Detroit Red Wings
The Good, Bad, & Ugly in Maple Leafs’ 5-2 Win Over Red Wings
Last night, the Toronto Maple Leafs beat Detroit red Wings 5–2. What were the good, the bad, and ugly aspects of the game?
The Toronto Maple Leafs traveled to Detroit to take on the struggling Red Wings coming out of the Christmas break and came away with a convincing 5-2 victory. It was Todd McLellan’s debut as head coach for Detroit, and it will likely be a game he wants to have back. The Leafs went up early, and while they allowed two later goals, the game was never out of their control. What were the good, bad, and ugly aspects of the game?
The Good: Marner’s Hat Trick and Joseph Woll Solid
There was a lot to like in this game. While the play was fairly even between the two teams, the goaltending made a difference, and the result was decided early as the Maple Leafs built up a 5-0 lead before the Red Wings got on the board midway through the third period. Joseph Woll was solid in the win.
David Kämpf, playing in his 500th game, started the scoring off with his first goal of the season, and Nick Robertson, with his fourth goal in his last six games, closed the scoring out for the Maple Leafs. Sandwiched in between was a Mitch Marner natural hat trick.
Marner Now Has a Seven-Game Point Streak
Marner presently has a seven-game point streak going. At the same time, he hadn’t scored a goal in nine games before this one. Marner had registered eight assists in his previous six games. Marner showed us a new weapon in his game: he scored two of his goals off one-timers from the faceoff circle to the right of Detroit goalie Cam Talbot. If he can continue to develop that shot, it can open up a ton of new options for the Maple Leafs, especially on the power play.
Marner’s first goal came off a between-the-legs, no-look pass from John Tavares. It was almost like Marner and Tavares switched roles on that goal. Tavares added a second assist on Marner’s power-play goal and has a six-game point streak. Tavares has five goals and six assists for 11 points in those six games.
As stated earlier, the goaltending made the difference in this game. Joseph Woll was head and shoulders better than Cam Talbot. Woll made some spectacular saves at the Toronto end of the ice, while Talbot failed to last the whole game. Alex Lyon replaced him in the third period after giving up five goals on 21 shots.
The Bad: Matthews Has Left a Hole in the Lineup”
There was one obvious hole in the Maple Leafs lineup due to Auston Matthews being out and Craig Berube not wanting to split up the third line of Robertson, Max Domi, and Bobby McMann. That hole was at the second-line center position. For this game, Berube had Pontus Holmberg play between William Nylander and Matthew Knies. That line struggled in their 5-on-5 minutes, posting just 28.6% of the expected goals and 18.7% of the scoring chances. They were each 0-4 in high-danger scoring chances.
In the last game, Berube started Kämpf in that spot but quickly abandoned the idea due to Kämpf’s ineffectiveness in that role. While Holmberg remained there for this game, it was more a result of the success the other three lines were having. If Matthews is out much longer, could we see Fraser Minton recalled and given a chance? Despite his young age and lack of experience, Minton has shown he has the offensive skill to keep up with Nylander and Knies.
While the Maple Leafs kept their streak of being undefeated when leading after two periods, they did put a flicker of doubt in the minds of their fans by giving up two goals in the middle of the third period. With McMann in the box for cross-checking Marco Kasper, Woll made three excellent saves on the ensuing power play before Lucas Raymond finally beat him to get Detroit on the board. Four minutes later, a point shot by Simon Edvinsson was deflected past Woll off Marner’s stick. With all the momentum in the Red Wings’ favor after that, it was surprising that newly hired Todd McLellan didn’t try pulling Lyon for an extra attacker, even while down three goals.
The Ugly: Several Maple Leafs Players Were Hurt
It was hard to track how many Maple Leafs’ players were hurt during this game—six incidents, or maybe five since Jake McCabe might have gone down twice. The two worst incidents were McCabe “spitting chiclets,” as the old saying goes, after taking an errant Lucas Raymond high stick to the mouth, and Simon Benoit taking a shot to the “family jewels.”
Both of them, along with all the others who suffered painful episodes, remained in the game. It will be interesting to see if any after-effects might cause someone to sit out Saturday night’s game.
What’s Next for the Maple Leafs?
The Detroit game was the first of six games in ten days as the Leafs roll into the new year. This comes after they played 10 games in 16 days leading up to Christmas. They’ll be home to the Washington Capitals on Saturday night, followed by a New Year’s Eve contest against the New York Islanders. It appears we may see Matt Murray get his second NHL start in nearly two calendar years against the Capitals.
Related: Matthews Not Ready, Load Management Concerns for Maple Leafs
