2 Goals
2. Mitch Marner: 1 Goal 1 Assist
3. Timothy Liljegren: 2 Goals.
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