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Despite big second period, St Louis Blues fall just short of the New York Rangers

Written by SFDI on . Posted in Blog. Leave a Comment

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By Jordan Laroche

This matchup between the New York Rangers and St Louis Blues has been circled by numerous Rangers fans. The two clubs made a sizeable trade during the offseason, the Rangers sending Pavel Buchnevich to the Blues for Sammy Blais and a second-round pick. This move was very unpopular with Rangers fans as Buchnevich finished fourth on the team in points last season with 48 and was a fan favorite. But the move had to be done to shed some cap and open a spot in the top-six for Alexis Lafreniere and Kaapo Kakko.

This would have been a good measuring stick to see how the trade has done for both teams. But Blais will be out for the remainder of the season tearing his ACL, and Buchnevich is second on the Blues in points scoring at a point-per-game pace.

Alexis Lafreniere opened the scoring with his 13th goal of the season and has been much more noticeable on the ice. Since Lafreniere was moved to the top line alongside Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider, he has taken his game to new heights. In the 13 games since Kaapo Kakko was injured, Lafreniere has almost doubled his goal total with five goals.

Ryan Strome extended the Rangers lead to two goals as the Rangers seemed to be gaining momentum. But the game would quickly flip in favor of the Blues as Ryan O’Reilly, Ivan Barbashev and David Perron would all score in a two-minute span to make the game 3-2.

Blues goalie Ville Husso played well as the Rangers tried to even the game. It took a lot of effort and a broken play for Patrik Nemeth to score his first as a Ranger in his first game since the birth of his son, tying the game at three. The Rangers weren’t done there as Chris Kreider tipped a shot from Adam Fox to give them the lead while Artemi Panarin sealed the game with an empty-net goal.  Igor Shesterkin made 13 saves in the third period to keep the Blues off the scoresheet the rest of the night as “Igor” chants filled Madison Square Garden.

Box Score

1st Period

G: Alexis Lafreniere (13) A: Adam Fox (44)

2nd Period

G: Ryan Strome (12) A: Artemi Panarin (43) Jacob Trouba (17)

G: Ryan O’Reilly (12) A: Brandon Saad (13) David Perron (17)

G: Ivan Barbashev (17) A: Jordan Kyrou (29)

G: David Perron (12) A: Ryan O’Reilly (23) Colton Parayko (16)

3rd Period

G: Patrik Nemeth (1) A: Ryan Strome (27) Dryden Hunt (7)

G: Chris Kreider (35) A: Adam Fox (45) Artemi Panarin (44)

G: Artemi Panarin (15) A: Adam Fox (46)

 

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Alexis Lafreniere finally coming into his own

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By Jordan Laroche

Alexis Lafreniere has been the brunt of many New York Rangers fan’s complaints since joining the club last season. Lafreniere was one of the highest touted first-round picks in recent memory as he had exceptional player status in the QMJHL and dominated the league with 297 points in 171 games. But since joining the Rangers he hasn’t found consistent production just yet, but he has developed into a well-rounded player.

With five goals in his last eight games, Lafreniere has been finding the back of the net a little more consistently, but his confidence with the puck and his decision-making have improved tenfold. Lafreniere’s play improved shortly after being assigned to the Rangers top line with Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider, a spot previously held by Kaapo Kakko who has been out since January 21st.

While he hasn’t been credited with many assists this season, Lafreniere has forced turnovers and done the grunt work in creating offense for the team. Lafreniere has always had a chip on his shoulder and we’ve seen that this year as he has been involved in a lot of scrums and is eighth on the team in hits.

While Rangers fans have been impatient with Lafreniere thus far he has been an impactful player for the Rangers. His game score since joining the first line has improved a lot and he has been creating a lot of offense for the Rangers, it’s only a matter of time before he starts putting up points more consistently.

 

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Toronto Maple Leafs hang on to defeat the Washington Capitals for third straight win

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By Neil Becker

 An unlikely pair of defenceman in Rasmus Sandin and Justin Holl combined to score the eventual third period go ahead goal as the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday night went on to defeat the Washington Capitals by a 5-3 score.

