Game 72 Scoring Chances and Zone Entries: Leafs 5 vs. Flames 2

Toronto extended its strong recent run with a win over Calgary.

After exchanging goals in the first two periods, Toronto took the lead early in the third, and then added a couple of late scores to extend the advantage to three. Toronto has won four of their last five games as the young Leafs have started to find their footing.

Team	Chances	1st	2nd	3rd	ES	ESClose	ESCh%	NZEnt%	ContEnt
Tor	16	3	9	4	9	5	47.4%	48.5%	33.3%
Cgy	15	1	8	6	10	4	52.6%	51.5%	34.3%

Toronto led in possession for most of the game, but didn’t show the same domination in the other metrics. They were basically even with the Flames in chances, as well as in zone entries, with Calgary making up a deficit in controlled entries as they pushed for an equalizer.

After Toronto started well, Calgary had a big push early in the second period, before Toronto responded with a couple of solid powerplay stretches. Toronto were able to hold onto their lead in the last ten minutes, allowing only a couple of chances, although the Flames did threaten to equalize with a strong run midway through the frame.

Period	Time	ST	SO	Team	How	State	T1	T2	T3	T4	T5	T6	O1	O2	O3	O4	O5	O6
1	15:42	0	0	Tor	Smith wide from rebound	ES	8	23	26	38	45	51	1	11	17	26	33	67
1	12:25	0	0	Tor	Nylander wide from Leivo	PP	15	23	32	39	45	51	1	3	23	26	64
1	08:33	0	0	Tor	GOAL! Parenteau from Nylander	ES	11	15	20	29	39	45	1	3	7	8	79	93
1	04:34	1	0	Cgy	Monahan from Gaudreau	ES	18	40	43	44	45	52	1	5	13	23	27	64
2	19:35	1	0	Cgy	Gaudreau drives	ES	18	40	43	44	45	52	1	5	13	16	23	27
2	17:14	1	0	Tor	Rielly from Grabner	SH	26	40	44	45	52		1	5	8	13	23	27
2	17:06	1	0	Cgy	Colborne drives	SH	26	40	44	45	52		1	5	8	13	23	27
2	16:27	1	0	Cgy	Colborne from Gaudreau	SH	26	40	45	52			1	5	8	13	23	27
2	15:56	1	0	Cgy	Gaudreau from Hamilton	SH	26	40	45	52			1	5	8	13	23	27
2	14:53	1	0	Cgy	Colborne from loose puck	SH	16	45	51	52	54		1	5	8	13	23	27
2	14:45	1	0	Cgy	Colborne from Hamilton	SH	26	40	45	51	52		1	5	8	13	23	27
2	13:45	1	0	Tor	Nylander from Hyman	ES	11	15	20	29	39	45	1	3	7	11	17	67
2	13:31	1	0	Tor	Greening from rebound	PP	16	18	38	43	44	45	1	5	7	16	23
2	09:53	1	0	Tor	Nylander post from Parenteau	PP	15	23	32	39	45	51	1	5	7	17	23
2	05:34	1	1	Tor	GOAL! Hyman deflects Nylander shot	ES	8	11	15	39	45	51	1	11	17	26	33	67
2	04:27	2	1	Tor	Nylander wide from Parenteau	PP	15	23	32	39	45	51	1	5	7	11	67
2	04:09	2	1	Tor	Leivo wide from Laich	PP	15	23	32	39	45	51	1	5	7	11	67
2	03:57	2	1	Tor	Nylander from Laich	PP	15	23	32	39	45	51	1	5	7	11	67
2	02:39	2	1	Cgy	Hamilton drives wide	ES	11	26	44	45	52	54	1	5	8	13	27	93
2	02:28	2	1	Cgy	GOAL! Colborne deflects Giordano shot	ES	11	26	44	45	52	54	1	5	8	13	27	93
2	01:52	2	2	Tor	Nylander drives wide	ES	11	15	20	29	39	45	1	18	26	33	52	64
3	16:34	3	2	Tor	Hyman drives	ES	11	15	20	29	39	45	1	8	18	26	33	79
3	15:53	3	2	Tor	Grabner from Rielly	ES	18	40	43	44	45	52	1	3	13	16	23	33
3	15:37	3	2	Tor	Rielly form loose puck	ES	18	40	43	44	45	52	1	3	13	16	23	33
3	15:31	3	2	Cgy	Gaudreau from Monahan	ES	16	32	43	44	45	52	1	5	11	17	27	67
3	14:41	3	2	Cgy	Monahan from loose puck	ES	18	40	43	44	45	52	1	5	13	23	27	79
3	12:59	3	2	Cgy	Frolik wide from Jokkipakka	ES	8	11	15	39	45	51	1	3	7	11	17	67
3	10:46	3	2	Cgy	Jokkipakka from Backlund	ES	8	18	38	43	45	52	1	3	5	7	11	67
3	04:22	3	2	Tor	Grabner drives	ES	18	40	43	44	45	52	1	5	13	23	27	93
3	04:13	3	2	Cgy	Hamilton wide from Gaudreau	ES	18	40	43	44	45	52	1	5	13	23	27	93
3	03:55	3	2	Cgy	Ferland from loose puck	ES	23	26	38	44	45	52	1	5	8	11	27	79

