Toronto Maple Leafs (35-18-3 73 points)v, Vegas Golden Knights ( 31-23-4 66 points)
Lineups:
Toronto:
Patrick Marleau – Auston Matthews – Kasperi Kapanen
Mitch Marner – John Tavares – Zach Hyman
Connor Brown – Nazem Kadri – William Nylander
Andreas Johnsson – Pars Lindholm – Frederik Gauthier
Morgan Rielly – Jake Muzzin
Jake Gardiner – Nikita Zaitsev
Travis Dermott – Ron Hainsey
Frederik Andersen
Garrett Sparks
Scratched: Justin Holl & Tyler Ennis
Injuries: Nathan Horton (Back)
Suspension: None
Vegas:
Jonathan Marchessault – William Karlsson – Rielly Smith
Max Pacioretty – Paul Stastny – Alex Tuch
Brandon Pirri – Cody Eakin – Valentin Zykov
William Carrier – Pierre-Edouard Bellemore – Ryan Reaves
Brayden McNabb – Nate Schmid
Deryk Engelland – Shea Theodore
Jon Merrill – Colin Miller
Marc-Andre Fleury
Maxime Legace
Scratched: None
Injuries: Erik Haula, Malcolm Subban, Ryan Carpenter
Suspension: None
Gameday:
First Period:
Vegas Penalty – 11:23 – Shea Theodore, 2 minutes for Cross-Checking
Toronto PP Goal – 13:14 – Andreas Johnsson (15) assisted by Jake Gardiner (26) and William Nylander (9)
Vegas Penalty – 14:39 – Colin Miller, 2 minutes for Tripping
Vegas Penalty – 17:33 – Jon Merrill, 2 minutes for Cross-Checking
End of 1st – TOR –1 VGK – 0
Shots 14 11
Faceoffs 10/22 12/22
Hits 6 12
PP 1/3 0/0
Analysis
Leafs came to play today and seem to have all their weapons clicking including their powerplay. Johnsson scored at the 13-minute mark to make it a 1-0 Toronto lead which would be carried into the 2nd period.
Need to Do:
Keep controlling the pace and playing your game.
Second Period:
Vegas Penalty – 01:28 –Brayden McNabb, 2 mins for Kneeing
Vegas SH Goal–2:46 – Paul Stastny (7), assisted by Reilly Smith (22)
Toronto Penalty –04:49 – Travis Dermott, 2 mins for Interference
Vegas Goal–07:22 – Oscar Lindberg (3), assisted by Cody Eakin (15) and Shea Theodore (17)
Toronto Goal–08:52 – Patrick Marleau (13), assisted by, Auston Matthews (26) and Kasperi Kapanen (17)
Vegas Penalty –12:28 – Oscar Lindberg, 2 mins for High-Sticking
Toronto PP Goal–13:25 – Auston Matthews (26), assisted by, Morgan Rielly (42) and Nazem Kadri (20)
End of 2nd – TOR– 3 VGK – 2
Shots 28 22
Faceoffs 20/44 24/44
Hits 6 24
PP 2/5 0/1
Analysis:
Leafs struggle in the first 8 minutes of the 2nd but then come right back with 2 goals to take back the lead from the Golden Knights.
Need to Do:
Tighten up in the defensive end
Third Period:
Vegas Penalty – 01:28 – Paul Stastny, 2 minutes for Slashing
Vegas Goal– 04:12 – William Karlsson (18) assisted by Jon Merrill (7) and Jonathan Marchessault (21)
Toronto Penalty – 06:41 – Jake Muzzin, 2 minutes for Holding
Toronto Goal – 10:01 – Morgan Rielly (15) assisted by Mitch Marner (48) and John Tavares (30)
Toronto Goal – 10:56 – Auston Matthews (27) assisted by Kasperi Kapanen (18) and Jake Muzzin (20)
Toronto Penalty – 15:12 – Bench, 2 minutes for Too Many Men
Toronto SH Goal – 16:33 – Mitch Marner (21) assisted by Connor Brown (15) and Jake Muzzin (21)
End of 3rd – TOR – 6 VGK – 3
Shots 43 33
Faceoffs 32/68 36/68
Hits 18 38
PP 2/6 0/3
Analysis:
Leafs give up one in third but fight back with 3 goals to seal the win in Vegas.
Next Up:
Toronto (36-18-3 75pts) vs Arizona (25-27-5 55pts)
Nashville (34-21-5 73pts) at Vegas (31-21-4 66pts)
