Before the game, John Cooper noted: “Usually these games with odd numbers – games 3 and 5 – are quite key games in the series. It’s not as important as Game 5, but it’s damn close. “
Undoubtedly, this was the best hockey game in this series. Leafs came out on top and now lead the series 2-1.
Let’s break everything in the game into 10:
1. I’ve always been fascinated by the way teams start matches – in particular, who the coaches send for the first shift to set the tone. The Leafs started the John Tavares line in the first two games in response to Lightning, who announced a starting line-up that included the Brayden Point line – Anthony Cirelli. In this game, Sheldon Keefe switched the starting shift to the Auston Matthews line.
On the first shift, Lightning pushed him deep and Cirelli dealt a big blow to Ilya Lyubushkin, creating a turnaround in the Brayden Point slot, which he almost scored. It was a difficult start, especially for Lubushkin.
The decision to dress Justin Hall and sit Timothy Llegren provoked a lot of discussions. I guess much of the coaching staff’s decision-making logic was based on Hall’s desire to be penalized. He is a legally good penalty killer and the Lightning power game ignited the Leafs in Game 2.
Jason Speza is also back, so he replaces Liljegren in the power play. If you decide that Holl is actually playing and you’ve completely taken Liljegren out in the process, the question is whether to keep the Rielly-Lyubushkin pairing together or the Giordano-Liljegren pairing together at 5v5.
I am not necessarily saying that I agree with him, but this is indeed the context of the decision. And Lubushkin was everywhere in this game, both good and bad.
2. The strong game has not yet scored a 5v4 goal in this game, but that changed pretty quickly in this one when Leafs scored in their first PP of the game.
There were some subtle adjustments to Leafs’ male advantage. The main one: William Nylander started halfway through the game to start the game with force. Leafs replaced Nylander and Mitch Marner on the half-wall – and even moved Aston Matthews to his one-off side – but Nylander generally didn’t start there. He did it in this one.
3. The Leafs players spent the break getting a rerun of the team’s tactical organization and regained a passable organization when the game started again. They are at their best when Matthews grabs the puck, when he skates on a slope, and here’s when the power game broke down? After Matthews skated in the middle of the ice from the top of the blue line and shot with a step. They had just started firing at the net from there.
The goal fell from a single shot by Matthews, Mitch Marner shot on rebound, and Morgan Riley scored on Marner’s rebound.
The other thing to note: Sheldon Keefe kept the top module on for two minutes. It is the beginning of the game and he is trying to make them understand the importance of the first goal of the match. In this case it happened.
4. In Game 2 Lightning made its way with Leafs in the game of power. In the first test of this year, Leafs’ PC returned to what made them successful in Game 1: preventing Tampa Bay from creating the zone.
We talked about how the Leafs used PJ Brody and Justin Hall on PK throughout the season – especially in April – but even with Hall back, it was Muzzin – Brodie who started with a penalty.
Just when Leafs destroyed him, Musen had the puck on his wand under some pressure in a scenario similar to how he finished the first period in Game 2 (where he couldn’t get it out and Tampa Bay scored shortly after). This time Muzzin pulled out the puck, Leafs went the other way at 3-on-1 and Leafs buried it.
A big problem I had with the Leafs teams from years past was that it wasn’t always about the right game; it was about who is the most qualified and at all costs to give these players time for a puck / ice. It was just a case of proper play.
Pierre Engval knew that Ilya Lubushkin was on the right, who was not exactly a playmaker or a goal scorer, and it could be said that Engval thought for a second. Lyubushkin was just too open and too crowded, so Engval threw him out and hammered the net. Lyubushkin had a special moment and made a special game, setting Colin Blackwell 2-0. This is good hockey.
5. Alex Killorn released Justin Hall on a buzzer, followed by a fight and the Leafs went to a powerful game to start the second. He even turned 5v3 in 25 seconds (this was a big loss in the match, which essentially denied any available opportunity).
You have to be careful with these things with Tampa Bay; It’s almost like looking for pranks sometimes to get excited and get in the game. Leafs didn’t let the weather get him down and made some great moves on the pitch in spite of the rain.