Leafs Player Data

Player	ESChF	ESChA	ESCh%	ESTOI	ZS%	NZ%	ConEnt	OppConEnt
Parenteau	5	1	83.3%	12:19	54.6%	48.6%	47.1%	27.8%
Nylander	5	1	83.3%	12:20	54.6%	50.0%	50.0%	27.8%
Hyman	5	3	62.5%	14:14	54.6%	53.8%	47.6%	38.9%
Laich	1	1	50.0%	10:55	12.5%	50.0%	28.6%	21.4%
Grabner	3	4	42.9%	11:14	37.5%	47.2%	23.5%	31.6%
Michalek	3	5	37.5%	10:58	42.9%	44.1%	26.7%	42.1%
Kadri	3	6	33.3%	12:31	42.9%	40.5%	26.7%	40.9%
Greening	1	2	33.3%	11:30	12.5%	42.4%	28.6%	31.6%
Smith	1	3	25.0%	13:29	11.1%	52.6%	30.0%	22.2%
Gauthier	0	2	0.0%	10:10	28.6%	55.2%	25.0%	46.2%
Brown	0	1	0.0%	07:55	33.3%	52.4%	27.3%	50.0%
Leivo	0	1	0.0%	08:19	33.3%	47.8%	27.3%	41.7%
Corrado	4	0	100.0%	12:10	30.8%	55.2%	50.0%	23.1%
Valiev	4	0	100.0%	11:55	30.8%	51.6%	37.5%	33.3%
Gardiner	2	1	66.7%	18:26	36.4%	42.9%	37.5%	25.0%
Carrick	2	2	50.0%	13:01	40.0%	44.2%	42.1%	33.3%
Rielly	3	8	27.3%	16:19	44.4%	53.2%	24.0%	45.5%
Marincin	3	9	25.0%	18:09	40.0%	47.3%	19.2%	41.4%

After some early struggles in terms of chances, William Nylander has come into his own in the last week, including a three-point game on Monday. His line, alongside Zach Hyman and P.A. Parenteau, was key to the Leafs‘ success as the only unit to outchance the opposition. Nylander’s line also led in controlled entries, a feat normally reserved for Nazem Kadri’s line. It will be interesting to see how Nylander will fare against two powerful, skilled centers in Ryan Getzlaf and Ryan Kesler on Thursday — a stiff test and a good learning opportunity.

For his part, Kadri, alongside Milan Michalek and Michael Grabner, were matched up against Johnny Gaudreau. While they did produce a few chances, they were clearly outchanced, and were the worst defensive line.

The other two lines had quiet nights, with just one chance produced between them.

Frank Corrado and Rinat Valiev had a strong game together, mostly playing against Matt Stajan and his line. Neither man was on for a chance against, and they had several good shifts with William Nylander’s line. Boht finished at +4. The top pairing of Morgan Rielly and Martin Marincin, who matched up against Gaudreau, had a tough game from a defensive perspective, on together for eight of the Leafs‘ ten ES changes against.