Down the Frozen River

Tag: Alexander Kerfoot

  • Maple Leafs trample Bruins, 6-4, on the road

    Maple Leafs trample Bruins, 6-4, on the road

    The Toronto Maple Leafs had a, 4-1, lead in the second period at TD Garden and… …actually went on to win, 6-4, against the Boston Bruins Tuesday night.

    Ten different Leafs players recorded at least a point while Erik Källgren picked up the win in relief of Petr Mrazek, who left the game almost midway through the first period with an injury.

    Källgren (3-2-1, 2.65 goals-against average, .911 save percentage in six games played) made 23 saves on 26 shots against for the win in relief of Mrazek (12-6-0, 3.34 goals-against average, .888 save percentage in 20 games played), who stopped three out of four shots faced in 7:44 time on ice prior to being injured.

    Bruins goaltender, Jeremy Swayman (19-9-3, 2.24 goals-against average, .920 save percentage in 32 games played) made 19 saves on 25 shots against in the loss before he was replaced by Linus Ullmark (20-9-2, 2.70 goals-against average, .909 save percentage in 33 games played), who turned aside all seven shots in relief for no decision.

    The Maple Leafs improved to 42-19-5 (89 points) on the season and remain in command of 3rd place in the Atlantic Division, while Boston fell to 41-20-5 (87 points) overall and stuck in 4th place in the Atlantic.

    The B’s also fell to 0-2-0 against Toronto this season with one matchup remaining in their regular season series on April 29th at Scotiabank Arena.

    Boston went 2-0-1 against the Leafs in 2019-20.

    Jakub Zboril (right ACL) was the only injured Bruin out of the lineup against Toronto on Tuesday as the defender remains out for the rest of the season since sustaining an injury back on Dec. 2nd in Nashville.

    Meanwhile, Boston’s head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made no changes to his lines and defensive pairings for the third straight game, rendering Mike Reilly, Jack Studnicka, Marc McLaughlin, Josh Brown and Anton Blidh as healthy scratches.

    Given the nature of the blowout against the Leafs, it’s very likely that either Reilly or Brown will see some action against New Jersey on Thursday.

    Connor Clifton misfired a pass towards Matt Grzelcyk before Jason Spezza intercepted the errant puck and worked it to the slot whereby Colin Blackwell (9) redirected it on a backhand from point blank to give the Maple Leafs a, 1-0, lead at 5:09 of the first period.

    Spezza (11) had the only assist on the goal.

    Less than a minute later, Michael Bunting tripped up Hampus Lindholm at 5:47, yielding the night’s first power play to the Bruins.

    It didn’t take long on the skater advantage for Boston to even up the score, 1-1, courtesy of a David Pastrnak (38) power-play goal special on a one-timer that deflected off of T.J. Brodie’s stick and past Mrazek after Pastrnak initially rang the crossbar seconds prior.

    Patrice Bergeron (30) and Charlie McAvoy (35) had the assists on Pastrnak’s goal as the B’s tied things up, 1-1, at 5:59 of the first period.

    Meanwhile, Mrazek skated off and went down the tunnel and would not return to the night’s action with an injury.

    Leafs head coach, Sheldon Keefe, replaced his starter with Källgren and the period continued without much else going wrong for Toronto.

    Bunting and Craig Smith exchanged pleasantries and unsportsmanlike conduct minors, yielding 4-on-4 action at 8:34 of the opening frame as a result.

    About a minute later, William Nylander drove to the net with speed and made his way around Brandon Carlo before setting up Morgan Rielly (8) for a goal on the rebound after Swayman couldn’t square up to the shot on the near post.

    Nylander (36) and John Tavares (40) tallied the assists on Rielly’s goal and the Leafs took a, 2-1, lead at 9:43 of the first period as a result.

    Late in the period, Pastrnak was penalized for boarding as he checked Rielly along the wall at 16:09.

    This time, however, there were no goals within the ensuing specials teams action, but Toronto caught Boston in the vulnerable minute afterwards anyway.

    Alexander Kerfoot (11) blocked a shot in his own zone and broke free on a breakaway as he raced the other way before going backhand-forehand around Swayman’s right pad on an unassisted effort to give the Maple Leafs a, 3-1, lead at 18:44.

    After one period, Toronto led, 3-1, on the scoreboard and, 11-10, in shots on goal.

    The Leafs also held the advantage in takeaways (4-1) and faceoff win percentage (55-45), while the Bruins led in giveaways (4-2) and hits (17-8).

    Both teams had two blocked shots each, while Toronto went 0/1 and the B’s went 1/1 on the power play heading into the middle frame.

    Ilya Lyubushkin kicked things off in the middle period with an interference infraction at 6:00 of the second period.

    The Bruins didn’t convert on the ensuing power play, however.

    Once more, Boston was caught in the vulnerable minute after special teams action– even though they had just been on the skater advantage.

    The B’s failed to muster anything in the attacking zone and struggled to get out of their own end, while Bunting made an interception around the neutral zone, setting up Auston Matthews for a quick pass to Mitchell Marner (28) for a one-timer goal from one knee– giving the Leafs a, 4-1, lead as a result.

    Matthews (36) and Bunting (31) had the assists on Marner’s goal at 8:28 of the second period.

    About five minutes later, Charlie Coyle and Spezza went to the box for holding the stick and hooking, respectively, rendering a couple more minutes of 4-on-4 action at 13:12.

    A few seconds after the two teams resumed 5-on-5 play, Lyubushkin hit checked Taylor Hall from behind, resulting in a bit of retaliation from Hall– earning the latter a roughing minor, while Lyubushkin ended up going down the tunnel.

    Hall may face supplemental discipline depending on if the league views his response as a sucker punch or not.

    Regardless, Hall cut a rut to the sin bin at 15:18 and the Leafs scored on the resulting power play at 16:00 of the second period as Matthews (49) hit the back of the twine with Tavares (41) and Marner (48) picking up the assists.

    Toronto had a, 5-1, lead and extended it to, 6-1, 47 seconds after Matthews’ goal on a shot from the point by Rielly that had eyes and deflected off of David Kämpf (9) past Swayman.

    Rielly (46) had the only assist as the Maple Leafs took a five-goal lead at 16:47 of the second period.

    Despite a brief cross check after the goal, Clifton evaded any further action.

    Late in the period, McAvoy riffled the puck towards the slot whereby Jake DeBrusk (17) redirected the rubber biscuit with his right leg past Källgren while gliding towards the net.

    As it wasn’t a distinct kicking motion, DeBrusk’s goal went unchallenged by Keefe, nor the on-ice officials, while McAvoy (36) and Brad Marchand (38) picked up the assists as the Bruins trailed, 6-2, at 18:19.

    Less than a minute later, McAvoy and Bunting each received unsportsmanlike conduct minors for… …perceived rising temperatures on the ice?

    Regardless, the two teams were skating at 4-on-4 once more at 18:44 of the second period.

    As the horn signaled the end of two periods, Marchand cross checked a Leafs skater on his way off the ice and exchanged some words with an on-ice official that ultimately deemed he had gone a step too far– assessing No. 63 in black and gold a 10-minute misconduct at 20:00 of the second period.

    Through 40 minutes of action, Toronto led, 6-2, on the scoreboard and, 25-19, in shots on goal– including a, 14-9, advantage in the middle frame alone.

    Boston held the advantage in blocked shots (5-3), giveaways (10-3), hits (27-19) and faceoff win% (51-49), while the Maple Leafs held the advantage in takeaways (6-2).

    Both teams were 1/2 on the power play heading into the final frame.

    Cassidy replaced his starting goaltender in Swayman with Ullmark to begin the third period, while the Maple Leafs announced that Justin Holl and Lyubushkin would not be returning to the night’s action– about 40 minutes after they already announced Mrazek’s departure for the night.

    Early in the final frame, Marner tripped McAvoy at 6:29 of the third period.

    Boston’s resulting power play was cut short when Erik Haula tripped Nylander at 8:20, but at least the Bruins’ penalty kill managed to kill off Haula’s infraction without issue.

    Midway through the third period, Curtis Lazar (7) pocketed a carom off the endboards past Källgren’s short side to bring the Bruins to within three goals.

    Clifton (6) and Tomáš Nosek (12) tallied the assists on Lazar’s goal and the B’s trailed, 6-3, at 13:02 of the third period as No. 20 for Boston established a career-high in goals.

    Moments later, Hall (15) drove to the net and clipped Källgren’s stick with his right leg as the puck trickled through the Leafs netminder’s five-hole, but the would-be goal was immediately washed out.

    Cassidy used a coach’s challenge and upon review, the call on the ice was overturned as it had not been sufficient incidental contact to interfere with Källgren’s ability to make a save, thereby rendering it a good goal.

    Pastrnak (30) and Derek Forbort (7) had the assists on Hall’s goal and the Bruins trailed, 6-4, at 17:38 of the third period as a result.

    With 1:54 remaining in the action, Ullmark vacated the crease for an extra attacker, but Boston wasn’t able to get anything else past Källgren as the Bruins struggled to setup dominant possession in the attacking zone.

    At the final horn, Toronto had won, 6-4, and finished the night leading in shots on goal, 32-30, despite trailing, 11-7, in shots on net in the third period alone.

    The Maple Leafs exited TD Garden with the advantage in blocked shots (8-5), while the Bruins left their own ice leading in giveaways (12-6), hits (35-27) and faceoff win% (53-47).

    Both teams went 1/3 on the power play on Tuesday, as Boston fell to 11-13-3 (7-7-1 at home) when allowing the game’s first goal, 5-13-2 (4-7-1 at home) when trailing after the first period and 4-15-2 (3-9-1 at home) when trailing after two periods this season.

