Eleven seconds into this one, Adam Henrique was forced to leave the game as he took a point shot from Mark Giordano directly in the face. It didn’t take the Leafs long to break through as Alex Kerfoot ripped home his 3rd goal of the year just 1:58 into the opening frame. The Leafs were dominating the Ducks from the get-go in this one. Unfortunately, at 5:13 ran a pick in the offensive zone to create some space for fellow countrymen William Nylander resulting in an interference penalty giving the Ducks the first power play of the game. The Ducks generated a couple of chances with the man advantage as they had two shots on goal, but the Leafs held their ground, maintaining their 1-0 lead. Mitch Marner wasted little time extending his unbelievable point streak to 23 games. He corralled a pass in the slot from Conor Timmins, then proceeded to make his way toward the Ducks goal, where he found a wide-open John Tavares, who tapped in his 14th of the year. Newly acquired defenceman Conor Timmins assisted on both Leafs goals giving him three assists in his 6th game with the Leafs. Everyone was very high on Timmins when he was drafted in the 2nd round, 32nd overall, of the 2017 NHL Draft. The Leafs may have a very solid defenseman on their hands in Timmins. He hasn’t exactly been able to find his footing at the NHL level due to several injuries since his draft year. With just 11 seconds remaining in the opening period, the Ducks were called for a too-many-men penalty giving the Leafs their first power play of the game. The blue and white weren’t able to capitalize quickly. Therefore, the power play carried over to the second period. The Ducks held a 16-14 advantage in the shots-on-goal category. While they outshot the Leafs, it felt like they controlled most of the play. Timothy Liljegren led the way in TOI with 7:23.
The Leafs could not add to their lead with the man advantage, but they did generate a couple of great scoring chances. William Nylander and John Tavares went in 2 on 1, but Gibson made a great save on Tavares. Seconds later, Gibson somehow got across to get a blocker on a rocket of a shot from Auston Matthews. Full credit to John Gibson during that penalty kill. It didn’t take long for the Leafs to get their second man advantage as Dmitri Kulikov was called for tripping at 3:47. Once again, the Ducks dodged the bullet that is the Leafs power play and killed off the penalty. Shortly after the power play concluded, William Nylander was high sticked, which drew some blood, but neither official made the call even though Nylander had a very obvious cut on his lip. Pontus Holmberg generated the Leafs third power play of the game as he drove the Ducks net forcing Nathan Beaulieu into cross-checking him. The Leafs top unit didn’t start this power play, but they did get the second half of the power play, and they put on an absolute clinic in the Ducks zone, but they still could not solve Gibson with the man advantage. TJ Brodie made it a 3-0 lead off of a point shot for his first goal of the year at 12:16. Connor Timmins and Auston Matthews drew the assists on the goal, giving Timmins three assists on the night so far. Not long after the Leafs made it 3-0, Gibson left the game, which forced the Ducks to bring Lukas Dostal into the game. That didn’t phase the Leafs or their second period domination as Michael Bunting scored his 6th goal of the year at 16:33, extending his own personal point streak to 9 games. Mitch Marner and Justin Holl were awarded the assists in the 4-0 goal. That would be the score as the second period came to a close. Shots on goal in the middle frame favored the Leafs 17-6, such a dominant period from the blue and white. The overall shots after 40 minutes were 31-22 in favor of the Leafs. TOI leader after the second period was Rasmus Sandin, with 14:50.
The Leafs wasted little time padding their lead as Alex Kerfoot made it 5-0 just 2:37 into the third period. The goal was Kerfoot’s 2nd of the game and 4th goal of the year. The assists went to Mark Giordano and Pontus Holmberg. Just over 3 minutes later, 3:05 to be exact, Pierre Engvall scored his 5th goal of the year, making it 6-0. Rasmus Sandin and Pontus Holmberg with the assists. While Ilya Samsonov was not terribly busy in this one, he was rock solid when he needed to be, and that’s all the Leafs are looking for in terms of goaltending. The majority of the third period was played on the Ducks side of center. With just under two minutes to go, Zach Aston-Reese absolutely rifled a snapshot off the bar and out of play. Seconds later, Joey Anderson collected a loose puck in the slot and ripped it past Dostal for his first goal as a Leaf. Shortly after that, Trevor Zegras delivered a cheap cross-check to the ribs of David Kämpf, to which Kämpf responded with a shot of his own. This led to a scrum where Kevin Shattenkirk jumped Kämpf from behind, ripped his helmet off, and landed a cheap sucker punch. All of this occurred with 1:09 remaining in regulation … in a 7-0 game. The game would end as a 7-0 victory for the blue and white. Also worth noting, Ilya Samsonov has officially recorded shutouts in back-to-back starts (152:38). Shots on goal in the third period were 11-6 in favor of the blue and white. 42-28 were the shots overall, also in favor of the Leafs. TOI leader in this one was TJ Brodie, who logged 21:05.
Tonight’s Three Stars
1. Ilya Samsonov – 28 Saves
2. Alex Kerfoot – 2 Goals
3. Conor Timmins – 3 Assists
The Leafs are back in action on Thursday night as they host the struggling New York Rangers!
For more Leafs news and in-game tweets, follow me on Twitter @mikethefanatic! Also, be sure to check out The Leafs Late Night Podcast wherever you listen to your podcasts!
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