This game featured a Capitals team who came into action having lost five straight at Capital One Arena and following the Leafs loss were booed off the ice.

Due to COVID-19, this was the first meeting between these two teams since October 16, 2019 where on that night at Capital One Arena, Toronto jumped out to an early 2-0 lead but ended up losing by a 4-3 score.
 
In Monday night’s victory, the Leafs  first line of Mitch Marner, Michael Bunting and Auston Matthews, which were coming off a 15 point performance in a 10-7 Saturday night win against the Detroit Red Wings, struck again for the first goal against Washington. Marner, who had four goals in that Saturday night win, fought off a Capitals player in corralling a lose puck in the Caps corner, which he passed out front to Bunting who stationed in the slot scored at 2:35 into regulation his 19th goal for a 1-0 Leafs lead.
Washington who had some quality chances were finally rewarded when with only 3:37 remaining in the first, former Pittsburgh Penguins forward Conor Sheary deflected a shot from teammate Nicklas Backstrom which fooled screened Leafs netminder Petr Mrazek in tying thing up at 1-1.
Toronto would grab back the momentum as they struck for two late period goals with the first of those coming from forward William Nylander who with only a little over a minute remaining in the first, scored the go-ahead and his 21st. of the season. This goal was engineered by a perfect  behind the net set-up from captain John Tavares. The second of those late period goals was a real back breaker for the Capitals as Holl scored his second with only two seconds left in the period to give Toronto a big insurance marker as they led 3-1 after 20 minutes of regulation. 
 
Unlike that crazy wide open Saturday night game, goals were much harder to come by as Capitals enforcer, forward Tom Wilson scored a power play goal at the 10:11 mark which made it a one goal game where it stayed heading to the third period. Wilson, who doesn’t get enough credit for his offense, made it a brand new game when just shy of two minutes into the third he capitalized on a shorthanded opportunity with his 17th goal.

The Leafs would prevail when with under four minutes remaining in regulation, Holl, sent a cross ice tape to tape pass to Sandin who had an easy tip in for his 3rd of the year and eventual go-ahead.

Washington pulled the goalie for an extra attacker, and that’s when Leafs forward Pierre Engvall took advantage as he skated in alone and scored with 61 seconds remaining into the open to clinch another big two points for the Leafs. 

Toronto now has 74 points, which puts them only one point behind the Florida Panthers for first place in the Atlantic Division.

The Leafs next see action on Wednesday night at Scotiabank Arena with a 7:30 p.m. opening face-off against the Buffalo Sabres.

 

                        SCORING SUMMARY                                      TOR- WSH

                          1ST. Period  

                          2:35  Michael Bunting (19)                               1  –  0

                          Mitchell Marner (32), Rasmus Sandin (11) 

 

                         16:23  Conor Sheary (12)                                 1  –  1

                         Nicklas Backstrom  (12), John Carlson (29)

 

                         18:49  William Nylander (21)                             2  –  1

                         John Tavares (32), Alex Kerfoot (28)

 

                         19:58  Justin Holl (2)                                        3  –  1

                         Mitchell Marner (33), Morgan Rielly (38)

 

                           2ND. Period                                                TOR- WSH

                        10:11 PPG- Tom Wilson (16)                              3 –    2

                         Alex Ovechkin (31), John Carlson (30)

                             3RD Period                                               TOR- WSH

                             1:44 SHG- Tom Wilson (17)                         3 –    3

                              Martin Fehervary (6), John Carlson (31)

 

                            16:37 Rasmus Sandin (3)                             4 –   3

                              Justin Holl (8), John Tavares (33)

 

                            18:59 EN Pierre Engvall (9)                          5  –    3

                             Ilya Mikheyev (4)

 

 

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Mitch Marner explodes for four goals in wild Toronto Maple Leafs win

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By Neil Becker
 
It was anything but pretty, but in the end, the Toronto Maple Leafs came away with the two points they desperately needed.
Finding themselves in a battle for home-ice advantage, Toronto’s offense was led by dynamic forward Mitch Marner who scored three consecutive second-period goals and had four on the evening in what turned out to be a crazy 10-7 win at Little Caesars Arena against the Detroit Red Wings.
Marner, with the four-point game, moved past former Leafs forward Gary Leeman and into the 20th spot on the franchise all-time top point leaders list. Currently, he is only seven points behind his buddy and current linemate Austin Matthews who with 419 points is 18th on the list.

