Game Recap: Leafs 4 - Blackhawks 5 (SO) - The Leafs are a sin, not a tragedy

The Leafs visit Chicago tonight, looking to end a two game skid that involved the most Leafy loss since 2013, and a well played game against pretty tough opposition on a back to back. They'll be facing a Chicago team that has struggled a bit to open the year, though former Leaf Richard Panik has had a hot start, and seems a mortal lock to continue the long-standing "former marginal player burns the Leafs".

If you're wondering why this is all written in present tense, that's because I'm writing it before the game starts. For those who haven't seen one of my game recaps before, I tend to do a 'running diary' style (popularized by Bill Simmons). So I'll be noting down my observations about the game in real time (and time stamping). Without further ado, lets get going!

Pregame

• Hunwick and Polak look like they're both suiting up, leading to the eternal question: Can Mike Babcock ice a roster that is so bad, that he himself could not coach it to a 50% CF%? We shall see.
• Meanwhile, the Hawks get Marian Hossa back, which is good, because their forward depth is not stellar. Since this seems to come up now, yes, Hossa should be an absolute lock for the HHOF, and you're wrong if you disagree.
• It's amazing to me that Auston Matthews has sucked up so much media attention, that Mitch Marner is basically totally flying under the radar... the same guy who put up video game numbers over the last two years in junior. To say nothing of how little buzz Nylander has gotten.
• This is the 3rd game in four nights for the Leafs, while the Hawks also played last night, so fatigue may have an impact.
• Nothing against these anthem singers, but can we please eliminate these before games? What do they add?
• Oh there's no Glenn Healy anymore! Thank the lord.
• Andersen starts for the Leafs, Scott Darling for Chicago/

First Period

• [20:00] Standard lines for the Leafs, as JVR - Bozak - Marner starts. Zaitsev and Hunwick start on the blue line.
• [18:49] Andersen has a miscommunication with a teammate, as he goes out to play the puck behind his net, but leaves it for the Blackhawks to take. Nothing comes of it, fortunately.
• [18:19] Paul Romanuk can't do math, as about 90 seconds into the game, he says that we're nearing three minutes without a whistle. He repeats the mistake at 17:50.
• [17:37] Mad scramble in front of the Blackhawks net, as the Matthews line swarms (well, 2/3 of it, as Brown had come on for Nylander). They already look like the Leafs most dangerous offensive unit.
• [16:24] Blackhawks score! Artem Anisimov. Hunwick is caught up ice, and Panarin gets by the backchecking Kadri, requiring Zaitsev to come over and help. Panarin deftly passes to the space Zaitsev vacated, where Anisimov is waiting for the open net. 1-0 Blackhawks. I'm honestly not sure what Hunwick was doing there.
• [15:50] A nice play from Marner and JVR nearly get it back for the Leafs right away. Darling saves, and it remains 1-0.
• [13:39] The Leafs D has had real trouble exiting the zone once they get control of the puck.
• [12:41] The Panarin - Kane - Anisimov line is living in the Leafs zone. They are running roughshod.
• [11:05] Nearly halfway into the first period, and I gotta say, this has been a pretty abject performance by the Leafs. The Blackhawks are imposing their will on the game, and the Leafs are just watching.
• [9:29] Kane and Panarin nearly combine for another goal on a rush, and it leads to even more pressure from the Hawks. They're destroying the Leafs right now.
• That kid doing the commentary of the road hockey game for that Scotiabank commercial would be super annoying in real life. Like, he's effectively just talking to himself out loud.
• [8:53] They show video of Kane's and Toews' first goals, and they look like they were filmed in the 60s. Did the NHL not have HD cameras in 2007?
• [8:00] Hunwick with a pointless pass to no one under pressure, leading to the Blackhawks getting the zone and hemming in the Matthews line.
• [6:56] Leafs get their best shift in a while and to no one's surprise, it comes with the Matthews line. Still no real dangerous chances, but simply not getting destroyed would be a step up.
• [5:44] Kadri's group follows up with a decent shift of their own. They need to get going as well, given how much they'll be matching up against Panarin - Anisimov - Kane.
• [4:50] Leafs are sort of coming alive now, and by that I mean, they're not practice pylons anymore. Marner's group also has a decent shift, but shortly after, Peter Holland takes a penalty in the neutral zone. Blackhawks to the PP.
• [3:20] So far, the Leafs are scouting out the cross-ice passes the Blackhawks like on the power play.
• [2:15] Uneventful kill, which is just about the best case realistic scenario for Toronto.
• [0:14] Leafs score! Against the run of play, but Bozak tips in a Gardiner feed. The Bozak line has been forechecking well, and they do so again, with it ending up in a goal. 1-1 game. Excellent pass from Gardiner, and a deft touch from Bozak ties it up. Marner gets the secondary assist, after his errant shot from the slot fell to Gardiner at the point. I should also note that Brown was in place of JVR for this particular shift.
• End of first period. Big goal for the Leafs, who were mostly outplayed throughout that period. But they grew into it, and in particular, the Bozak and Matthews lines have generated a couple chances. Kadri's line is in tough against the top line of the Hawks, and mostly struggled against it. We'll see if Babcock decides to change his usage at all. Connor Brown also stood out positively for the Leafs. /