    Toronto improved to 29-6-2 (15-5-2 on the road) when scoring first, 26-3-2 (12-3-2 on the road) when leading after one and 31-1-2 (15-0-2 on the road) when leading after the second period in 2021-22.

    The Bruins wrap up the month of March and begin April by hosting the New Jersey Devils on Thursday and Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday– rounding out their five-game homestand (2-1-0) in the process.

  • Bruins lose first game in Toronto in almost two years

    Bruins lose first game in Toronto in almost two years

    John Tavares and Auston Matthews each had a pair of goals in the Toronto Maple Leafs’, 5-2, victory over the Boston Bruins Saturday night at Scotiabank Arena.

    Saturday night marked Boston’s return to Canada in the regular season for the first time since the 2019-20 season due to the temporary realignment for the entire 2020-21 regular season in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

    Jack Campbell (6-2-1, 1.88 goals-against average, .936 save percentage in 10 games played) made 42 saves on 44 shots against in the win for the Leafs.

    Meanwhile, Linus Ullmark (3-2-0, 2.60 goals-against average, .918 save percentage in five games played) stopped 31 out of 35 shots faced in the loss.

    The Bruins dropped to 5-4-0 (10 points) on the season and fell to 6th place in the Atlantic Division, while Toronto improved to 7-4-1 (15 points) overall and in command of 2nd place in the Atlantic.

    Prior to Saturday night’s matchup, it had been 722 day since the B’s beat the Leafs, 4-2, in Toronto on Nov. 15, 2019.

    Once again, Nick Foligno (upper body), Anton Blidh (upper body), Jack Studnicka and Jakub Zboril were out of the lineup for Boston, while head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made no changes to his lineup after Thursday night’s, 5-1, victory against the Detroit Red Wings.

    A few minutes into the action, a mad scramble in front of Boston’s own net led to a great scoring chance for Morgan Rielly, whereby the Leafs defender sent a shot at a mostly open net as Ullmark dove across the crease in desperation, but Patrice Bergeron stood tall behind his goaltender and blocked the rubber biscuit from entering the open twine.

    Bergeron may be in search of his fifth Frank J. Selke Trophy in his career, but he also might have just made the save of the season and could receive a vote or two towards the Vezina Trophy as the league’s best goaltender in 2021-22.

    Moments later, Connor Clifton was penalized for roughing and yielded the night’s first power play to the Toronto at 5:18 of the first period.

    The B’s made the kill on the ensuing infraction, however.

    Maple Leafs defender, Jake Muzzin, knocked his own net off its moorings and received a delay of game minor at 8:23, presenting the Bruins with their first power play of the night.

    It didn’t take Boston long to win the ensuing offensive zone faceoff, work the puck around the attacking zone from Brad Marchand to Bergeron for a one-timer that Taylor Hall (3) tipped past Campbell from point blank without any pressure in front of the net.

    Bergeron (4) and Marchand (9) tallied the assists on Hall’s power-play goal as the Bruins pulled ahead, 1-0, at 8:37 of the first period.

    Almost four minutes later, however, Tavares (5) inadvertently redirected a shot with his leg past Ullmark that Mitchell Marner originally fired towards the net– tying the game, 1-1, in the process.

    Marner (7) and Rielly (7) had the assists on the goal, which had briefly been reviewed before being upheld as the officials checked to make sure there was a legitimate scoring chance imminent as Bergeron bumped into Tavares, thereby knocking the net off of its pegs immediately prior to the goal at 12:21.

    After one period of action in Toronto, the scoreboard was even, 1-1, despite the Bruins leading in shots on goal, 13-9.

    Boston held the advantage in blocked shots (6-2), takeaways (3-1) and giveaways (3-1), while both teams managed to have 10 hits each and split the faceoff winning percentage, 50-50, in the first period.

    The Maple Leafs were 0/1 and the Bruins were 1/1 on the power play heading into the first intermission.

    Leafs head coach, Sheldon Keefe, couldn’t have been too pleased early in the middle frame when his skaters botched a line change and had one too many on the ice– resulting in a bench minor for too many men 40 seconds into the second period.

    This time, however, Boston’s power play was unsuccessful.

    Moments later, David Pastrnak was assessed a minor for boarding as he collided with T.J. Brodie awkwardly along the boards and presented Toronto with a skater advantage at 7:34 of the second period.

    The Leafs did not convert on the ensuing skater advantage.

    Late in the period, Matt Grzelcyk caught Marner with a high stick and cut a rut to the penalty box as a result at 14:35.

    Toronto made quick work of the ensuing power play as Marner worked a zone entry to Tavares, who sent the puck back to Marner off of Bruins defender Derek Forbort’s stick.

    While continuing to approach the slot, Marner sent a quick pass to Matthews for the shot off of Ullmark’s pad that rebounded right back to Matthews (4), who promptly pocketed the rubber biscuit in the twine under the bar to give Toronto a, 2-1, lead.

    Marner (8) had the only assist on Matthews’ first goal of the night at 14:59 of the second period.

    Minutes later, Marchand gave Timothy Liljegren a quick stick to the face, yielding an infraction for high sticking as a result and giving the Maple Leafs another chance on the power play at 18:03.

    Once more, Matthews (5) made Boston pay with a power-play goal on a one-timer from the faceoff dot off of Ullmark’s glove and into the back of the net.

    Rielly (8) and Marner (9) tabbed the assists on Matthews’ second goal of the night and the Leafs led, 3-1, at 18:54 of the second period.

    Through 40 minutes of action, the Maple Leafs led, 3-1, on the scoreboard and in shots on goal, 27-21, including an, 18-8, advantage in the second period alone.

    Toronto also held the advantage in takeaways (5-4) and faceoff win% (55-45), while the Bruins led in blocked shots (12-5), giveaways (12-4) and hits (20-16).

    The Maple Leafs were 2/4 on the power play, while the Bruins were 1/2 on the skater advantage after two periods.

    Tavares hooked Pastrnak 32 seconds into the third period, but the Bruins were not successful on the ensuing power play.

    Instead, shortly after emerging from the penalty box, Tavares (6) slipped a rebound under Ullmark to give Toronto a, 4-1, lead at 2:53 of the third period.

    William Nylander (5) and Rasmus Sandin (4) had the assists on Tavares’ second goal of the game.

    Almost midway through the final frame, Pastrnak (3) rocketed a one-timer through Campbell’s six-hole after Marchand entered the zone, cut in and fed Pastrnak for the goal.

    Marchand (10) had the only assist on Pastrnak’s goal and the Bruins trailed, 4-2, at 8:29 of the third period.

    Michael Bunting tripped Clifton at 15:44, but Boston couldn’t take advantage of the resulting skater advantage.

    With 1:43 remaining in the game, Cassidy pulled his netminder for an extra attacker, but things did not go as he planned as Marner (3) quickly pocketed an empty net goal to extend Toronto’s lead to three-goals once again.

    Tavares (6) and Alexander Kerfoot (4) tallied the assists on Marner’s empty net goal at 19:17 of the third period and at the final horn the Leafs had won, 5-2.

    The Maple Leafs finished Saturday night’s action leading in blocked shots (16-13), as well as in faceoff win% (51-49), while the B’s exited Scotiabank Arena with the advantage in shots on goal (44-36), including a, 23-9, advantage in the third period alone.

    Boston also wrapped the night up leading in giveaways (15-11) and hits (32-22).

    Toronto went 2/4 and Boston went 1/4 on the power play in Saturday night’s, 5-2, win for the Maple Leafs.

    The B’s fell to 5-2-0 (1-2-0 on the road) when scoring the game’s first goal, 0-2-0 (0-2-0 on the road) when tied after one period and 0-3-0 (0-3-0 on the road) when trailing after two periods this season.

    The Maple Leafs, meanwhile, rose to 4-3-1 (3-1-1 at home) when allowing the game’s first goal, 2-2-0 (2-1-0 at home) when tied after the first period and 4-0-0 (4-0-0 at home) when leading after the second period in 2021-22.

    The Bruins return to TD Garden for a two-game homestand next Tuesday and Thursday against the Ottawa Senators and Edmonton Oilers, respectively, prior to going to New Jersey next Saturday for a road game against the Devils.

    Boston hosts the Montréal Canadiens for the first time since the 2019-20 season on Nov. 14th.

  • Toronto Maple Leafs 2021-22 Season Preview

    Toronto Maple Leafs 2021-22 Season Preview

    2020-21 record 35-14-7, 77 points

    1st in the Scotia NHL North Division

    Eliminated in the First Round by Montréal

    Additions: F Michael Amadio, F Michael Bunting, F Kurtis Gabriel, F Joshua Ho-Sang (signed to a PTO), F David Kämpf, F Ondrej Kaše, F Nikita Gusev (signed to a PTO), F Nick Ritchie, F Brett Seney, D Alex Biega, D Carl Dahlström, D Brennan Menell, G Petr Mrázek

    Subtractions: F Kenny Agostino (KHL), F Nick Foligno (signed with BOS), F Alex Galchenyuk (signed to a PTO with ARI), F Zach Hyman (signed with EDM), F Denis Malgin (NL), F Jared McCann (acquired from PIT, expansion, SEA), F Riley Nash (signed with WPG), F Joe Thornton (signed with FLA), D Zach Bogosian (signed with TBL), G Frederik Andersen (signed with CAR)

    Still Unsigned: D Ben Hutton

    Re-signed: F Wayne Simmonds, F Jason Spezza, D Travis Dermott, D Joseph Duszak, G Joseph Woll

    Offseason Analysis: Whereas the Maple Leafs loaded up on veterans you may have heard of before last offseason in Wayne Simmonds, Joe Thornton and others, then acquired Nick Foligno and Riley Nash at the trade deadline, this year’s approach for Toronto has gone in a different direction.