Meanwhile, on this night, Matthews in the second period scored his 37th goal which tied the defending Rocket Richard Trophy winner with Edmonton Oilers Leon Draisaitl for first in league goal scoring. Also having a night to remember was rookie first line forward Michael Bunting who scored a goal in what was a five-point night.

Resembling those wide-open high scoring games from the ’80s, Toronto struck for three first-period goals. Getting things started was forward William Nylander who just shy of four minutes into regulation picked the top corner with an absolute laser for his 20th goal of the season. Less than two minutes later, at the 6:18 mark, Toronto doubled their lead when Bunting, who is a serious Calder Trophy contender scored his 18th goal of the year.

The Red Wings boast a talented rookie of their own in forward Lucas Raymond who showed some magic by scoring his 14th goal to slow down the Leafs momentum. However before the first period ended, Toronto successfully restored their two-goal lead as forward David Kampf celebrated his eighth goal which made it a 3-1 game. 

The second period turned out to be the Mitch Marner show.  In less than a nine-minute span that first line of Marner, Matthews and Bunting proved dangerous as Marner struck for three straight goals with both Matthews and Bunting getting assists. Marner, who is known more as a play-maker would go on to have a four-goal game and now has 21 goals on the year.

Following Marner’s third goal the Wings got one back when veteran forward Sam Gagner, with a little over six minutes remaining in the second, scored his sixth which was answered shortly afterward by Matthews scoring his 37th which with a little over a minute left in the second increased Toronto’s lead to 7-2.

Toronto’s goal-tending struggles reared it’s ugly head in the third as the relentless Wings struck with four straight goals to chase Campbell and make it a one-goal game. Starting the Red Wings scoring barrage was Filip Hronek who 35 seconds in, scored his fifth which was followed by goals from Carter Rowney with his third, Joe Veleno, and Michael Rasmussen with his seventh.

After the Wings made it 7-5, Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe pulled Campbell for former Red Wing Petr Mrazek. After Detroit scored that fourth goal to make it a one-goal game, the Leafs got a big momentum goal from winger Ilya Mikheyev who with a little under 13 minutes remaining in regulation, showcased his speed by cutting to the Wings and scoring his ninth goal.

Showing resiliency, the Wings kept attacking, and 41 seconds later, Raymond scored his second and 15th of the year which cut the Leafs lead to 8-7 with 12:15 remaining in what was shaping up to be a wild finish.

The Leafs would go on to reach double digits with two more goals starting with a short-handed marker from Ondrej Kase with his 11th at the 10:33 mark followed by Marner scoring that 10th and final goal.

While the two points are essential, Leafs brass still has to be concerned going forward about the inconsistency of starter Jack Campbell.

Toronto will next see action on Monday night at Capitals Arena with a face-off scheduled for 7:30 p.m. against the Washington Capitals.
Notes- The last time Toronto scored double digits in a game was 15 years ago.

 

 

                                                  SCORING SUMMARY

                                                 

                                                  1st. Period                                                       TOR-  DET

                                                  3:52  William Nylander (20)                                   1   –   0

                                                  Justin Holl (8), Ondrej Kase (12)

 

                                                 6:18   Michael Bunting (18)                                   2   –    0

                                                 Justin Holl (9), Mitch Marner (32)

                                                

                                                10:33  Lucas Raymond (14)                                  2  –    1 

                                                 Marc Staal (8),  Filip Hronek (21)

 

                                               11:06  David Kampf (8)                                          3 –     1

                                               Ilya Mikheyev (4), Alex Kerfoot (28)      

 

                                              2ND. Period                                                         TOR – DET

                                             

                                             0:33 Mitch Marner (18)                                           4   –   1

                                             Auston Matthews (29), Michael Bunting (19)

                                            4:13 Mitch Marner  (19)                                               5-1

                                                Auston Matthews (30), Micahel Bunting (20)

 