Second Period

• [20:00] Second period underway. Here we go!
• [19:34] Sometimes, Hyman's lack of offensive creativity and skill (relative to his linemates) hampers his line. He had Nylander trailing with some room on a zone entry, but ended up taking a meek backhand on net from a bad angle. He does a lot of other things well, but if you're a fan of putting say, Brown up on that line, that's the type of play you would point to.
• [18:06] The Bozak line with another good play, leading to a Bozak shot from the slot. Darling saves. In the interest of being far, I'll note that Hunwick had a great stretch pass to begin this sequence. Later in the shift, poor rebound control from Darling leads do a JVR shot from point blank that he rings off the bar.
• [17:25] End to end action now, as Chicago gets a 2 on 1, forcing a great save from Andersen.
• [16:10] Nylander, Rielly, and Matthews team up for a rush chance (sounds good, eh?). No goal, but the Leafs look like they can hang with the Hawks now.
• [15:15] Kadri takes a penalty, and the Leafs will have to have another successful kill if they want this to remain tied.
• [14:43] Reading the above line, it really makes me sound like John Madden.
• [14:28] Unlike their first PP, the Blackhawks managed to get set up in the Leafs zone. Toronto is doing a good job of taking away shooting lanes though.
• [13:55] The Leafs catch a break, as Holland dives out of position to try and clear the puck, but isn't able to. This leaves Kane with acres of space, but his slap-pass to Hossa just barely doesn't work.
• [13:20] Penalty killed without further incident. Fourth line shift for Toronto now.
• [12:48] I gotta say, Polak hasn't been nearly as noticeable as I expected him to be. You'd think a speedy team like Chicago would cause fits for him, but he's been pretty anonymous.
• [12:10] Leafs get a power play, as Marcus Kruger hooks Jake Gardiner.
• [11:52] There's some discussion of what has made the Chicago PK struggle so much this year. Numerous theories are bandied about. Notably absent is the fact that Corey Crawford has a ~60% PK SV% this year. Probably not going to persist.
• [10:32] Nylander scores! A carbon copy of his goal against the Jets. Zaitsev to Matthews, with a beautiful cross-ice pass to Nylander, who makes no mistake. Seems clear this is a designed outcome for the Leafs PP. 2-1 Leafs.
• [9:51] Super Nintendo Hjalmarsson steps into a slapper, but Andersen is up to the task.
• [9:03] Gardiner gets isolated against Kane 1 on 1, but does a masterful job of forcing him outside and limiting the danger.
• [8:52] Blackhawks score! Tyler Motte scores on a rebound off a Campbell shot. Andersen clearly knew he gave up a juicy rebound, but couldn't kick it way before the former Wolverine tucked it into the net. Morgan Rielly did not cover himself in glory on that goal. I don't think he covered anyone. Tied at 2.
• [6:56] Gardiner with a classic 'Jake mistake' inexplicably centring the puck for the Hawks while trying to clear. Fortunately, nothing comes of it.
• [6:15] Roman Polak takes one of the dumbest penalties I've ever seen, completely cleaning out a Hawks player who the puck had gone by in open ice. Stupid, stupid, penalty. It even led to a partial break for Chicago.
• [5:32] Crazy sequence of events on the power play that somehow doesn't result in a goal. No idea how that stayed out.
• [4:24] This has definitely been Chicago's best power play. Leafs very fortunate to not concede. But they do take another penalty.
• [2:35] The Leafs have an easier time killing the second PP. Back at full strength.
• [1:44] JVR scores! Kind of an ugly goal but they all count. A Gardiner point shot falls right to the stick of van Riemsdyk, and he doesn't miss those. It was a great play by JVR to get the puck back to Gardiner at the point, and for him to get the shot away as fast as he did. 3-2 Leafs.
• [0:18] Somehow, the JVR goal goes down as unassisted, which makes absolutely no sense to me.
• End of the second period. Toronto manages to pull ahead, with the Bozak line continuing to put up the points and carry play at even strength. Meanwhile, the PP continues to look strong, with Nylander and Matthews connecting for another goal. Overall, Toronto has played this back to even, and despite putting themselves at a disadvantage with the silly penalties, they managed to get through it. It feels dumb to complain about this given how well they've scored on the PP, but I'd like to see more offence from the Matthews line at ES. /

