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The Maple Leafs were opportunistic early against the Capitals. Despite getting outchanced in the first period, they scored two goals from the point to chase Justin Peters, before scoring a third early in the second against Braden Holtby.

The Leafs had a good second period, beating out the Caps in chances, which is consistent with their performances all year. While Washington had a couple of solid stretches in the third period, the game was pretty much decided by that point.

StatusOverallEven StrengthES Close
TeamTORWSH%TORWSH%TORWSH%
13633.3%3633.3%3633.3%
291047.4%6554.5%00-
36940.0%5741.7%00-
Total182541.9%141843.8%3633.3%

That first period deficit in chances ended up being the only period that counted as close, so the Leafs lost that category decisively. Washington took the ES Overall chances as well, but the Leafs were pretty much even in the last 40 minutes of the game, despite having the lead.

ClubStPTimeTScOscNoteTorontoWashington
TORES117:3800Santorelli from loose puck25434734445922090388835
WSHES117:3000Laich from Hillen2326203445218365388835
TORES117:0000Van Riemsdyk from faceoff428121344519438447435
WSHES116:4400Ovechkin drives428121344519438447435
WSHES116:3300Backstrom drives wide428121344519438447435
WSHES116:2800Ovechkin from Wilson428121344519438447435
TORES115:5800Van Riemsdyk wide from Bozak42812112444516432524435
WSHES109:3700Wilson deflects Ovechkin shot42812112444519438388835
WSHES105:1510Burakovsky from Laich241971124445218365447435
TORES219:3720GOAL! Bozak from Van Riemsdyk428121344519438447470
TORES218:4630Booth wide from loose puck23262012444516202522770
WSHES218:3330Kuznetsov drives254347124445922090388870
WSHSH216:5130Brouwer deflects Niskanen shot wide264735545-1920890270
WSHES215:1630Laich from loose puck24431935545211625388870
WSHES214:2030Ovechkin from faceoff428121344519438447470
WSHSH211:0030Burakovsky drives wide234245545-9242865270
WSHSH210:5430Ward from Kuznetsov234245545-9242865270
WSHSH210:1330Ovechkin wide from loose puck264735545-1920890270
WSHSH209:2330GOAL! Brouwer from Backstrom232445545-19208907470
TORES209:0031GOAL! Clarkson from Kadri43197112514521832522770
WSHES208:2741Johansson wide from Kuznetsov254347124445922090388870
TORES208:1641Santorelli drives254347124445922090388870
TORPP204:2441GOAL! Bozak from Kessel424381213454225447470-
TORES203:0251Kessel from Bozak42812134451921822770
TORES203:0251Bozak from Kessel42812134451921822770
WSHES202:3251Ward drives232620124445831642388870
TORPP200:4551Santorelli from loose puck25197145145422522770-
TORPP200:4051Clarkson from rebound of Santorelli shot25197145145422522770-
TORES317:2651Clarkson drives241971515545922090388835
TORES317:1851Lupul wide from loose puck241971515545922090388835
WSHES313:3951Brouwer drives24712012444592209022735
WSHES311:3552Fehr from loose puck23262012444516422522735
WSHES310:0952Backstrom deflects Carlsen shot wide242671344519438447435
WSHES310:0252Wilson wide from Ovechkin242671344519438447435
WSHSH308:5652Brouwer from rebound of Niskanen shot24263445-1920890235
WSHSH307:4352Backstrom drives232631245-19208907435
TORES307:0452Van Riemsdyk wide from Bozak42812145145219265447435
TORES305:3052Rielly wide from Santorelli252643124445164225388835
TORES305:2452Winnik deflects Rielly shot wide252643124445164225388835
TORPP303:2052GOAL! Lupul deflects Gardiner shot4319714451452183447435-
WSHES303:0962Ovechkin wide from faceoff25264351554519438388835
WSHES302:5362Ovechkin from faceoff252643344519428388835
WSHES300:2862Brouwer from Johansson2425194444592209022735

The player-by-player data:

PlayerOverallEven StrengthES Close
ForAgainstDiffTOIForAgainstDiffTOIForAgainstDiff
Phaneuf613-722:3359-414:1724-2
Franson713-622:4059-416:3014-3
Robidas68-217:2667-115:0812-1
Lupul63315:1633013:1101-1
Booth14-310:1514-310:1501-1
Van Riemsdyk75216:4265111:5424-2
Smith17-612:1113-209:3801-1
Holland28-612:5626-411:2601-1
Santorelli65116:3845-114:56101
Winnik311-816:4737-412:5501-1
Bozak77016:1265111:4724-2
Kadri75218:5555015:19101
Rielly78-117:2368-216:34220
Komarov24-211:2722009:41101
Gardiner71620:3741318:59000
Holzer27-517:1422014:04000
Clarkson64212:5634-111:1901-1
Kessel75216:3365111:2524-2
Bernier1825-759:321418-447:1836-3

Bozak, Kessel and Van Riemsdyk have been fairly quiet in chances the last few games, but had a better performance against the Capitals, and while they ended up negative at ES Close, they all ended up above even at ES Overall. Kadri also had a strong night in terms of creating chances, and ended up at even as well, despite having among the most defensive zone starts on the team. Peter Holland and Daniel Winnik both had fairly poor nights, ending up at -4 each, though most of that came once the Leafs had the lead.

 

 

The top pairing of Phaneuf and Franson was the worst in terms of chances, a rarity this season, as they’ve usually been quite strong. In fact, Franson’s -3 at ES Close was a team low. This may be partly down to usage, as the top pairing got a lot of defensive zone starts that would have typically gone to Roman Polak. Jake Gardiner was the best Leaf at ES Overall, a +3, while Robidas ended up a negative, and on for 7 chances against, despite the softest zone starts of any player on the team. Morgan Rielly had similar numbers to the veteran Robidas, and ended up at -2 overall.

 

Cumulative numbers this season:

OverallPos#Even StrengthES Close
ForAgainst%TOIForAgainst%
LupulF11454450.6%14:44282058.3%
FransonD2111910054.3%15:20705755.1%
ClarksonF23928452.3%12:34504154.9%
ReimerG912213347.8%41:04594954.6%
PanikF20394049.4%08:42262254.2%
KadriF2310511348.2%13:52666251.6%
WinnikF21627345.9%11:55353351.5%
RiellyD2210911947.8%15:07625951.2%
PhaneufD2313314348.2%17:02858649.7%
KomarovF23787351.7%12:32394049.4%
KesselF2313114347.8%14:45798548.2%
BozakF2311812748.2%14:53677547.2%
Van RiemsdykF2311814844.4%14:56708545.2%
PolakD218912841.0%17:41566944.8%
BernierG1720323746.1%43:5412715744.7%
HollandF23547541.9%10:31293644.6%
GardinerD21819446.3%16:30415144.6%
SmithF9142041.2%07:567943.8%
SantorelliF23727848.0%12:51344543.0%
LeivoF8182146.2%07:33111542.3%
RobidasD228710944.4%15:13436340.6%
PercyD8264138.8%14:54142238.9%
FrattinF651327.8%06:5831220.0%

Small moves down in numbers for each of the top three, but they all stay in the same spots at the head of the rankings.