                                           9:19 Mitch Marner (20)                                               6-1

                                                Michael Bunting (21), Auston Matthews (31)      

 

                                          13:47 Sam Gagner (6)                                                   6- 2

                                                

                                          18:38 Auston Matthews (37)                                      7 – 2

                                                 T.J. Brodie (10), Mitch Marner (33)

 

                                                  3RD. Period                                                            TOR- DET

                                           0:35 Filip Hronek (5)                                                      7 – 3

                                               Marc Staal (9), Lucas Raymond (27)

 

                                           2: 09 Carter Rowney (3)                                                7 – 4

 

                                              Filip Hronek (22), Adam Erne (8)                 

                                   

                                         4:42  Joe Veleno (5)                                                         7 –  5

                                             Filip Hronek (23), Danny DeKeyser (5)

 

                                        5:21 Michael Rasmussen (7)                                            7 – 6  

                                            Moritz Seider (33), Joe Velendo (4) 

 

                                       7:04 Ilya Mikheyev (9)                                                       8-  6

                                           Alex Kerfoot (29), Ilya Lyubushkin (10)

 

                                      

                                     7:45  Lucas Raymond (15)                                                   8 – 7

                                           Dylan Larkin (29), Moritz Seider (34)

 

                                     10:33 SHG- Ondrej Kase (11)                                               9 –  7

                                          David Kampf (12), Justin Holl (10)

 

                                    15:41   Mitchell Marner 21)                                                   10-  7

                                           Michael Bunting (22)

 
 
 

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Do the Toronto Maple Leafs have Stanley Cup caliber goaltending?

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By Neil Becker

 

Heading towards the March 21st. NHL trade deadline, the million-dollar question is should Leafs Nation be concerned about their number one goalie Jack Campbell?

 
Campbell was a little-known backup who on February 5, 2020, was part of a multi-player deal that sent him to the Leafs where over time, he would play his way into the number one goaltending position.

Arguably the best moment of Campbell’s Leaf career came on April 10, 2021, when the man affectionately called ‘Soupy’ was all smiles after starting the season with a league-record 11 straight wins, with the eleventh coming in a 6-5 decision against the Ottawa Senators.

Campbell, who was originally selected by the Dallas Stars, 11th overall in the 2010 Entry Draft, last season posted a 17-3-2 record with 2 shutouts and 2.15 GAA.
This season, Campbell got off to a solid first-half start and on January 13th, was selected to participate in the 2022 NHL All-Star Game.
 
Not long after being included on the Atlantic Division Roster, Campbell had a bad four-game stretch where he surrendered 16 goals. He was also pulled during the Leafs 6-4 win against the New Jersey Devils.
 
Most recently, ‘Soupy’s’ play has come under some scrutiny by Leafs media. While Toronto has some world-class offensive talent, a concern has to be in net where since December 1, 2021, they have ranked 30th in five on five save percentage. Since the calendar turned to 2022, Campbell has surrendered 3 or more goals in nine of those 14 starts.
 
Despite the inconsistency, Campbell still has an impressive 23-8-3 record this year with a 2.55 GAA along with 4 shutouts.

Still, when you think of Stanley Cup contenders, you think of teams with consistent elite goaltending. Teams such as the defending Stanley Cup champions who have all-star Andrei Vasilevskiy, Carolina Hurricanes who have the consistent Frederick Andersen, or the Calgary Flames who have Jacob Markstrom.

It’s no secret that to be an elite starter, one must be strong mentally, especially in the playoffs.

Campbell as all Leafs fans known has a tendency to beat himself up for his mistakes and has trouble forgetting about bad outings. Personally, I don’t think that’s a good recipe for a goalie on a Stanley Cup caliber team to have.

His latest bout of inconsistency came on Saturday night when he surrendered five goals and was eventually pulled in the third of a wild 10-7 win against the Detroit Red Wings.

I do hope that Campbell can rebound and be that re-capture that first-half magic. He has had to work for everything he has earned and I would love to see nothing better than him lead the Leafs to a deep Stanley Cup run. Realistically, I just don’t know if that’s going to happen. Only time will tell.  

 
 
 

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