    This year, Leafs General Manager, Kyle Dubas, is signing guys you might not even know exist, plus a few underdogs.

    Michael Bunting and David Kämpf might not be the first players you think of when you think about quality depth down the lineup, but Toronto is out to prove the naysayers wrong this season and show forward progress in the postseason– at the very least, if not win it all.

    Though it’s a small sample size, Bunting had 10-3–13 totals in 21 games with the Arizona Coyotes last season. In 26 career NHL games, he has 11-3–14 totals, but again, that was with players not of the same caliber as Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, John Tavares or William Nylander.

    Now he finds himself in competition for a top-six role– if he can beat his competition in Nick Ritchie and Ilya Mikheyev among top-nine forwards on the left wing.

    Kämpf, meanwhile, can switch out with Jason Spezza at center on the fourth line and amassed 1-11-12 totals with Chicago in 56 games last season.

    In 2019-20, Kämpf had 8-8–16 totals in 70 games– three points shy of his career-high 19 points (four goals, 15 assists) in 63 games in 2018-19 with Chicago.

    Playing alongside Simmonds and Spezza should make Toronto’s fourth line more competitive with Kurtis Gabriel rotated in for some added oomph.

    Speaking of Ritchie, however, Leafs-centric media might have you thinking he’s the next Matthews, but buyer beware– his 26 points (15 goals, 11 assists) in 56 games with the Boston Bruins last season wasn’t so much of a breakout or a fluke as it was a return to his expectations.

    Ritchie played up in Boston’s lineup due to injury and became a unique piece of their power play at one point in that (strangely enough) it worked.

    He spent pretty much the first half of last season playing with David Krejci at center and that’s not to say Matthews isn’t as skilled or better than Krejci, but rather a testament to Krejci’s status as a playmaker that elevates all around him.

    Luckily for Toronto, Krejci’s gone back to Czechia to play in front of family and friends in his home country, so the Maple Leafs are better matched down the middle against the Bruins.

    Yet, Ritchie’s impressive first half of the season regressed to the norm by the second half and down the stretch. He’s no Zach Hyman, but anything over 30 points in the upcoming season is a success for a player that had 9-22-31 totals with the Anaheim Ducks in 60 games in the 2018-19 season.

    At the very least, Ritchie’s two-year deal worth $2.500 million per season is manageable. In fact, it’s the most Dubas spent on a skater this offseason.

    If you can’t beat them– steal them.

    Former Bruin, Ondrej Kaše, also joins Ritchie as a new Leaf and Kaše’s really looking to turn over a new leaf, since he’s coming off of a season in which he played three games and was sidelined by a concussion between Game 2 and Game 55 of a 56-game regular season.

    In nine games as a Bruin, Kaše amassed one point, an assist, after he was acquired by Boston for David Backes, Axel Andersson and a 2020 1st round pick on Feb. 21, 2020.

    Whether or not Kaše can get back up to speed– let alone continue his career– remains to be seen, but for now he’s signed to a one-year deal worth $1.250 million per season.

    The defense is the same, Alexander Kerfoot did not get selected by the Seattle Kraken at the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft and Toronto essentially traded goaltenders with the Carolina Hurricanes without actually making a trade.

    No, David Ayres isn’t taking his talents to Scotiabank Arena in a Leafs uniform, but Petr Mrázek is on a three-year deal worth $3.800 million per season.

    At 29-years-old, he’s the same age as Jack Campbell and signed through 2023-24, whereas Campbell is a pending-unrestricted free agent as of July 2022.

    Mrázek was limited to 12 games due to injury last season and went 6-2-3 with three shutouts, a 2.06 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage in that span.

    It was his best performance in three seasons with the Canes, though in both 2018-19 and 2019-20, he played in 40 games, so was last season just a testament to Carolina’s defense or….

    Nevertheless, when the Hurricanes faced the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Second Round, Mrázek was called upon to replace Alex Nedeljkovic for a pair of starts.

    Though he extended Carolina’s postseason to a Game 5 against Tampa in the Second Round, Mrázek went 1-1 with a 3.90 goals-against average and an .873 save percentage.

    So it appears as though there’ll be healthy competition for the starting job– at least come time for the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs as it wasn’t entirely Campbell’s fault the Leafs blew a 3-1 series lead against a low-scoring Montréal Canadiens offense.

    Anyway, Frederik Andersen left for the Hurricanes– the team that originally drafted him in the 7th round (187th overall) in 2010, before he re-entered the draft and was selected in the 3rd round (87th overall) by Anaheim in 2012.

    Before we grade the Toronto’s offseason, let’s review a pair of trades that Dubas made this summer.

    First, on July 17th, he dealt Filip Hallander and a 2023 7th round pick to the Pittsburgh Penguins for Jared McCann, who was then left exposed for the Kraken to take over Kerfoot. Whoops.

    Then on July 26th, James (J.D.) Greenway was traded to Boston for future considerations.

    Maybe that’s all it takes to get out of the First Round for the first time since 2004.

    Offseason Grade: B-

    With about $80,200 in cap space, the Maple Leafs aren’t doing themselves any favors if they’re looking to add without subtracting around the 2022 trade deadline.

    That said, Dubas would likely have to get creative if things are dire anyway, since the runway is getting shorter and shorter year-by-year.

    Nylander is not the problem when a trio of players are getting paid more than him against the cap and producing… …not as much.

    Sometimes points per dollar in the playoffs should be accounted for more than points per game in the regular season or something like that– not looking to stir up any more arguments than there already are on Leafs Twitter.

    Though it may not look it on paper like last season, Toronto has made improvements where it counts and trimmed the excess where it dragged them down in crucial moments, but if all else fails yet again this season– they still need to resolve a true “goaltender of the future” problem, tweak the defense and make some big, bold, moves.

  • Let’s pretend to be the Seattle Kraken

    Let’s pretend to be the Seattle Kraken

    The 2021 NHL Expansion Draft welcomes the Seattle Kraken to the league as its 32nd member club Wednesday night at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN2 in the United States and Sportsnet in Canada.

    Because of a lot going on right now, this mock expansion draft got delayed until the day of the actual draft and ultimately is arbitrary. If there’s even one prediction right here, then Kraken General Manager, Ron Francis, apparently reads DTFR.

    We’ll make that assumption, thank you very much.

    Seattle has run numerous mock drafts at this point and gone through many scenarios, but who would’ve imagined that players like Alex Ovechkin, Ondrej Palat and more would be available?

    Of course, keep in mind that the Kraken have to spend between 60-100% of the previous season’s salary cap ($81.500 million).

    For the sake of keeping things simple here, we’ve provided some built-in scenarios that would allow Seattle to be cap compliant as a result of the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft.

    The Kraken will be selecting one player from 30 NHL clubs as the Vegas Golden Knights are exempt from this round of expansion. The 30 other teams had the option to protect seven forwards, three defenders and one goaltender or any combination of eight skaters and one goaltender.

    For more on the protection and exposure requirements, check out the protected lists and 2021 NHL Expansion Draft rules.

    The majority of this was written before the leaked selections were revealed, so let’s just pretend we’re all in an alternate universe for a bit longer.

    ANAHEIM DUCKS

    LD/RD Haydn Fleury

    25-years-old, 1 year left, $1.300 million cap hit

    Fleury was dealt to Anaheim at the trade deadline as the Carolina Hurricanes feared they would probably lose him anyway to former Canes GM Ron Francis at the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft.

    Turns out their fears were based in reality as the Ducks experience déjà vu that harkens back to when they lost Shea Theodore to the Golden Knights in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft.

    Fleury had 3-1–4 totals in 47 games for Anaheim and Carolina in 2020-21.

    ARIZONA COYOTES

    RW/LW Christian Fischer

    24, 1 year left, $1.000 million cap hit

    Fischer (3-8–11 totals in 52 games) is a safe bet for Seattle as he’s entering his prime and carries a low-risk, high-reward type of contract with the expectation that he could blossom into an attractive bottom-six forward.

    It’s either that, or he’ll be a sweetener in another transaction as the deadline approaches if there’s a team looking to bolster their depth.

    BOSTON BRUINS

    LD/RD Connor Clifton

    26, 2 years left, $1.000 million cap hit

    Boston is more than likely going to lose a defender– whether it’s Clifton, Jeremy Lauzon or Jakub Zboril– rather than a forward, like Nick Ritchie, for example. Between Clifton and Lauzon, the Kraken can’t go wrong.

    If they’d prefer the younger of the two, then Lauzon is your choice. Of course, if Seattle is looking for an NHL ready bottom-pairing and/or seventh defender, then look no further than the hard-hitting Clifton (1-6–7 totals in 44 games) despite his 5-foot-11, 175-pound frame.

    BUFFALO SABRES

    LD Jake McCabe

    27, pending-unrestricted free agent, $2.850 million cap hit in 2020-21

    Like more than a few players in Buffalo this offseason, McCabe could benefit from a change of scenery and can be best utilized as a bottom-pairing or depth defender.

    Perhaps the Kraken can’t come to an agreement on a new contract or they find a way to flip him at the Expansion Draft– ether way, Seattle’s looking to get more out of his 1-2–3 totals in 13 games in 2020-21.

    CALGARY FLAMES

    LD Mark Giordano

    37, 1 year remaining, $6.750 million cap hit

    Though Seattle wouldn’t go wrong with either Milan Lucic or Giordano in terms of drafting leadership out of the Flames’ dressing room, it turns out the Kraken liked the Golden Knights’ model enough and pried a veteran defender out of Calgary to lead the first generation Kraken roster.

