By Stan Smith

Let’s get right into it.

The Ugly

I couldn’t find anything I would put in the ugly category in the Toronto Maple Leafs’ 7-3 win against the Rangers in New York. I am now rating two-thirds of this game as ugly. 

It is funny how this game goes. The way this game started was the way I expected the game in New York against the Rangers to start. What happens? In New York, the Maple Leafs have their best first period of the season, build a 4-1 lead, and win by four goals.

Back at home against a team in second last place in the East, the Maple Leafs play two of their worst and least inspiring periods of the season and go down 5-0 after two.

Toronto gifted the Blue Jackets their first three goals. Max Domi makes a nice pass behind the Maple Leafs’ net to Columbus’ Kent Johnson to set up the first goal. Morgan Rielly blindly rings the boards from behind his net right to Andrew Peeke to set up the second Blue Jacket goal. Jake McCabe misses a pass from Conor Timmins behind the Toronto net and the puck goes to David Jiricek. The play results in the Blue Jackets’ third goal. 

On the fourth goal, TJ Brodie backs away and loses position on Yegor Chinakhov allowing him to walk around him. The fifth goal on a Columbus power play a shot by Johnny Gaudreau deflects off Brodie’s skate and changes direction enough to beat Ilya Samsonov. 

Related: 3 Random Thoughts About the Maple Leafs 7-3 Win vs the Rangers

The Bad

Ilya Samsonov

After coming back from his illness Samsonov shutout the Nashville Predators in his first start. In his two games since, he has allowed 10 goals on 63 shots. He allowed six goals on 35 shots in this game. While the skaters in front of him have played a role in all of the goals he has allowed, the Maple Leafs need Samsonov to be better. 

Samsonov had already lost the starting role to rookie Joseph Woll until Woll was hurt. Now he is in danger of conceding the position to their third-string goalie Martin Jones. If Jones starts the next game versus the Pittsburgh Penguins and wins it, the net could be Jones for the next while. 

Ryan Reaves

At about the midway point of the first period, Ryan Reaves went awkwardly into the boards and appeared to jam his left knee. He attempted to skate off the ice on his own but was unable to. He left the game and didn’t return. After the game, Sheldon Keefe stated that he expected Reaves to be out awhile.  

Play To Their Opponents

It has been an age-old problem for the Maple Leafs. Playing to their opponents. They completely dismantled one of the best teams in the league in their own barn; and, then they come home and let one of the worst teams in the league do the same thing to you for two periods.  

Related: The Good, Bad & Ugly in Maple Leafs’ 4-3 OT Loss On The Isle

The Good

In New York, the Maple Leafs played one of their best periods of the season. In this game, they played one of their best periods in franchise history. I’m not going to go into details of how the five goals were scored. Needless to say, it was the guys that are being paid to score that led the way. 

Auston Matthews (two goals and an assist)

For Matthews, that is 23 goals in 27 games and nine goals in his last six games. It makes me think back to Matthews scoring 51 goals in 50 games in the 2021-22 season. I’m not comparing the two. I’m just saying that he looks like that Auston Matthews right now. 

Mitch Marner (one goal, two assists)

Talking about a goal a game, Marner’s goal was his seventh in his last seven games. He also has 12 points in those seven games. Marner has 12 goals this season, only two less than William Nylander.

William Nylander (one goal, one assist)

Nylander’s two points give him 38 points in 27 games. He is just two points out of fourth place in NHL scoring and three points out of third. After starting the season with a 17-game scoring streak and then going three consecutive games without a point, Nylander now has points in his last seven consecutive games. Putting that in a different perspective, Nylander has scored points in 24 of the 27 games he has played this season.

John Tavares (two assists)

John Tavares has a seven-game scoring streak going. He has a goal and seven assists for a total of eight points in those seven games.  

100 Shot Attempts

One interesting stat I noticed when checking this game out on Naturalstattrick was the Shot Attempts.  Unlike some people who study analytics, I’m not big on Shot Attempts being an important stat. To me, most of them are just failed shots, with the vast majority of them having no chance of ever becoming goals. One thing I have noticed is that in your average game, there are usually about 100 total shot attempts by both teams. 

According to Naturalstattrick, the Maple Leafs had 102 shot attempts of their own in this game. I have never seen a team have that many shot attempts in a single game. I’m not saying it hasn’t happened, just that I have never seen it. I am not going to go through every game for every team and see if it has. I did go back through the last five seasons of the Maple Leafs’ stats and I can attest that Toronto has not done it the past five years.

What’s Next?

The Maple Leafs are home to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night. The Penguins are 4-3-3 in their last ten games, are one game over .500 for the season, and presently sit in 12th place in the 16-team Eastern Conference. In their last meeting in Pittsburgh, the Penguins erased an early Toronto 2-1 by scoring two goals in the second period and holding on for a 3-2 win. 

With Samsonov going all the way in the Columbus game and giving up six goals, I have to believe they are going to start Martin Jones against the Penguins. 

In the Thursday night game, even with Reaves lost early in that game and the Maple Leafs down to eleven forwards ten minutes in Bobby McMann saw only 8:23 of ice time. It makes me wonder if we might see the Maple Leafs call up another forward for Saturday night’s game. 

If it were my choice, I would give Pontus Holmberg another look. Holmberg has four goals and six points in his last five games with the Marlies. He also plays a very sound defensive game. If Matthew Knies is healthy and can reclaim his spot on the top line a fourth line of David Kampf, Noah Gregor, and Holmberg might be an excellent combination. 

Related: Are Maple Leafs Eyeing Ilya Lyubushkin Once More in a Trade?