Game 78 Scoring Chances: Sabres 4 vs. Maple Leafs 3

There wasn’t much action at even strength in the first period, with just four chances between the two teams, but each team managed a goal at ES in the frame.

The Toronto Maple Leafs then went ahead early in the second, and seemed to be in good shape, only for things to go south in the second half of the period. While the Leafs did open up a 3-1 lead at one point, the Buffalo Sabres were dominating the chances, finishing the period on an 11-2 stretch at ES. They continued that push in the third, and two quick goals soon put Buffalo ahead. Toronto were able to put on some late pressure with the extra man, but couldn’t get an equalizer, ending their win streak.

Status	Overall			Even Strength			ES Close
Team	TOR	BUF	%	TOR	BUF	%	TOR	BUF	%
1	5	7	41.7%	1	3	25.0%	1	3	25.0%
2	4	13	23.5%	4	12	25.0%	4	11	26.7%
3	8	3	72.7%	4	1	80.0%	0	1	0.0%
Total	17	23	42.5%	9	16	36.0%	5	15	25.0%

Toronto’s performance at even strength was really poor, as they were totally outclassed in the 2nd period by the worst team in the League.

Bernier on Horachek's msg in 2nd intermission: "We're not playing preseason here"

— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) April 2, 2015

 

Club	St	P	Time	TSc	Osc	Note	Toronto						Buffalo
TOR	PP	1	16:39	0	0	Kessel from Phaneuf	42	81	21	3	44	45	12	82	6	47	35	-
TOR	PP	1	14:57	0	0	Lupul from Kadri	15	43	19	25	51	45	36	82	6	47	35	-
TOR	PP	1	14:56	0	0	Lupul from rebound	15	43	19	25	51	45	36	82	6	47	35	-
BUF	ES	1	13:12	0	0	GOAL! Dalpe from Ellis	15	43	47	25	51	45	19	20	37	24	41	35
TOR	PP	1	11:02	0	1	Van Riemsdyk from Rielly	42	81	21	3	44	45	12	37	6	47	35	-
BUF	ES	1	08:45	0	1	Meszaros from Varone	23	19	20	25	33	45	63	84	44	24	41	35
BUF	ES	1	05:51	0	1	Larsson deflects Meszaros shot wide	42	81	21	2	3	45	63	22	26	24	41	35
TOR	ES	1	05:30	0	1	Kadri wide from Lindstrom	15	43	47	25	33	45	25	63	82	51	61	35
BUF	EN	1	02:15	1	1	Gionta from Ennis	15	22	47	44	51	45	63	12	22	26	41	47
BUF	SH	1	01:25	1	1	Hodgson wide from loose puck	23	47	2	3	45	-	19	25	82	41	61	35
BUF	SH	1	01:23	1	1	Hodgson from loose puck	23	47	2	3	45	-	19	25	82	41	61	35
BUF	SH	1	00:52	1	1	Moulson from Ennis	42	18	25	33	45	-	63	12	22	26	47	35
TOR	ES	2	19:13	1	1	GOAL! Van Riemsdyk from Kessel	42	81	21	2	3	45	25	12	82	6	47	35
BUF	ES	2	17:34	2	1	Hodgson wide from Varone	22	19	20	25	33	45	19	20	84	51	61	35
TOR	ES	2	15:29	2	1	Komarov wide from Bozak	42	47	81	2	25	45	63	22	26	51	61	35
BUF	ES	2	14:14	2	1	Varone drives	23	19	20	25	33	45	19	20	84	6	47	35
BUF	ES	2	11:52	2	1	Bogosian from Larsson	42	81	21	2	3	45	63	22	26	6	47	35
BUF	SH	2	09:34	2	1	Foligno deflects Benoit shot wide	23	47	2	3	45	-	19	25	82	41	61	35
BUF	ES	2	09:18	2	1	Grigorenko wide from Foligno	23	43	47	2	3	45	19	25	82	41	61	35
BUF	ES	2	08:41	2	1	Weber drives	43	47	81	3	44	45	36	37	44	6	47	35
BUF	ES	2	07:15	2	1	Grigorenko from Meszaros	15	43	18	25	33	45	25	12	82	24	41	35
BUF	ES	2	07:10	2	1	Foligno wide from rebound of Grigorenko shot	15	43	18	25	33	45	25	12	82	24	41	35
BUF	ES	2	07:05	2	1	Grigorenko wraparound wide	15	43	18	25	33	45	25	12	82	24	41	35
TOR	ES	2	06:36	2	1	GOAL! Kadri drives	15	43	18	2	3	45	19	20	25	24	41	35
BUF	ES	2	06:06	3	1	GOAL! Hodgson from loose puck	23	19	20	2	3	45	19	20	84	51	61	35
TOR	ES	2	04:59	3	2	Kessel drives	42	81	21	44	51	45	63	22	26	6	47	35
BUF	ES	2	03:14	3	2	Grigorenko wide from Foligno	15	43	47	2	3	45	25	12	82	51	61	35
BUF	ES	2	02:44	3	2	Dalpe drives	23	19	20	3	51	45	19	20	84	6	47	35
BUF	ES	2	02:35	3	2	Varone from Hodgson	23	19	20	3	51	45	19	20	84	6	47	35
BUF	SH	3	18:27	3	2	GOAL! Moulson from Larsson	23	47	2	3	45	-	63	12	22	26	47	35
BUF	ES	3	16:46	3	3	GOAL! Ellis from Zadorov	23	37	20	2	3	45	12	37	82	51	61	35
TOR	ES	3	16:21	3	4	Sill drives	22	23	37	2	3	45	36	37	44	24	41	35
TOR	ES	3	11:04	3	4	Kessel from Kadri	43	81	21	44	51	45	19	20	84	24	41	35
BUF	SH	3	08:50	3	4	Ennis drives wide	22	47	2	3	45	-	63	12	22	26	47	35
TOR	ES	3	06:14	3	4	Lindstrom wide from Kadri	15	37	43	3	44	45	63	22	26	51	61	35
TOR	ES	3	02:46	3	4	Lupul from Lindstrom	15	43	19	25	51	45	19	84	26	47	61	35
TOR	EN	3	01:41	3	4	Kessel from Rielly	42	47	81	21	2	44	19	84	26	47	61	35
TOR	PP	3	01:02	3	4	Kessel from Rielly	42	43	81	21	3	44	12	82	6	47	35	-
TOR	PP	3	00:23	3	4	Bozak from Van Riemsdyk	42	43	81	21	3	44	36	82	6	47	35	-
TOR	PP	3	00:23	3	4	Kessel from rebound of Bozak shot	42	43	81	21	3	44	36	82	6	47	35	-