    With 26 points (nine goals, 17 assists) in 56 games in 2020-21, a Mark Messier Leadership Award and a James Norris Memorial Trophy under his belt in 2019-20 and 2018-19, respectively, Giordano’s had a late career resurgence and could prove to be an effective piece on Seattle’s blue line.

    CAROLINA HURRICANES

    RD Dougie Hamilton

    28, pending-UFA, $5.750 million cap hit in 2020-21

    Hamilton arrived to Carolina after Francis left the organization, but that doesn’t rule out the six degrees of Kevin Bacon factor here, which allows the Kraken to select the right-shot defender that had 10-32–42 totals in 55 games this season.

    Though he’s a pending-UFA, Seattle has the space to get creative with either a new contract or the ability to trade his negotiating rights for more assets before free agency begins on July 28th.

    CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS

    LD/RD Calvin de Haan

    30, 1 year left, $4.550 million cap hit

    de Haan’s (1-9–10 totals in 44 games) been a journeyman for three out of the last four seasons having gone from the New York Islanders in 2017-18, to the Hurricanes in 2018-19, then Chicago from 2019-present.

    He’d either play a bigger role with Seattle or would continue wracking up the airline rewards points by being used as trade bait for another club in the offseason similar to how the Golden Knights used Marc Methot and David Schlemko in their Expansion Draft year.

    COLORADO AVALANCHE

    LW/C Gabriel Landeskog

    28, pending-UFA, $5.571 million cap hit in 2020-21

    Vegas was wheeling and dealing at the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft and Seattle will likely be doing the same in this year’s 2021 NHL Expansion Draft, so why not take a chance on Landeskog and see what happens?

    At best, he sticks around. At worst, you trade his negotiating rights before July 28th or play it safe and claim Joonas Donskoi instead to provide yourself with some quality top-nine forward depth.

    Landeskog, however, brings his 20-32–52 totals in 54 games this season, as well as his leadership qualities as the current captain in Colorado to Seattle if he were to sign a long-term extension to guide the Kraken through their formative years. He’d be the surefire captain for the new club, no doubt.

    COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS

    C/LW Max Domi

    26, 1 year left, $5.300 million cap hit

    Columbus took a gamble and it didn’t pay off as Domi’s 44 points (17 goals, 27 assists) in 71 games with the Montréal Canadiens in 2019-20, faltered to 24 points (nine goals, 15 assists) in 54 games with the Blue Jackets in 2020-21.

    As such, Domi was exposed to the elements and that’s where the Kraken come in to take a flyer on a top-six forward looking for the right system and something to be built around. If all else fails, it’s only one season to get Seattle off the ground and provide a spark.

    DALLAS STARS

    LD/RD Andrej Sekera

    35, 1 year left, $1.500 million cap hit

    Sekera’s five points (three goals, two assists) in 46 games won’t be attracting any buyers for his offensive capabilities from the point, but if it’s a shutdown defender that can play throughout the lineup you need, then he’ll come in handy as a Swiss Army knife of sorts.

    If the Kraken trade from the rest of their plethora of defenders and Sekera remains, it’s not the end of the world. If Seattle sends him packing after claiming him from Dallas, then the Stars won’t have lost that much for nothing with bigger fish to fry.

    Either that or the Kraken could just snag Jamie Oleksiak and call it a day.

    DETROIT RED WINGS

    RW/LW/C Vladislav Namestnikov

    28, 1 year left, $2.000 million cap hit

    Remember when Namestnikov was a household name in a Tampa Bay Lightning uniform? Or when he was a New York Ranger? These days, it seems like he’s been everywhere– especially since he’s suited up for the Rangers, Ottawa Senators, Colorado Avlanche and Red Wings in the last two seasons.

    His best season came in 2017-18, when he amassed 48 points between the Lightning and Rangers in 81 games played, but Namestnikov only managed 8-9–17 totals in 53 games with Detroit this season.

    At $2.000 million for one season, he’s a suitable asset in your bottom-six forward group with a low-cost, high-reward 30-40 point potential at best or easy to move at the deadline at worst.

    EDMONTON OILERS

    RD Adam Larsson

    28, pending-UFA, $4.167 million cap hit in 2020-21

    Larsson (4-6–10 totals in 56 games) is sure to hit the open market on July 28th, but if the Kraken find themselves in position to stake their claim to his negotiating rights and sign him before anyone else can even submit an offer it wouldn’t be unwise.

    At best, Seattle lands a top-four defender. At worst, they avoid having to take something else from the Oilers. James Neal likely isn’t getting another call from an expansion team this time around and Kyle Turris might be the only decent cheap contract if he can find his game again.

    FLORIDA PANTHERS

    G Chris Driedger

    27, pending-UFA, $850,000 cap hit in 2020-21

    Seattle was enchanted by his emergence in the last couple of seasons and with Spencer Knight coming out of the shadows behind Sergei Bobrovksy’s contract in Florida, Driedger finds himself hitting the open waters of Puget Sound and/or free agency.

    Whether or not Driedger’s 14-6-3 record, 2.07 goals-against average and .9217 save percentage in 23 games (23 starts, three shutouts) is a promising sign of things to come or simply a solid mark of defensive work in front of him remains to be seen.

    That said, Driedger is one of the better goaltenders on the open market– if he even makes it there first.

    LOS ANGELES KINGS 

    RW/LW Austin Wagner

    24, 2 years left, $1.133 million cap hit

    Despite having one of the best prospect pools in the league right now, the Kings don’t have too much to offer via expansion, so the Kraken will have to settle for a fourth-liner that has yet to reveal whether or not this is really all that there is to his game.

    Wagner had 4-4–8 totals in 44 games with Los Angeles in 2020-21.

    MINNESOTA WILD

    G Kaapo Kähkönen

    24, 1 year left, $725,000

    The Wild chose to protect Cam Talbot over their future potential starting goaltender in Kähkönen which is good news for Kraken fans and bad news for Minnesota fans.

    Unless Seattle has a deal in place to acquire assets from the Wild to not select Kähkönen, this is a dangerous game for Minnesota GM, Bill Guerin, to play– but then again, he’s put an emphasis on change at the forefront of his tenure in Minnesota’s front office.

    Meanwhile, Kähkönen went 16-8-0 in 24 games (23 starts, two shutouts) and had a 2.88 goals-against average and a .902 save percentage in that span in 2020-21.

    MONTRÉAL CANADIENS

    G Carey Price

    33, 5 years left, $10.500 million cap hit

    Whether or not Price is even being considered by the Kraken hinges upon two things 1) his health and 2) if Seattle and Montréal have already worked out some sort of trade.

    The league has already informed the clubs that they would be circumventing the salary cap if the Kraken select Price, retain 50% of his salary and deal him back to Montréal.

    But, Seattle could take the 2021 Stanley Cup Final runner-up goaltender that amassed a 12-7-5 record in 25 games (25 starts, one shutout) in the regular season and had a 2.64 goals-against average, as well as a .901 save percentage in that span and play him, place him on long-term injured reserve or eat some salary and trade him elsewhere.

    In any case, Price to Seattle would be as big a deal as Marc-Andre Fleury to Vegas in 2017.

    NASHVILLE PREDATORS

    LD Mark Borowiecki

    32, 1 year left, $2.000 million cap hit

    Borowiecki’s 2020-21 campaign was cut short and limited to 22 games due to injury, but don’t let his one assist fool you– he’s a physical defender that will do anything to make a hit, block a shot and lead in the dressing room when he’s not on the ice.

    If he’s healthy, he’d be effective in Seattle as the Kraken look to establish their workplace culture and team identity.

    NEW JERSEY DEVILS

    LW/RW Andreas Johnsson

    26, 2 years left, $3.400 million cap hit

    Johnsson had 43 points in 73 games with the Toronto Maple Leafs in his first full season at the NHL level in 2018-19. He then had just 21 points in 43 games with the Leafs in 2019-20 and 5-6–11 totals in 50 games with the Devils this season.

    In the right situation, he could bounce back. In New Jersey, it doesn’t look like that’d be happening anytime soon– regardless of Nico Hischier and Jack Hughes’ emergence with Ty Smith and Yegor Sharangovich playing a part in the club’s turnaround.

    Some, however, have Mackenzie Blackwood pegged as being selected by the Kraken as they certainly have plenty of goaltenders to choose from and trade thereafter.

    NEW YORK ISLANDERS

    RW/LW Josh Bailey

    31, 3 years left, $5.000 million cap hit

    Bailey had 8-27–35 totals in 54 games with the Islanders this season and would provide some meat in the middle of our hypothetical Kraken roster.

    Between Bailey and Jordan Eberle, however, Seattle can’t go wrong. The former tends to score clutch goals in the playoffs and has a cap hit that’s $500,000 less than the latter, though that’s not much to worry about.

    NEW YORK RANGERS

    RW Julien Gauthier

    23, 1 year left, $775,000 cap hit

    It’s not always about size, but having the option to use a 6-foot-4, 227-pound winger in your lineup certainly will help the Kraken in the physical elements of the game– especially against their rivals in the Pacific Division.

    Gauthier had 2-6–8 totals in 30 games with the Rangers in 2020-21.

    OTTAWA SENATORS

    G Joey Daccord

    24, 2 years left, $750,000 cap hit

    Daccord appeared in eight games (six games) this season as the Senators struggled to stay healthy in the crease and went on to amass a 1-3-1 record in the process with a 3.27 goals-against average and an .897 save percentage in that span– revealing two things 1) he’s a young goaltender and 2) the Sens really need a better roster in front of any and all of their goaltenders.

