After defeating the Flames Friday night 5-4 in a shootout, the Leafs were right back in action on Saturday night as they were set to host the Vancouver Canucks. Through 14 games this year, the Leafs have been begging to get some scoring support from their bottom six. They finally delivered in this one.
First Star – Mark Giordano
The 40-year-old is the oldest active skater in the NHL. He has been a steady presence on the Leafs blueline since they acquired him before the 2022 NHL trade deadline. He was the definition of a true leader for the blue and white last night. In the first period, Leafs fourth line center David Kampf was absolutely rocked with a body check. Giordano wasted absolutely no time coming to the defense of his teammate. He squared off against the larger Dakota Joshua. That didn’t phase Giordano whatsoever, and he won the fight in a landslide. He played a total of 17:12, blocked two shots, had 19 penalty minutes, a fight, and two hits as well. He was steady defensively all game long for the blue and white; it was a nice change for Leafs Nation to see the team standing up for each other on multiple occasions last night.
Second Star – Ilya Samsonov
Samsonov had appeared in seven games coming into last night’s game, and he was still struggling to find his footing if we were being honest. He played really well in a 3-2 shootout loss to the Boston Bruins. Other than that, he truly has not been good. Last night, he was fantastic. He faced a total of 33 shots, and he stopped 31 of them, giving him a 0.939 save percentage on the night. He was fairly busy the entire game, and he came up with big saves for the blue and white but also timely saves as well. There was still a lot of movement from him in his crease, but it was a major improvement considering how this year has gone so far for him. Leafs Nation can only hope he can build off of this and find his game from a year ago.
Third Star – Noah Gregor
Gregor has been a fantastic addition to the Leafs bottom six since the second he signed his PTO back in training camp, which led to a one year deal with the blue and white for the former Shark. His speed is next level, he doesn’t hurt you defensively, and his shot is incredibly underrated, in my opinion. Last night he played a total of 13:38, a massive improvement from the five to seven minutes per night the fourth line had been getting in previous games. He scored a goal, had an assist, fired one shot on goal, and also laid four hits; a fantastic game from the 25-year-old Alberta native. The new look fourth line of Gregor, Kampf, and McMann was very impressive last night, and it’ll be interesting to see if Keefe continues to roll with that line moving forward.
The Leafs concluded their five game homestand with a record of 3-2-0 and they now have an 8-5-2 record on the year. Worth noting William Nylander found his way on the scoresheet again last night with another goal which extended his point streak to 15 games and counting to start the season. They are now set to travel to Sweden for a couple of games and as a result, they do not return to action until Friday. They will face the Detroit Red Wings on Friday and then the Minnesota Wild on Sunday.
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