First Period

  • [19:53] On the first shift, Vinnie Hinostroza gets a slot shot off a turnover by the Leafs in their own zone (Auston Matthews gave it away). Frederik Andersen saves to prevent the Leafs from falling into an early hole.
  • [19:12] Mitch Marner picks up a loose puck in the offensive zone and drives the net wonderfully to get a chance. Darcy Kuemper is up to the task.
  • [18:37] Dominant first shift for the Tavares line, with Marner dominating the puck in the offensive zone.
  • [18:37] Marincin takes a tripping penalty, and the Coyotes get an early power play chance.
  • [16:00] The best chance on the power play belongs to the Leafs, as Marner and Connor Brown force a turnover which leads to a Marner breakaway. Outstanding save by Kuemper there.
  • [14:42] Marner, Matthews, and John Tavares dominate on a post PK shift.
  • [14:13] Nylander gets his first shift of the game on the Kadri line (replacing Kapanen, who was playing the PK) and gets a nice zone entry and slot shot that Kuemper gets an arm on. Rielly made a neat backhand pass in the neutral zone to get Nylander the puck there.
  • [11:36] Marincin hasn’t had a great start. A pass he makes into Marner’s skates leads to some zone time for Arizona, though no real chances to speak of.
  • [9:12] Marner has had a ridiculous amount of strong chances early. He gets another one that he just chips high of the net from the net front.
  • [8:15] In a period where the Leafs have had a ton of grade-A chances, it’s a Travis Dermott point shot that finds the back of the net! Nylander does some nice puck recovery in the offensive zone and pokes it to Dermott, who does little more than fire it in the general vicinity of the net. It flutters home, and the Leafs have a 1-0 lead. Nylander gets a point there, and while it wasn’t the prettiest assist, I’m sure he’ll appreciate it./
  • [6:19] Nick Cousins fires a backhand off the post from in tight. Leafs retain the lead.
  • [5:14] Marner nearly gets ANOTHER breakaway... feels inevitable he’ll get one tonight, with the chances he’s getting.
  • [4:03] Dermott gains the zone and finds Matthews streaking in late. He fires a strong shot, but it’s blocked.
  • [3:07] Hyman has a brilliant backcheck to cover for a pinching Rielly and force an offside.
  • [2:31] Marincin fumbles the puck unchallenged in his own zone and coughs it up to Hinostroza, who is basically left alone. He gets a shot away, but it misses the net.
  • [0:22] The Coyotes finally generate a chance not handed to them by a Leafs giveaway. Alex Galchenyuk gets a strong chance away, but Andersen handles it.
  • [0:00] The Leafs dominated that period... Arizona does not appear to be a particularly good team, and aside from the flurry at the end, they created little.
  • [0:00] It looks like Zaitsev took a penalty for high sticking at the end of the period, so the Leafs will start the second down a player./

Second Period

  • [19:06] The Coyotes power play looks utterly inept.
  • [18:00] Leafs kill it off without many cances.
  • [17:44] But immediately after, the Coyotes score! Mario Kempe sneaks behind the defense (Marincin and Ozhiganov) and Alex Goligoski hits him with the pass for the breakaway. He makes no mistake, with a pretty move on Andersen. 1-1 tie./
  • [17:44] The Leafs challenge for offside and lose, so they’ll go to the box again.
  • [17:09] Incidentally, the Goligoski pass was tipped by Lawson Crouse before reaching Kempe.
  • [16:48] This is the Coyotes’ best power play, by which I mean they are actually set up and taking shot attempts. Christian Fischer gets their best chance off a rebound which Andersen does an excellent job of saving.
  • [15:20] Matthews  gets another excellent chance, this time on a pass from Rielly, who had gained the zone and gone behind the net. His shot just goes wide. He’s definitely getting chances, they’re just not going in for the minute.
  • [14:42] As I type that, Tavares sets Matthews up at the front of the net, and he again can’t get it to go.
  • [13:27] Off an offensive zone faceoff, the Johnsson - Matthews - Brown unit has their best shift. Brown slams a rebound netwards, but Kuemper saves. Later in the shift, Matthews finds some space at the top of the circles and fires, but it’s blocked.
  • [10:10] The fourth line has a very strong shift, hemming in Arizona’s third line, generating some shot attempts (though nothing dangerous) and forcing an icing.
  • [9:22] Andersen tries to clear the puck and in doing so, wires it off the face of Josh Archibald. That can’t have felt nice.
  • [8:10] Marleau, Kadri, and Kapanen combine to give the latter a great shot in the slot, absolutely ruining Jakob Chychrun in the process, but he fires just high.
  • [7:22] Johnsson takes an awkward fall into the boards as a result of a Niklas Hjalmarsson hit. He looks like he’ll be alright, but that was a painful headfirst fall.
  • [4:41] Somewhat against the run of play, Clayton Keller scores! He lifts the puck of Morgan Rielly and streaks in, firing in a perfect shot from the left faceoff dot off the crossbar and in. 2-1 Coyotes./
  • [3:27] Zach Hyman draws a tripping penalty on Kuemper. Frankly, it’s not the best call in the world. I don’t particularly care at this point.
  • [1:45] To say that this was a poor power play would be an understatement. The Leafs get one shot, an unthreatening Marner slapshot.
  • [0:00] I don’t think the Leafs have played badly, on aggregate. There have been zome silly giveaways, often from Marincin, and the Coyotes are blocking a ton of shots, but by and large, the Leafs are getting the lions share of the chances. Nonetheless, the Leafs are going to have to make a third period comeback to win this game./

Third Period

  • [20:00] It’s announced that Johnsson will be out the remainder of the game with a concussion. Nylander moves up to take his spot.
  • [17:49] Marleau feeds Kadri streaking the net, but Kuemper saves his shot, as well as Kapanen’s point blank rebound.
  • [16:48] Leafs score! Off a won faceoff after an icing, John Tavares fires it home. Hyman won the draw, Marner tapped it to Tavares, and he ripped it home. Kuemper could possibly have done better, but the Leafs really needed that. 2-2 tie./
  • [13:16] The Coyotes respond well after conceding the goal, and off the back of a bunch of chances, Hinostroza banks the puck in off Andersen. 3-2 Coyotes./
  • [11:23] Rielly picks up the puck in the offensive zone and fires it off the post.
  • [11:00] Hinostroza draws a tripping penalty on Brown.
  • [9:51] Hainsey took a puck to the face on that penalty kill, but otherwise, not too much has happened thus far.
  • [9:00] The Leafs kill it off, and have nine minutes to get this thing even.
  • [7:14] Tavares, Nylander, and Hyman combine for some close calls, but nothing is hitting the back of the net.
  • [5:17] Marner sets up Hyman for a slot shot, but Kuemper stays strong.
  • [4:05] We get a taste of Kapanen - Matthews - Nylander for a shift, but nothing really happens during their time on ice.
  • [2:45] The Coyotes are doing a good job limiting chances in the late stages of the game. The Leafs haven’t set anything up since the Hyman shot.
  • [2:17] Kapanen has a brutal turnover in his own zone that ultimately forces Freddie to freeze the puck.
  • [0:37] Empty net goal for Crouse... to be fair to him, it was pretty decent. 4-2 Coyotes, and that’s the end of it.
  • [0:00] Disappointing result. Not much else to say. I think the Leafs were generally alright, though the Coyotes did a great job of blocking shots and restricting the Leafs where possible. Marincin definitely had a weak performance, and the Tavares line wasn’t very strong defensively. On the bright side... at least Nylander got a point? Ugh./