Third Period

• So the Leafs have a third period lead after a relatively strong performance. What can go wrong?
• [18:30] Relatively uneventful period for the Leafs thus far. Which is basically all they want.
• [18:25] The Leafs generate a shot on the doorstep for Matthews, but he's in too tight to do anything with it.
• [16:49] Martin goes in really awkwardly into the boards, after getting tangled up with Seabrook, He's in a lot of pain, but he remains on the bench., at least for now. That looked bad.
• [16:27] Martin takes a quick test drive in between plays, and while he's definitely in some discomfort, it doesn't look like he'll be leaving the game.
• [16:06] Marner is like the energizer bunny. He's not always going in the right direction, but he's always going somewhere.
• [15:38] Chicago has generated some shots this period, more than the Leafs. But they've been mostly kept to the outside with lots of Leafs defenders in the way.
• [15:30] As I say that, they immediately get a grade A chance with Toews left in front. Andersen saves, and the Leafs go the other way.
• [15:14] And they score! Nylander takes a pass from Matthews as he exits his zone and returns it to Matthews in the neutral zone, who drives wide and fires a low shot against Darling's pad that induces a juicy rebound which falls right to Willie. He puts it away for his second. 4-2 Leafs
• [14:23] I can get used to Nylander and Matthews assisting each other for the next 15 years or so.
• [13:50] Also, remember what I was saying about hoping for more ES scoring by that line?
• [13:25] Hawks are starting to stack their lines, putting Kane and Toews together to juice their offense. They get a lot of zone time, but not a lot of scoring chances.
• [12:24] Nylander and Matthews almost combine again! That would have been fucking absurd if they pulled it off. Matthews is such a complete offensive player, and Nylander is no slouch either. They're really generating some great chances. Meanwhile, Hyman is kind of just the other guy on that line, at least for tonight.
• [11:22] Excellent fourth line shift by the Leafs, keeping the Hossa line pinned in its own zone for an entire shift.
• [10:02] Marner is way too unselfish. He and Bozak combined nicely on a give and go, but Marner made one pass too many.
• [9:35] This pretty much sums up Zach Hyman tonight:
• [8:45] The Leafs are playing a quietly effective third period, forechecking hard, putting pressure on the Blackhawks defensemen, and ensuring the stretch passes they were making so easily in the first aren't available now. They're forcing the Hawks to their plan B by being so aggressive, and they can get away with it because they skate so well.
• [7:00] Matt Martin suckers Hjalmarsson into taking a retaliatory hooking penalty.
• [5:45] The Leafs are playing two defensemen on this power play, as Rielly and Zaitsev both are on the ice. Slightly unusual as typically, Toronto goes four forwards, one defenseman.
• [4:56] Bozak with a great feed to Marner alone in the slot, but his shot is deflected out of play. Marner is getting into the right positions, but the final step just isn't there for him now. But he has too much talent for that to persist for long.
• [4:48] (knocks on all the wood) Andersen has looked solid in this period. He hasn't had to do a tonne, but it's good to see.
• [4:08] Leafs get a 2 on 1 with JVR and Marner, but just miss out on adding to the lead. Nonetheless, the fact that they continue to get chances is impressive, especially with the Leafs leading late in the 3rd.
• [3:09] Richard Panik only has 3 minutes to do what we all expect him to.
• [2:38] Blackhawks score! Of course they do. Anisimov gets his second of the night off a rebound from a Brian Campbell rush. Rielly failed to box out Anisimov. Not a banner night for the young starlet. 4-3 Leafs.
• [2:38] So now it gets nervy, huh? Leafs can't turtle here. They've played a great third period, and need to do so for the next couple minutes.
• [1:28] Of course it's Panik. 4-4 Tie.
• [1:28] I mean, it's kind of funny at this point, right?
• [1:20] Not to question Babs here but... what the fuck was that lineup we sent out? Polak, Hunwick, Marner, Bozak on the ice when you're trying to protect a lead?
• [1:03] So Andersen isn't quite at FAULT for any of the goals here. None were what you would call terrible goals. But goaltenders separate themselves by making the extra save (hence all the emphasis into high danger save percentage nowadays). At some point, Andersen needs to make a save that steals a point.
• End of the third period. The rest of the period passes without incident, despite a great shift by the Matthews - Nylander paid (Hyman isn't even involved anymore). For the sanity of Babcock, I hope the Leafs eke this out somehow.

