To say there has been a little bit of drama in Leaf land since their loss to the Arizona Coyotes would be an understatement. The entire fanbase was curious how the team would respond after being called out by head coach Sheldon Keefe for their subpar performance against the Arizona Coyotes; you’d think the Leafs would come out with a little jump in their game.
Unfortunately, it was a pretty uneventful first half of the opening period. Stars were awarded a power play 5:03 into the frame on a boarding call against veteran defenceman Mark Giordano. Shots at the halfway mark were 3-1 in favour of the Stars. I counted six or seven non-called tripping infractions against both teams throughout the period. The reffing in the period was atrocious, to say the least. The Stars opened the scoring on a rebound in the slot at 14:45. Samsonov made the original save. Unfortunately, he kicked the rebound directly into the slot. Luke Glendening corralled the rebound and made no mistake. Right after the Stars took the lead, the Leafs were called for their second penalty at 15:13. This time, Mitch Marner headed to the box for hooking. The Stars’ power play was cut short just 1:03 into it. Jamie Benn was called for high-sticking Morgan Rielly. With 1:30 remaining in the period, Auston Matthews was circling the Stars’ net and was tripped, and no call was made.
Then right after the non-tripping call, Benn delivers a vicious cross-check to Matthews’ lower back, and again no call. Matthews went to the bench in some severe discomfort. That opening period was not good enough. Especially after coming off the effort, or lack thereof, against the Coyotes on Monday. Flat, no energy, no pushback. Outshot, outhit, outplayed. No one is doing a single thing to try and swing the momentum in favour of the Leafs. Shots on goal at the end of the period were 11-6 in favour of the Stars. TOI leader for the Leafs was T.J. Brodie at 8:00.
Just 42 seconds into the 2nd period, the Leafs’ top line goes to work and draws a tripping penalty against Miro Heiskanen. The Leafs’ top power play unit generated absolutely nothing. Fortunately for the Leafs, the second unit went to work, and Sandin fired a shot from the point. The rebound came out to Kerfoot, who made no mistake to make it a 1-1 game. Assists on the goal go to Michael Bunting and Rasmus Sandin. The goal went to the Leafs’ legs as the Tavares unit came out with a great offensive zone shift. During a line change, Bunting came on the ice and drew a high sticking penalty against Miro Heiskanen, who went to the box for the second straight time in this period. Eight minutes into the period, the shots were 9-0 in favour of the Leafs. Zach Aston-Reese was called for elbowing at the 12:09 mark sending the Stars to their third power play of the night.
Once again, the Stars’ power play was cut short as Jason Robertson took an interference penalty on Mitch Marner just 48 seconds into the man advantage. The Leafs’ second line has been their best line in this one by far. They go to work once again, and Captain John Tavares draws a holding call on Wyatt Johnston at 17:06. The top unit put a much better effort on this man advantage as they generated a couple of great scoring chances in the first half of the power play. Unfortunately, the blue and white could not capitalize on the man advantage. With just 4.8 seconds remaining in the period, former Leaf Mason Marchment was called for roughing as he hit T.J. Brodie, who didn’t even have the puck. He followed the hit-up with a punch to the face of Brodie. The second period ended with the score tied 1-1. Shots on goal in the second period were 17-6 in favour of the blue and white and 23-17 overall in favour of the buds. A far better effort in comparison to their efforts in the first period. TOI leader through 40 minutes was Mitch Marner with 15:42.
The Leafs opened the third period with 1:55 remaining in their man advantage. Unfortunately, the Leafs were not able to capitalize on the power play. However, Nick Robertson finished off a great pass from Michael Bunting with a laser of a shot to give the Leafs a 2-1 lead just 1:59 into the frame. Morgan Rielly and Michael Bunting with the assists on the goal. Robertson gets another grade-A scoring chance, but he just missed, and the score remained 2-1 Leafs. Alex Kerfoot gets called for delay of the game at 7:12 as he shoots the puck out of play in his zone, sending the Stars to their fourth power play of the game. The Stars scored what appeared to be the game-tying goal. After an incredibly lengthy review, it was determined that Mitch Marner initiated contact with Samsonov, so it was deemed a good goal, and Tyler Seguin tied the game 2-2 at 7:21. The Stars got away with a couple of blatant noncalls. Eventually, they were called as Jani Hakanpaa jumped on Matthews’ back and hauled him down. The Leafs managed to generate four shots with the man advantage. Unfortunately, they were unable to solve Stars goaltender Scott Wedgewood. Luke Glendening dangerously hit Mark Giordano into the boards. Giordano stayed down for a while and looked to be seriously hurt. Thankfully he did get up and remained on the Leafs’ bench. As a result of the play, the Leafs got their eighth power play of the game. They could not capitalize in the final minute of regulation, but the man advantage carried over into overtime. Shots on goal in the third period were 17-10 in favour of the Leafs and 40-27 overall. TOI leader through 60 minutes was Mitch Marner with 25:07.
The Leafs, once again, were unable to score on the power play in the early going of overtime. They were 1 for 8 in the game, simply not good enough. The blue and white use their timeout halfway through the overtime to give their big guys a much-needed rest. Little did they know, it would be the smallest guy on the roster who would come up clutch for the team in this one. Nick Robertson got caught as the last man back and made an unbelievable play on Jamie Benn. Play goes the other way, and Matthews makes a fantastic pass, and who else but Nick Robertson hammers a one-timer past, Scott Wedgewood, giving the Leafs the 3-2 Overtime victory. What a night for Nick Robertson! The total shots on goal in this one were 43-28 in favour of the Leafs. TOI leader was Morgan Rielly, with 27:19.
Tonight’s Three Stars:
1. Nick Robertson: 2 Goals.
2. Michael Bunting: 2 Assists.
3. Scott Wedgewood: 40 Saves
This game concluded a five game home stand where they posted a record of 3-2-0. The blue and white now head out on a five game western road trip with stops in Winnipeg, Vegas, San Jose, LA, and Anaheim.
