The Leafs finally returned to action on Friday after spending all of last week over in Stockholm, Sweden. They were in Chicago set to do battle with the Blackhawks in a Friday afternoon matinee where they were looking to extend their winning streak to five games. Unfortunately, they came up short in this one as they lost 4-3 in overtime.
First Star – Jason Dickinson
Coming into this one, Dickinson had just three goals through 17 games on the year and just 42 goals in 378 career games. So naturally, he scored a natural hat trick against the Leafs on Friday afternoon and somehow, there was only a single assist on one of the goals; the other two were unassisted. The single assist went to former Leaf Joey Anderson because of course, it did. Dickinson played a total of 17:17 in this one, scored three goals, fired five shots on goal, was plus three, blocked a shot, threw a hit, and went 42% in the faceoff dot. For a team that has been struggling most of the year, it must have been nice for Hawks fans to see someone other than Connor Bedard do something for them this season. It will be interesting to see if this lights a fire under Dickinson and if he can build off of it moving forward. He now has 11 points in 18 games, not bad considering he’s on a Hawks team that doesn’t generate much offense consistently.
Second Star – Max Domi
This was one of Domi’s best games as a Leaf … until the shift in overtime which led to the eventual game-winner by Kevin Korchinski. Domi played just 12:51 in this one, he had two assists, fired two shots on goal, was plus one, and he went 66% in the faceoff dot; pretty tidy work from the Leafs third line center. He also made a fantastic effort on the backcheck to break up an odd-man rush in the neutral zone for the Hawks. The pass he made for his first assist of the game was a work of art. He corralled the puck as he entered the offensive zone, he then proceeded to float a gorgeous saucer pass through the slot, right on Nick Robertson’s stick who made no mistake finishing off the play. The Leafs new look third line of Robertson, Domi, and Jarnkrok has been very effective since being put together and today was no different. If they can continue to be a threat offensive like they have been, it makes the Leafs offense that much more intimidating.
Third Star – Arvid Soderblom
I’m sure Leafs Nation will be happy that they have no more games against the Hawks this year. Soderblom got the start against the Leafs back on October 16th where he stopped 35 of the 36 shots he faced in a 4-1 victory in Toronto. Today, he came up clutch for the Hawks against the Leafs once again. It may not have been as dominant of a performance as the game back on October 16th, but he was still a difference-maker in this one. He stopped 34 of the 37 shots he faced in the victory. In two games against the blue and white this season he has faced a total of 73 shots and he stopped 69 of them, giving him a 1.93 goals against average and a 0.945 save percentage. It’s also worth noting he only has two victories on the season thus far and both have come against the Leafs. Dare I say he may have their number?
Unfortunately for William Nylander, his 17-game point streak to open the season came to an end in this one. He came as close as he possibly could to extending the streak in overtime, however, he was sprung on a breakaway where he elected to deke to his backhand but the puck hit the post, then the crossbar, then the other post, and somehow stayed out.
Over the course of the point streak, Nylander scored 12 goals and added 15 assists for a total of 27 points, an impressive run for the 27-year-old Swede.
The Leafs are right back at it again tonight as they are in Pittsburgh to face off against the Penguins as well as Kyle Dubas for the first time since he took over as GM and President for the Penguins. Crosby vs Matthews on hockey night in Canada. Whenever these two teams face off against one another, it is always a wild adventure from start to finish. What will tonight’s game have in store? Tune in to find out!
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