    But choosing Daccord is O.K. for Seattle since he’ll develop in due time and it takes care of having to pick something else from Ottawa’s scraps.

    PHILADELPHIA FLYERS

    RW/LW Jakub Voracek

    31, 3 years left, $8.250 million cap hit

    Want to get messy? Let’s have the Kraken select Voracek from the Flyers and see what happens!

    No, this isn’t about postgame press conference outbursts or anything (though Voracek was in the right in that regard), but rather, there’s a lot of teams that would take Voracek at a reduced rate and Seattle could make bank off trading him.

    Or they could keep the guy that had 9-34–43 totals in 53 games in 2020-21 and see what happens in 2021-22, but Francis isn’t likely going to take on that big of a contract unless it’s a free agent signing.

    PITTSBURGH PENGUINS

    RW/LW Brandon Tanev

    29, 4 years left, $3.500 million cap hit

    Tanev can skate, hit and compete, so… …in other words, he’s a hockey player. He’s also got the long hair to go with it.

    In 2020-21, he had 7-9–16 totals in 32 games in his second season with the Penguins. Though he was on the cusp of the 30-point plateau with the Winnipeg Jets in 2018-19, Tanev’s career-high 29 points is about the most Seattle could get out of him, but that’s fine for the meat of their lineup.

    SAN JOSE SHARKS

    C Dylan Gambrell

    24, 1 year left, $1.100 million cap hit

    Be honest, did you really want to have to take anything from the Sharks?

    Gambrell matched his career-high in goals (five) and set career-highs in assists (seven) and points (12) in 49 games with San Jose this season, but aside from being young, he’s still very much a fourth liner in the NHL, so the Kraken have that going for them, at least.

    ST. LOUIS BLUES

    RW Vladimir Tarasenko

    29, 2 years left, $7.500 million cap hit

    Name brand power. Seattle would assure themselves of having some top jersey sales if they’d just take Tarasenko and keep him on the roster.

    Then again, he’s missed significant portions of the last two seasons and already wants out of St. Louis, so what’s not to say he won’t be disgruntled about going to a completely new franchise and any growing pains?

    With 4-10–14 totals in 24 games in 2020-21, and 442 points in 531 career NHL games, it’s probably worth at least being in control of his next destination– whether that’s the Kraken or elsewhere.

    TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING

    C/LW/RW Yanni Gourde

    29, 4 years left, $5.167 million cap hit

    Gourde is an affordable player to build a brand new roster around, but just how far up the lineup can he play? Will Seattle try to make him like William Karlsson in Vegas’ first year and demand first line minutes or are they comfortable with taking a more conservative approach and, say, making him a second liner at best?

    In any case, 17-19–36 totals in 56 games en route to back-to-back Stanley Cup rings with the Lightning brings the right amount of depth scoring and valuable playoff experience to the Kraken’s roster.

    TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS

    LW/C Jared McCann

    25, 1 year left, $2.940 million cap hit

    There was a reason why the Maple Leafs went out and got McCann in a trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins ahead of the expansion draft, but it clearly wasn’t as an insurance plan in the event that Seattle took Alexander Kerfoot and Toronto needed a new third line center or something.

    Instead, the Leafs left both available and the Kraken took the guy with the better offensive production in 2020-21, as McCann had 14-18–32 totals in 43 games with Pittsburgh, while Kerfoot had 8-15–23 totals in 56 games with Toronto.

    VANCOUVER CANUCKS

    C/RW Zack MacEwen

    25, 1 year left, $825,000

    All of Vancouver’s bad contracts are coming to bite them just as everyone expected. Sure, some attractive salary cap hits were available if the Kraken needed a boost, but for the point scoring output, none of them would’ve made sense in a million years– even as a favor to the Canucks, you know, the closest geographical rival to Seattle.

    Thus, MacEwen’s taking his talents and 1-1–2 totals in 34 games with the Canucks this season to the Kraken, where he’ll become intertwined with some semblance of depth.

    WASHINGTON CAPITALS

    G Vitek Vanecek

    25, 1 year left, $716,667

    Yeah, there’s no way around it, really, but this is the worst thing that could happen for the Capitals short of the Kraken getting bold and taking Alex Ovechkin.

    Vanecek (21-10-4 in 37 games, 36 starts, 2.69 goals-against average, .908 save percentage, two shutouts) provides a great 1A/1B punch with Ilya Samsonov as both goaltenders develop, but since Washington couldn’t get a deal done with the team that plays in Washington (state, that is), then it’s a solid grab for Seattle.

    Whether or not they keep Vanecek in the mix with all the other goaltenders (or any of the other goaltenders, for that matter) remains to be seen.

    WINNIPEG JETS

    RD Dylan DeMelo

    28, 3 years left, $3.000 million

    It’s simple, draft DeMelo from Winnipeg and either end up with a decent top-4 defender or use him as trade bait a la the Vegas way in 2017.

    Nine assists in 52 games won’t get you much offense from the point when DeMelo is on the ice, but his shutdown style and decent cap hit is attractive around the league.

    Total Cap Hit (excluding players already on SEA roster): $80,681,666

    Average age: 27.7 years old

    Seattle won’t actually be spending to the cap from the expansion draft alone kind of like how the Golden Knights did in 2017, but in this mock draft, let’s get crazy.

    Spend every penny and sell high, why not!?!

    Yes, Price carries a hefty price tag, but that doesn’t have to be your problem if you find a team desperate enough for goaltending. Imagine trading Price to the Maple Leafs and watching all of Québec sit through the uneasiness of another Toronto-Montréal matchup in the postseason by the time his contract expires.

    Or just imagine all of the possible side deals from taking a team that’s loaded with talent and stripping it down to the essentials, plus a foundation for the future.

    Ron Francis is kind of good at that.

  • Habs upset Leafs in Game 7: Three reasons why

    Habs upset Leafs in Game 7: Three reasons why

    For just the second time in the 104-year-old history of the Toronto Maple Leafs franchise, the club squared off with the Montréal Canadiens in a Game 7.

    Back in 1964, the Leafs came out on top, 3-1, at the Montreal Forum. Monday night at Scotiabank Arena, history repeated itself. Almost.

    Though the final score was the same, 3-1, it was Montréal that found a way to steal the victory on the road this time around– becoming just the second team in National Hockey League history to win a Game 7 in Toronto, joining the 1993 Los Angeles Kings in doing so.

    Brendan Gallagher opened the scoring in the second period for the Habs before Corey Perry’s power-play goal went on to become eventual game-winner later in that same middle frame.

    Tyler Toffoli completed the run of three unanswered goals for the Canadiens late in the third period with an empty net goal before William Nylander ended Carey Price’s bid for a shutout about a minute later.

    But enough about the game itself, since it’s been a couple of days now– let’s get into some reasons why Montréal won, why Toronto didn’t and where the Leafs can go from here, if it’s even possible to still win with this core.

    Why Montréal won

    The Price is right: Carey Price managed to amass a 2.24 goals-against average and a .932 save percentage in the seven games against the Maple Leafs, which is a pleasant surprise given Price’s bleaker regular season numbers in an injury plagued 2020-21 season (2.64 goals-against average, .901 save percentage in 25 games).

    Price’s career 2.50 goals-against average in 707 games from the 2007-08 season through 2020-21 is better than Patrick Roy’s 2.78 goals-against average in Roy’s 551-game tenure with the Habs, fun fact.

    Consistency: Tyler Toffoli led the Canadiens in scoring in the regular season with 28-16–44 totals in 52 games, while Nick Suzuki was third in team scoring with 41 points (15 goals, 26 assists) in 56 games.

    Corey Perry chipped in 9-12–21 totals in 49 games and even Jesperi Kotkaniemi, despite a slow start, managed to amass 20 points (five goals, 15 assists) in 56 games.

    In the First Round, Toffoli led the Habs with 2-3–5 totals in seven games, Perry, Suzuki, Joel Armia and Eric Staal managed to score four points and Kotkaniemi had three goals in six games after serving as a healthy scratch in Game 1.

    The Habs played their game– the long game– throughout the series, built on wearing down their opponent on the forecheck in the attacking zone and really just keeping things as simple as they come.

    It doesn’t always work, but in this case it did! Good for them.

    Seconds: At one point, Montréal had a minus-seven goal differential in the second period alone in the series. That was entering Game 5, when the Maple Leafs held a 3-1 series lead.

    They brought it up to a minus-five by the end of the series, which, albeit still leaves more to be desired from their effort in the middle frame as they approach the Second Round against the Winnipeg Jets, but goes to show that in low-scoring affairs, goal scoring is paramount in a 60-minute effort.

    Kind of obvious, right?

    The Canadiens scored more than three goals in a game just once in the series when they won, 4-3, in overtime in Game 5.

    Why Toronto lost and what now

    Lineups: Losing John Tavares in Game 1 limited Maple Leafs head coach, Sheldon Keefe, in his options when it came time to try something new to get anything going, but it still should’ve been explored.

    How many times did Toronto go back to the well with Auston Matthews and Mitchell Marner on the same line?

    Between the two players, the Leafs had 1-8–9 totals combined.

    Assists are nice because it means that at least somebody scored for your team, but if given the chance, Toronto probably should’ve bumped Marner down to the second line while giving William Nylander more of a chance to shine on the first line– at least for a period, if not just to spark Matthews’ play at 5-on-5.

    If anything, Tavares’ injury revealed a desperate need for the Maple Leafs in the offseason– a third line center.

    Marner musings: Alright, before everyone starts arguing over whether or not to trade the best playmaker in Toronto not named “Joe Thornton”, let’s assess the feasibility of moving a guy with a $10.903 million cap hit through the 2024-25 season in a flat cap due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

    Marner was on pace for about 98 points in an 82-game season, had 2020-21 not been condensed into a 56-game schedule.