Overtime / Shootout

• [4:33] The Leafs get super lucky as a puck bounces over Kanes stick when he's all alone. JVR proceeds to high-stick Kane, and Toronto will face a 4 on 3 PP.
• [4:17] Remember how I said Andersen needs to make a save that steals a point for the Leafs? Now would be a great time.
• [3:31] That might've been it. Kane had a great look on goal after a deflected shot fell to him. Andersen keeps the game alive though.
• [2:34] This is nerve-wracking. Andersen made a couple great saves on this PP to give the Leafs a shot.
• [1:20] The Hawks have definitely had the better of the chances in this OT. Especially on the PP (obviously).
• [0:40] Another penalty against the Leafs, after pressure from Panarin's line. This time, Marner takes it. I can't believe the Hawks haven't scored on this OT yet. They've had all the chances.
• [0:40] Hunwick had a nice defensive play against Kane, by the way. I feel I should point out his positive moments, if I'm going to crap on him for his brain farts.
• [0:00] Leafs make it out alive! Now from an enjoyable gimmick to a shitty one, we head to the shootout.
• Okay, this Hunwick - Polak pairing is weird. I guess he thinks they're good in their own zone (as in, once they're in their own zone, they're better than the Leafs other defencemen)? I vaguely remember that Polak is a surprisingly good PK defenseman by the metrics, but given how prone each of them are to letting their assignments remain unmarked, I'm not a fan of this pairing.
• Okay, on to the shootout. First shooter for the Hawks is Toews, who goes top shelf on Andersen with ease. 1-0 Hawks.
• Holland up for the Leafs. He goes backhand - forehand, but is stopped by Darling. Still 1-0.
• Kane up for Chicago. His hands are disgusting, but he lifts it too much. Still 1-0.
• Auston Matthews for Toronto now. He does the Phil Kessel special, with a quick shift of the puck to open the five-hole, and ties it up. 1-1.
• Artemi Panarin for the Hawks now. Like Toews, he goes top shelf, glove side, and gets it by Andersen. 2-1 Chicago.
• Mitch Marner now for the Leafs. Marner with a million dollar move, but a ten cent finish, and the Hawks win!/

Sigh. So that happened, I guess. There's a lot of positives from today's game. And we'll evaluate them in time, and look back on this as a positive. But right now, it's hard to see this as anything but a disappointing loss, and a real morale deflater for a team that is in desperate need of some positivity.