Kampf has a series at the moment. We mentioned that Ilya Lyubushkin is everywhere in this game – he took an unofficial assist to the door. In the clearance, very careful, Branden Hagel appeared and made the pretty move. The puck went out of the zone, Hagel took the puck in a similar place, as Lubushkin came for him again, and Hagel made a bad pass, which led to a turnaround. Kampf skated on the ice and beat Andrei Vassilevski with a wrist.
These are already two goals for Kampf in this series and both were that he legitimately beat Vassilevski cleanly. There were no rebounds or strange deviations. He skated on the ice and beat him straight.
Kampf scored one goal in 56 games last season. He is now 11 to 82 this season (one was a goal with an empty net). The great contribution of role-playing players like this is what makes the playoffs so much fun.
6. With 3-0, the game looked pretty much under control for Leafs. Justin Hall played a good first period and contributed to a penalty in the first period, as expected. At 3-0, however, he must give way in the game, leading to a 3-1 goal. It just can’t happen.
It was a bad rebound and there was not much support ahead. You scored three goals. You are on your way. At this point, you need to skate and play it safe. He took a penalty for hurrying and Lightning made them pay this time.
Leafs also got too involved in the penalty shootout. After a turn in the middle of the ice at Lightning blueline, instead of returning it to the deep, Alex Kerfut stopped with the puck and tried to play. He was knocked down, Lightning fell when hit by a strange man, and Leafs never managed to get their puck back before Russ Colton tore off once.
These were two really bad cases of situational awareness (or lack thereof) that turned it into a game again.
7. Leafs were lucky enough to come out of the second period 3-1. TJ Brody made a rescue dive to deflect the puck when Colton looked at a clean empty door, but even beyond that, Tampa Bay continued the game for the last five minutes of the period.
I think Keefe and the coaching staff were very aware of that. They came out in the third period and killed Kerfut to the top line. The line Ilya Mikheev – David Kampf – Pierre Engval was also united.
He almost repaid with a goal. Auston Mathews broke away (and got his own rebound to no avail). Immediately afterwards, Mitch Marner fired a shot that glanced at Vassilevski and hit the crossbar.
8. Andrei Vassilevski made several big saves before Tampa Bay came down on the ice and made the game with one goal. Not a bad goal for Jack Campbell, but he could have saved himself.
It was a shot from the wrist from the top of the circle with minimal traffic in front. If nothing else, it looked like a bit of a broken game (Campbell had hit the puck from the air to get it there in the first place) and he may not have been able to recover properly. The washer came off his shoulder a little, but it didn’t fill.
The 3-0 match is now 3-2 and the game continues.
9. Even if you didn’t like that goal, Jack Campbell more than stood tall for the rest of the way.
Nick Paul walks TJ Brodie and enters all alone; Campbell came out great with a toe rescue. In the ensuing powerful game, Stephen Stamkos fired a single pass and Campbell closed the door. Brandon Hagel had a good chance in the tight shortly after; Campbell was standing there again.
There is so much talk about goalkeeping in this series – and rightly so for many reasons – but for me Campbell beat Vassilevski in this one and that was the story. He came out great with the game online.
10. In the penalty shootout in the last half of the third and the substitutions that followed, Leafs used a lot of Jake Musen – TJ Brody and Mark Giordano – Justin Hall to close most of this game. The Pierre Engwall-David Kampf-Ilya Mikheev line has been around for a long time, and Alex Kerfut has been a staple in the Aston Matthews line with Mitch Marner.
When closing the game with a lead, it was usually the 10 players that the Leafs wanted on the ice. Despite all the criticism he receives – and he made a bad game – Lightning scored on a penalty where Hall was in the penalty area, and he did a good job helping to kill the other two. Hall helped them close the lead and the game in the end as well.
We have almost reached the point where looking at and discussing the Leafs lines is irrelevant. Pierre Engwall had to be on the fourth line – he played 15:09, more than Michael Bunting, Ondrej Kase and Kerfut. This great third line, which we talked about so much, was largely reunited in this one. From each line of Leafs in this game, this trio played the third most together.
In terms of matches in this one, Tampa Bay has a hard time committing to …
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