    That said, he still managed to equal his scoring output from last season in fewer games– 67 points in 55 games this season, 67 points in 59 games last season while battling injury.

    For the third time in his career, Marner had at least 20 goals in a season and he has 358 points (103 goals, 255 assists) in 355 career games.

    If Matthews (the goal scorer) and Marner (the playmaker) are to Toronto what Patrick Kane (a goal scorer) and Jonathan Toews (a playmaker) are to the Chicago Blackhawks, then Marner is doing pretty fine.

    Toews had 144-180–324 totals in his first five seasons (361 games).

    But– and it’s a pretty big one– Kane and Toews won the Stanley Cup twice before signing matching extensions worth $10.500 million per season through 2022-23, that, at the time of their signing on July 9, 2014, didn’t go into effect until the 2015-16 season, so… after the duo ended up winning their third Cup ring with Chicago in 2015.

    Sure, Chicago hasn’t won a playoff series since then, but they did end their longest drought before (over)paying their core– and at the very least, they made sure to commit to no more than two players at that rate.

    Maple Leafs General Manager, Kyle Dubas, has spent about half of his salary cap on Matthews, Marner, Tavares and Nylander alone.

    Trading Marner would probably mean parting with a high value draft pick or prospect if there’s no salary retained in the transaction and moving Matthews or Tavares wouldn’t make sense because Toronto needs a first and second line center to remain central to their core.

    If Dubas is confident in Marner being able to find that elusive second-gear in the postseason– along with Matthews– then the team’s in the odd position of moving someone like Nylander, who’s shown an ability to produce in the second-half of the season, as well as the playoffs, instead.

    The intangibles: Yes, having the veteran leadership of guys like Joe Thornton, Jason Spezza and more is good in keeping the day-to-day vibe nice and relaxed as a long, grueling, regular season goes on, but did anyone do their research on past postseason performances or… …lack thereof from guys like Spezza, Thornton, Nick Folingo and others?

    Foligno was hampered by injury, which gets somewhat of a pass, Spezza finished tied for third in team scoring in the playoffs with three goals and two assists (five points) in seven games from the fourth line, while Thornton managed to score a goal in the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

    Alex Galchenyuk is not a long term solution, but a quick bandage for larger problems.

    Wayne Simmonds’ offensive production was almost nowhere to be found and if you’re using Simmonds solely for the energy that he can provide, then adding Foligno at the cost spent in April does not merit enough of a return on investment for one, if not both, of essentially the same player.

    Especially when you’re left trying to rotate Simmonds, Foligno, Thornton, Spezza and guys like, Riley Nash (another deadline acquisition), on the fourth line on any given night, while trying to balance some youth and speed in ongoing projects in Pierre Engvall and Ilya Mikheyev.

    And that’s not to mention wherever Alexander Kerfoot fits in on all of this when Tavares isn’t injured.

    Sometimes it’s not about buying in bulk, but buying the right component at a discount or on the clearance rack to solidify, well, mostly that third line.

    It’s fine to have three, four or five guys that are expendable and being rotated on the fourth line throughout the season, then narrowed down for situations in the postseason.

    It’s not necessarily recommended to have seven, eight or nine players vying for the same roles in the bottom-six– with tryouts lingering into the playoffs and results mixed as though the team had two fourth lines instead.

  • Habs force first Game 7 with Toronto in 57 years

    Habs force first Game 7 with Toronto in 57 years

    For the first time since 1964, there will be a Game 7 between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Montréal Canadiens as the Habs defeated the Leafs, 3-2, in overtime thanks to a game-winning goal from Jesperi Kotkaniemi late in the extra frame.

    After taking a, 2-0, lead in the third period, Montréal gave up a pair of unanswered goals before Travis Dermott turned the puck over in the Canadiens’ attacking zone and Paul Byron worked the puck to Kotkaniemi for the goal.

    Montréal’s Game 6 win tied the series 3-3 in front of about 2,500 fans at Bell Centre on Saturday night.

    It was the first National Hockey League game in Canada to feature fans in attendance since March 10, 2020– one day prior to when the World Health Organization declared that COVID-19 was a global pandemic over a year ago.

    Monday night will be just the second time in league history (104 years) that the Maple Leafs and Canadiens are set to square off in a Game 7.

    Toronto defeated Montréal in seven games in the 1964 Semifinal, while the Habs swept the Leafs in four games in their most recent postseason series matchup in the 1979 Quarterfinal.

    Carey Price (3-3, 2.45 goals-against average, .926 save percentage in six games) stopped 41 out of 43 shots faced in the win for the Canadiens.

    Jack Campbell (3-3, 1.77 goals-against average, .937 save percentage in six games played) made 28 saves on 31 shots against in the Maple Leafs’ loss.

    Entering Game 7, Toronto has not won a playoff series since 2004, while Montréal has yet to win a round since 2015.

    Nick Foligno returned to the lineup for the Leafs in Game 6, while Jon Merrill and Tomas Tatar were out of the lineup for the Habs. Jake Evans, however, was reinserted among the forwards for the Canadiens.

    Josh Anderson tripped William Nylander and presented the Leafs with the first power play of the night at 1:57 of the first period. Toronto did not convert on the ensuing skater advantage, however.

    Moments later, Alexander Kerfoot caught Jeff Petry with a high stick and presented the Canadiens with their first chance on the power play at 7:24, but Montréal was not able to capitalize on their resulting advantage.

    Through one period of play, the game was still tied, 0-0, as the Habs outshot the Maple Leafs, 15-9.

    Montréal also held the advantage in blocked shots (6-5), giveaways (9-3) and faceoff win percentage (67-33), while Toronto held the lead in takeaways (3-2) and hits (14-13).

    Both teams were 0/1 on the power play heading into the first intermission.

    There were no goals and only one penalty in the second period as Shea Weber sent the puck over the glass and out of play for an automatic delay of game minor at 3:53.

    The Maple Leafs did not convert on the ensuing power play.

    Through 40 minutes of play, the game remained tied, 0-0, as the Canadiens outshot the Leafs, 21-15, despite both teams managing to amass six shots on net each in the second period alone.

    The Habs led in giveaways (20-9), hits (29-18) and faceoff win% (55-45), while Toronto held the advantage in blocked shots (13-10) after two periods. Both teams had three takeaways each entering the second intermission.

    The Leafs were 0/2 and the Canadiens were 0/1 on the power play heading into the final frame of regulation.

    Phillip Danault was caught holding Auston Matthews’ stick and assessed a minor infraction as a result at 2:18 of the third period, but the Maple Leafs couldn’t convert on the ensuing advantage.

    A few minutes later, Nylander collided with Price and yielded a goaltender interference penalty, presenting Montréal with a power play at 5:16 of the third period.

    It didn’t take the Habs long to convert on the resulting 5-on-4 action as Corey Perry (1) buried a loose puck from the doorstep while everyone scrambled as Campbell was out of the crease.

    Perry’s individual effort made it, 1-0, for the Canadiens as the Habs struck first on the power play at 5:26 of the third period.

    Maple Leafs head coach, Sheldon Keefe, used a coach’s challenge on the argument that Campbell had been interfered with, but a quick review determined that the call on the ice was confirmed– no Montréal skater had impeded in Campbell’s ability to bring himself back into the crease.

    He was out of position of his own volition.

    As a result of the failed challenge, Toronto was assessed a bench minor for delay of game– served by Nylander– at 5:26.

    Seconds later, Mitchell Marner sent the puck over the glass and received an automatic delay of game minor at 5:45, presenting the Canadiens with a decent sized 5-on-3 opportunity.

    About a minute later, Tyler Toffoli (1) buried one from the doorstep to give Montréal a two-goal lead with another power-play goal at 6:43.

    Nick Suzuki (1) and Petry (1) had the assists on Toffoli’s goal as the Canadiens took a, 2-0, lead early in the third period.

    Ben Chiarot slashed Marner moments later, yielding a power play to Toronto at 8:25.

    Though the Maple Leafs didn’t manage to convert on the ensuing power play, Toronto caught Montréal in the vulnerable minute after special teams action as Jason Spezza (3) cut the Canadiens’ lead in half, 2-1, at 11:35.

    Kerfoot (5) had the only assist on Spezza’s goal as the Leafs grabbed momentum midway through the third.

    Late in the period, as the minutes started to wind down, the Habs turned the puck over in their own zone, leaving Pierre Engvall with a chance to slide a pass back to T.J. Brodie (1) for a catch and release slap shot off of Petry and underneath Price’s blocker through the seven-hole to tie the game, 2-2, at 16:49.

    Engvall (1) tallied the only assist on Brodie’s goal as the Leafs forced overtime.

    After regulation, the score was tied, 2-2, though Toronto led in shots on goal, 30-29, including a, 15-8, advantage in the third period alone.

    As there were no penalties called in the extra frame, the Maple Leafs finished Saturday night 0/4 on the power play, while Montréal went 2/4 on the skater advantage.

    Toronto dominated the overtime period, so naturally, on their second shot of the extra frame, Kotkaniemi (3) gave the Canadiens the victory with the game-winning goal– glove side on Campbell.

    Byron (1) had the only assist after Dermott turned the puck over to the Montréal forward.

    Kotkaniemi’s goal ended it for Montréal, 3-2, at 15:15 of the overtime period, while Toronto finished the night leading in shots on goal, 43-31, including a, 13-2, advantage in the extra frame alone.

    The Maple Leafs finished Saturday night’s action leading in blocked shots (22-21) and faceoff win% (52-48), while the Canadiens wrapped up the night leading in giveaways (38-16) and hits (44-27).