Player-by-Player data:

Player	Overall				Even Strength				ES Close
	For	Against	Diff	TOI	For	Against	Diff	TOI	For	Against	Diff
Brewer	5	11	-6	22:11	4	6	-2	16:39	3	5	-2
Phaneuf	9	14	-5	27:57	4	9	-5	17:49	2	8	-6
Lindstrom	6	6	0	14:16	4	5	-1	12:19	2	5	-3
Panik	1	4	-3	11:26	1	3	-2	08:29	1	3	-2
Lupul	3	6	-3	12:40	1	6	-5	10:43	0	5	-5
Booth	0	7	-7	11:24	0	7	-7	10:03	0	6	-6
Van Riemsdyk	9	2	7	19:01	3	2	1	13:39	2	2	0
Sill	1	3	-2	08:14	1	1	0	06:06	0	1	-1
Smith	1	11	-10	11:38	1	7	-6	08:21	0	6	-6
Brennan	5	8	-3	14:11	3	7	-4	11:49	2	7	-5
Erixon	1	7	-6	14:37	1	6	-5	11:14	1	6	-5
Bailey	2	1	1	06:40	2	1	1	06:40	0	1	-1
Bozak	9	3	6	21:13	3	2	1	15:21	3	2	1
Kadri	10	7	3	18:12	5	7	-2	13:15	2	7	-5
Rielly	9	2	7	21:47	3	1	2	14:23	1	1	0
Komarov	3	10	-7	16:36	2	4	-2	12:00	2	4	-2
Gardiner	5	4	1	19:28	3	3	0	16:43	1	3	-2
Kessel	10	3	7	22:07	4	3	1	16:19	3	3	0
Bernier	13	23	-10	57:54	9	16	-7	43:26	5	15	-10