    Montréal became the first team in NHL history to surrender multi-goal leads in the third period in consecutive games and win each of them when facing elimination.

    As a result of the Habs’ victory in Game 6 and the series tied 3-3 as a result, the Canadiens have forced a Game 7 back in Toronto on Monday night. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET and viewers in the United States can catch the action on CNBC, while those in Canada can tune to CBC, SN or TVAS for coverage.

    The winner will advance to the Second Round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs and face the Winnipeg Jets in the next series.

  • DTFR Podcast #182- Back In A New Year Groove

    The DTFR Podcast is back from hiatus as Nick provides a State of the Podcast, reviews a few things from the last couple of months and delves into all of the transactions leading up to the 2020 NHL trade deadline.

    Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher and/or on Spotify. Support the show on Patreon.

  • DTFR Podcast #180- Turning Over A New Leaf

    DTFR Podcast #180- Turning Over A New Leaf

    The Toronto Maple Leafs finally did the thing! Congrats to the 2019 Hockey Hall of Fame Class and taking a look at who might join them in 2020.

    Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher and/or on Spotify. Support the show on Patreon.

  • Rask wins in 500th game, B’s depth carries Boston over Toronto, 4-2

    Brett Ritchie had the game-winning goal and Par Lindholm added the insurance goal against his former team late in the third period, as the Boston Bruins beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-2, at TD Garden on Tuesday night.

    Tuukka Rask (4-0-1, 1.78 goals against average, .944 save percentage in five games played) stopped 28 out of 30 shots faced for a .933 SV% in the win for Boston.

    Rask played in his 500th career game and became the 28th goaltender in league history to play all 500 games with one franchise, as well as the 72nd goaltender all time to reach 500 games in his career (10th active).

    Meanwhile, Maple Leafs goaltender, Michael Hutchinson (0-2-1, 4.02 GAA, .890 SV% in four games played) made 35 saves on 39 shots against for an .897 SV% in the loss.

    The Bruins improved to 6-1-2 (14 points) and remained 2nd in the Atlantic Divison, while the Maple Leafs fell to 5-4-2 (12 points)– stuck in 3rd place in the Atlantic.

    Bruce Cassidy coached his 200th game as Boston’s head coach and is 123-53-24 in that span.

    Kevan Miller (knee), John Moore (shoulder), David Krejci (upper body), Joakim Nordstrom (upper body) and Karson Kuhlman (tibia) made up Boston’s long list of players out due to injury on Tuesday night, while Steven Kampfer remained the only healthy scratch for the Bruins.

    Krejci was placed on the injured reserve (retroactive to last week when his injury occurred), while Nordstrom returned to practice without the need for a no-contact sweater since the B’s returned from their trip up to Toronto last Saturday.

    Kuhlman suffered a hairline nondisplaced fracture of his right tibia in Boston’s game against Toronto on Saturday (Oct. 19th) and will be reevaluated in approximately four weeks, as reported by the team moments after their win against the Maple Leafs Tuesday night.

    As a result of Boston’s many injuries, Anders Bjork was recalled from the Providence Bruins (AHL) on emergency basis and took on Nordstrom’s usual role as the fourth line left wing alongside Sean Kuraly and Chris Wagner.

    Bjork has 3-5–8 totals in seven games with Providence this season and has a plus-five rating in that span.

    Ritchie was bumped up from the third line right wing to the second line right wing with Jake DeBrusk and Charlie Coyle in place of Kuhlman, while Cassidy also moved David Backes up to the right side of the third line with Danton Heinen and Lindholm as a result.

    Torey Krug interfered with Frederik Gauthier after the Leafs skater bumped David Pastrnak along the boards and left the league leading goal scorer hunched over on his way back to the bench.

    Krug was assessed a minor penalty at 4:03 of the first period, yielding a power play for Toronto.

    The Maple Leafs didn’t convert on the skater advantage.

    Just past the midpoint of the opening frame, Pastrnak thought he scored the game’s first goal, but Maple Leafs head coach, Mike Babcock, used a coach’s challenge to review how the Bruins entered the attacking zone.

    After review, it was determined that the play was offside leading up to Pastrnak’s would-be goal and thus, the score remained tied, 0-0 at 10:48.

    Moments later, Andreas Johnsson hooked Kuraly at 16:26 and the Bruins went on the power play for their first time of the night.

    It didn’t take long for Boston to capitalize on the skater advantage as Pastrnak (10) received the puck on his backhand, skated backwards in front of the crease and scored a between-the-legs goal through Hutchinson’s five-hole to give the B’s a power play goal and the, 1-0, lead at 17:15.

    The goal was Pastrnak’s 300th career NHL point in his 329th career game– becoming the 4th fastest to reach 300 points in Bruins franchise history– and was assisted by Brad Marchand (9) and Krug (6).

    Only Leon Draisaitl (328) has more points than Pastrnak among members from the same 2014 NHL Draft class and only Barry Pederson (235 games), Bobby Orr (279) and Ray Bourque (316) got to 300 points in their career for Boston faster than Pastrnak.

    Just three seconds after the Bruins scored on the power play, Johnsson was sent back to the sin bin for roughing Wagner at 17:18.

    Boston did not convert on the ensuing power play.

    At the end of the first period, the B’s held a, 1-0, lead entering the first intermission, while holding an advantage in shots on goal, 12-10, as well.

    Toronto led in blocked shots (2-1) and faceoff win percentage (71-29), while the Bruins led in takeaways (4-2) and hits (11-8). Both teams had four giveaways each heading into the second period.

    Meanwhile, the Maple Leafs power play was 0/1 and the B’s were 1/2.

    Less than 90 seconds into the middle frame, Jake Muzzin tripped up DeBrusk and presented Boston with another power play at 1:18 of the second period.

    The Bruins were not able to capitalize on their early skater advantage in the second frame and the Leafs killed off Muzzin’s minor without any harm.

    In the vulnerable minute thereafter, Kasperi Kapanen (3) blasted a one-timer past Rask off a backhand drop pass from Alexander Kerfoot to tie the game, 1-1, at 4:23 of the second period.

    Kerfoot (3) and Justin Holl (3) tallied the assists on Kapanen’s goal as Toronto pounced on Boston’s lackluster effort defending against Toronto’s rush.

    But Marchand (5) responded with a quick goal of his own on a wrist shot from the slot that he sent high into the twine over Hutchinson’s glove side after receiving a pass from Pastrnak in the attacking zone.

    Pastrnak (7) and Charlie McAvoy (2) had the assists on Marchand’s goal as the Bruins regained the lead, 2-1, at 6:09.

    The two teams swapped goals in a 1:05 span of the middle period.

    Midway through the middle frame, Zdeno Chara was called for tripping Gauthier even though Chara had actually interfered with the Leaf– catching the Toronto skater with a one-arm shove from about shoulder height instead of a trip and knocking him over.

    Nonetheless, a minor penalty was indeed the right call and the Maple Leafs went on the power play at 11:40.

    Toronto converted on a tic-tac-goal as Kerfoot (4) notched a power play goal from dead center in the slot while Rask was caught out of position– seconds behind the play.

    William Nylander had sent a cross-ice pass to Kapanen, who tossed the puck back to Kerfoot in the slot for the goal at 12:54, tying the game, 2-2.

    Kapanen (5) and Nylander (4) had the assists on Toronto’s power play goal as the Maple Leafs took full advantage of catching the Bruins off of their game in the middle frame.

    Late in the period, Morgan Rielly tripped Kuraly and was assessed a minor penalty, but the B’s didn’t score on the resulting skater advantage at 15:54.

    Heading into the second intermission, the two teams were tied on the scoreboard, 2-2, despite the Bruins leading in shots on goal, 25-22– even though Toronto actually held a, 13-12, advantage in shots on net in the second period alone.

    Boston led in every other major statistical category, however, entering the third period, leading the Leafs in blocked shots (7-4), takeaways (11-4), giveaways (7-6), hits (17-14) and faceoff win% (51-49).

    Toronto was 1/2 on the power play, while the Bruins were 1/4 to begin the final frame of regulation.

    After Coyle dumped the puck around the glass for DeBrusk to dig out of the corner on the other side of Hutchinson, Ritchie (2) followed up on a loose puck after DeBrusk’s initial shot attempt was blocked by a Maple Leafs defender and buried a shot behind the Toronto netminder for what would be the eventual game-winning goal at 6:35 of the third period.

    DeBrusk (2) had the only assist on Ritchie’s goal as Boston retook the lead, 3-2.

    Though Kuraly caught Johnsson with a high stick late in the final period at 15:48, Toronto’s power play was no match for Boston’s penalty killing unit– even after Babcock used his team’s timeout with 3:27 remaining in the game to try to draw up a game-tying play.

    Seconds after being released from the box, Kuraly entered the offensive zone with the puck on his stick and sent a shot right in and out of Hutchinson’s glove.

    Lindholm (1), the former Maple Leaf, scored on the rebound with a backhand tap-in goal to provide the Bruins with an insurance goal, giving Boston the two-goal lead, 4-2, at 17:57 of the third period.

    Kuraly (3) had the only assist on Lindholm’s first goal as a Bruin.

    Eight seconds after Boston extended their lead, Marchand picked up an unsportsmanlike conduct infraction, leaving his teammates shorthanded at 18:05, but the Leafs couldn’t score on the power play– even with their goaltender pulled for an extra attacker.

    The Bruins secured another “W” in the win column with their, 4-2, victory over Toronto at the sound of the final horn.

    Boston had defeated the Leafs for the 300th time in franchise history– the most wins vs. any opponent since the Bruins joined the NHL as the first American expansion team in 1924.

    The B’s finished Tuesday night leading in shots on goal, 39-30, including a, 14-8, advantage in the third period alone, as well as giveaways (10-8), hits (32-16) and faceoff win% (60-40), while Toronto finished the night leading in blocked shots (9-8).

    Both teams went 1/4 on the power play as the Bruins improved to 300-265-111 all-time against Toronto in the regular season.

    Boston has a few days off before they face the defending Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues in a 2019 Stanley Cup Final rematch for the first time this season at home on Oct. 26th.

    St. Louis will actually be the first back-to-back days with games for the Bruins, as Boston will travel to New York to face the Rangers on Oct. 27th before finishing the month at home against the San Jose Sharks on Oct. 29th.

    The Bruins improved to 3-0-1 at home this season and 5-1-0 when leading after the first period. The B’s are also 5-1-1 when scoring the game’s first goal this season.

  • Rielly nets two in Leafs, 4-3, OT victory over Boston

    Morgan Rielly had two goals– including the game-winning goal in overtime– in the, 4-3, victory for the Toronto Maple Leafs over the Boston Bruins at Scotiabank Arena Saturday night.

    Leafs goaltender, Frederik Andersen (5-2-0, 3.09 goals against average, .902 save percentage in seven games played) turned aside 43 shots out of 46 shots against for a .935 SV% in the overtime win for Toronto.

    Meanwhile, Bruins netminder, Jaroslav Halak (2-1-1, 2.23 GAA, .931 SV% in four games played) had 25 saves on 29 shots for an .862 SV% in the overtime loss for the B’s.

    Boston fell to 5-1-2 (12 points) on the season, but retained 2nd place status in the Atlantic Division, while Toronto cemented their foundation in 3rd place with a 5-3-1 record (10 points) this season.

    The Bruins fell to 3-1-1 on the road this season, while the Maple Leafs improved to 3-2-1 on home ice.

    For the eighth time this season, Kevan Miller (knee) and John Moore (shoulder) were out of the lineup due to injury. Joining them in not traveling to Toronto, were David Krejci (upper body) and Joakim Nordstrom (upper body), who also missed Saturday night’s action against the Maple Leafs.

    With injuries piling up for Boston, Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, re-inserted David Backes on the fourth line right wing (moving Chris Wagner to the left side in place of Nordstrom) and flipped Brett Ritchie with Karson Kuhlman on the second and third lines.

    Kuhlman rejoined Jake DeBrusk and Charlie Coyle while Krejci is injured and Ritchie joined Danton Heinen and Par Lindholm on the third line.

    Steven Kampfer was the only healthy scratch for the Bruins on Saturday, while John Tavares (broken finger) was the only member of Toronto not already on the injured reserve, but out of the lineup due to injury nonetheless.

    Tavares suffered his injury Wednesday night in Washington, D.C. in Toronto’s, 4-3, loss to the Capitals.

    Zach Hyman (torn ACL), Travis Dermott (shoulder), Mason Marchment (undisclosed), David Clarkson (back) and Nathan Horton (back) are all on the injured reserve/long term injured reserve for the Leafs and were not in action against Boston.

    Maple Leafs alternate captain, Morgan Rielly (1) scored his first goal of the season with a shot from the point the deflected off of Bruins defender, Brandon Carlo, and through Halak’s five-hole to give Toronto the lead, 1-0.

    Mitch Marner (7) and Andreas Johnsson (3) tallied the assists on Rielly’s goal at 5:55 of the first period.

    Almost ten minutes later, Sean Kuraly turned the puck over in his own zone, as Dmytro Timashov (1) stripped the Bruins fourth line center of the rubber biscuit, skated to the slot and wristed a shot over Halak’s glove side for his first career National Hockey League goal at 15:44.

    Frederik Gauthier (1) had the only assist on Timashov’s goal and the Leafs led, 2-0.

    In the final minute of the opening frame, Toronto’s two-goal lead was cut in half as DeBrusk (1) notched his first goal of the season from point blank in the low slot on a pass from Coyle at 19:39.

    Coyle (2) and Wagner (2) recorded the primary and secondary assists, respectively, after working hard to keep the puck in the attacking zone and setting up DeBrusk for the tally.

    DeBrusk’s goal was the first goal for the Bruins by someone not named Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand or David Pastrnak in almost 200 minutes of hockey.

    Entering the first intermission, the Maple Leafs led Boston, 2-1, on the scoreboard, despite trailing the Bruins, 18-15, in shots on goal.

    Boston managed to hold the advantage in blocked shots (4-3), giveaways (6-5) and faceoff win percentage (71-29), while Toronto led in takeaways (7-3) and hits (12-6) heading into the second period.

    Neither team had taken a penalty in the first period and thus both teams were still 0/0 on the power play.

    Early in the middle frame, Ilya Mikheyev was called for holding against Carlo and presented the Bruins with their first power play of the night at 1:56 of the second period.

    Toronto’s penalty kill was too good for the B’s skater advantage, however.

    Nicholas Shore tripped up Lindholm at 7:52 and the Leafs went back on the penalty kill, but were able to hold off Boston’s advances on the power play.

    Late in the period, after being pushed by Martin Marincin and not able to stop because he had too much speed to begin with while crashing the net, Backes received a goaltender interference minor and was subsequently wrestled to the ice by Marincin at 16:41.

    It appeared as though Toronto would see time on their first power play of the night, except for the roughing minor that was called for Marincin’s actions in front of the net.

    Why? Nobody knows, but hey, both teams got through 4-on-4 action unscathed and resumed full strength, 5-on-5, play with 1:19 remaining in the second period.

    But then Marincin hooked DeBrusk at 19:37 after a long flow of action in Toronto’s own zone without a stoppage.

    So Boston would on be on the skater advantage into the third period as a result of not scoring at the conclusion of the second period.

    The Maple Leafs entered the second intermission with the, 2-1, lead on the scoreboard after 40 minutes of play, while the Bruins led in shots on goal, 33-18– including a, 15-3, advantage in the second period alone for Boston.

    Toronto led in blocked shots (11-6), takeaways (12-6) and hits (20-19) heading into the third period.

    Boston led in giveaways (11-10) and faceoff win% (54-46) after two periods.

    The Leafs had yet to see time on the skater advantage, while the B’s were 0/3 heading into the third period.

    Boston’s power play from the second period extended into the final frame of regulation.

    Late in the skater advantage, Ritchie worked a pass to Heinen (2) for the elevated shot over Andersen while the Maple Leafs goaltender dove to make a save, tying the game, 2-2, in the process.

    Ritchie (1) and Pastrnak (6) had the assists on Heinen’s power play goal at 1:36 of the third period.

    A mere 61 seconds later, Alexander Kerfoot (3) followed a rebound from point blank and floated a backhanded shot over Halak’s blocker side to give Toronto another lead, 3-2, at 2:37.

    Jake Muzzin (4) and Mikheyev (4) tallied the assists on Kerfoot’s goal.

    Late in the period, Bergeron tossed a pass to Marchand who sent the puck to Pastrnak (9) for the one-timer blast past Andersen’s short side over the blocker and into the twine to tie the game, 3-3, at 15:34.

    Marchand (8) and Bergeron (6) had the assists on Pastrnak’s 15th point of the season.

    No. 88 in black-and-gold now has 15 points in eight games so far this season and became the 5th Bruin in franchise history to record at least 15 points in his first 10 team games multiple times in his career, joining Bobby Orr (1969-70, 1971-72, 1973-74 and 1974-75), Phil Esposito (1970-71, 1971-72, 1973-74 and 1974-75), Bill Cowley (1940-41, 1943-44 and 1944-45) and Adam Oates (1992-93 and 1993-94), according to Conor Ryan of Boston Sports Journal.

    At the end of regulation, the two teams were tied, 3-3, despite the Bruins leading in shots on goal, 45-27.

    Boston held a slight edge over Toronto in shots on net in the third period alone with a, 12-9, advantage.

    The Leafs led the B’s in blocked shots (14-9), takeaways (14-9), hits (34-32) and faceoff win% (54-47) after 60 minutes of play, but both teams had 16 giveaways each heading into overtime.

    Toronto did not see any time on the power play and Boston finished 1/3 on the skater advantage as neither team was penalized in overtime.

    Cassidy started Kuraly, Pastrnak and Charlie McAvoy in overtime, while Maple Leafs head coach, Mike Babcock, went with Kerfoot, Kasperi Kapanen and Tyson Barrie.

    With almost a minute remaining in overtime, Auston Matthews wrapped around the net and tossed a pass to Marner.

    Marner fired a shot from the slot that deflected off of Rielly (2) and found its way over Halak’s blocker and into the back of the net to win the game, 4-3, for Toronto.

    Marner (8) and Matthews (2) had the assists on Rielly’s game-winning goal at 3:54 of the overtime period.

    The Maple Leafs won the game, 4-3, but trailed the Bruins in the final shots on goal total, 46-29.

    Toronto controlled all the other statistics, however, finishing the night with the advantage in blocked shots (14-9), giveaways (17-16), hits (36-34) and faceoff win% (53-47).

    The Leafs improved to 1-0 in overtime this season, while B’s fell to 0-1 in OT. It was the 2nd straight game that required overtime for Boston, but the first that ended before a shootout.

    Boston and Toronto finish their home and home series Tuesday night at TD Garden.

    The B’s then have a few days off before they face the defending Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues in a 2019 Stanley Cup Final rematch for the first time this season at home on Oct. 26th.

    St. Louis will actually be the first of games on back-to-back days for the Bruins, as Boston will travel to New York to face the Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 27th before finishing the month at home against the San Jose Sharks on Oct. 29th.