On a night where there wasn’t a lot of even strength offense, the top line was still fairly effective, as they managed to finish even, a strong defensive effort for them. This was in spite of the fact that JVR and Kessel did not get a single ES start in the Buffalo zone. The top trio were the only forwards with an offensive zone start ratio under 50%, so you’d expect the other lines to pick up the offensive slack. Unfortunately, that didn’t really happen. Nazem Kadri had a bad start, -5 at ES Close, but was at least on for most of the ES Leaf chances in the 3rd period. He wasn’t the only forward who had poor numbers, as Joffrey Lupul and Trevor Smith had were even worse in terms of chances, and unlike Kadri they didn’t have a strong bounce-back in the third period. The worst of the forwards in chances was David Booth, who wasn’t on for a single Leaf chance all night, and was -6 at ES Close.

Jake Gardiner and Morgan Rielly have seen the difficulty of their minutes go up recently, and have responded well. Rielly played a low-event game at ES, not on for many chances either way, while Gardiner, like Kadri, rallied in the third period to finish at even. Dion Phaneuf had a bad chance night, -5 at even strength. However, he was far from the worst defenceman, as Brennan and Erixon, despite softer minutes, had numbers that were almost as bad, both -5 at ES Close.

Cumulative numbers this season:

Overall	Pos	#	Even Strength				ES Close
			For	Against	%	TOI	For	Against	%
Lindstrom	F	15	34	37	47.9%	08:46	22	20	52.4%
Kadri	F	69	339	358	48.6%	14:55	199	200	49.9%
Polak	D	56	286	346	45.3%	17:54	174	188	48.1%
Sill	F	17	24	26	48.0%	07:03	11	12	47.8%
Rielly	D	77	424	463	47.8%	16:58	228	251	47.6%
Gardiner	D	75	391	420	48.2%	18:04	208	238	46.6%
Komarov	F	59	190	189	50.1%	12:03	97	111	46.6%
Panik	F	72	197	215	47.8%	10:14	108	125	46.4%
Bernier	G	55	723	852	45.9%	44:13	442	519	46.0%
Phaneuf	D	66	361	443	44.9%	17:13	207	256	44.7%
Kessel	F	78	405	473	46.1%	15:00	226	283	44.4%
Smith	F	53	129	153	45.7%	09:28	76	98	43.7%
Lupul	F	51	201	270	42.7%	13:19	108	140	43.5%
Bozak	F	78	383	453	45.8%	14:50	202	262	43.5%
Reimer	G	33	404	493	45.0%	41:48	183	252	42.1%
Holland	F	59	165	234	41.4%	11:36	87	120	42.0%
Van Riemsdyk	F	78	362	482	42.9%	14:49	205	287	41.7%
Erixon	D	11	26	47	35.6%	12:52	19	27	41.3%
Carrick	F	16	23	32	41.8%	07:07	15	24	38.5%
Brewer	D	14	67	94	41.6%	17:35	31	52	37.3%
Booth	F	55	134	191	41.2%	10:30	74	125	37.2%
Kozun	F	20	28	46	37.8%	07:26	13	22	37.1%
Robidas	D	52	192	267	41.8%	14:44	93	163	36.3%

Tim Erixon enters the table after playing his 11th game. His numbers are bad at ES Close, especially considering how easy his minutes have been, but are truly terrible at ES Overall. His ES percentage is very similar to the percentage Holzer put up before he was traded, but the German was typically playing much more difficult minutes. The US-born Swede hasn’t shown a whole lot in his brief time as a Leaf, and I question whether he’ll be back.