Executing offense against Toronto can be like stumbling through a hall of mirrors. “They’re a unique team defensively — lot of randomness,” said Ime Udoka. “It doesn’t always look like a lot of rhyme or reason to what they’re doing, but they’re very aggressive going after the ball and forcing turnovers. 632 more words
SAN FRANCISCO — Draymond Green’s status is still in question for the finale of the Warriors’ eight-game homestand Friday, but they’ll be going up against an opponent who is unexpectedly shorthanded in the post. Bulls center Nikola Vucevic was ruled out Thursday after entering the league’s health and safety protocols, reportedly testing positive for COVID-19.…
GAME #13 – TORONTO RAPTORS (6-6) vs. PHILADELPHIA 76ERS (8-4) THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2021 – 7 P.M. (ET) – WELLS FARGO CENTER TV: TSN – RADIO: SPORTSNET 590 THE FAN
• The Toronto Raptors (6-6) play the second game of a back-to-back set Thursday night against the Philadelphia 76ers (8-4) at Wells Fargo Center. The Raptors lost 104-88 to the Celtics in Boston on Wednesday and have now dropped three in a row for the first time this season. Toronto hosts Detroit on Saturday before starting a season long-tying six-game road trip (Nov. 15-26) Monday night in Portland. • Rookie Scottie Barnes scored a team-high 21 points (7-11 FG, 7-8 FT) yesterday at Boston. Barnes currently leads all rookies in scoring (17.0 ppg), rebounds (8.5) and field goal percentage (.533 – min. 50 FGA). He has led the team in scoring in five of his first 10 games played, scored 20+ points four times and earned two double-doubles. Barnes sat out two games (Nov. 1-3) with a sprained right thumb. • Gary Trent Jr. (54) and Fred VanVleet (50) rank first and second, respectively, in the NBA in deflections. Trent Jr. also ranks third in the NBA in steals per game (2.50) and has already tied his career high with five steals three times. VanVleet has led the league in deflections per game each of the past two seasons. Toronto has recorded 10+ steals eight times this season, and currently leads the NBA in steals (10.7). • Pascal Siakam (Left Shoulder; Injury Management) will sit out tonight in Philadelphia. Siakam returned to the lineup Nov. 7 vs. Brooklyn after missing the first 10 games of the regular season recovering from left shoulder surgery. He underwent surgery in June to repair a torn labrum. • Centre Khem Birch (Right Knee; Swelling) will miss his third straight game against the Sixers. The Raptors rank second in the NBA in offensive rebounds per game (13.1) this season, but have been outrebounded 24-14 on the offensive glass the last two games. Birch leads the team with 35 offensive boards this season (tied for 11th in the NBA). • Svi Mykhailiuk led the reserves with 10 points Nov. 10 at Boston. Mykhailiuk has now scored in double figures in four of the last six games (Oct. 30 – Nov. 10). He is averaging 10.7 points and shooting .512 (22- 43) from the floor, inlcuding 40 percent (8-20) from beyond the arc, during this stretch. • Sixers guard Danny Green played one season with the Raptors, helping Toronto capture the 2019 NBA championship. Green averaged 10.3 points in 80 games during the 2018-19 season. In 24 postseason contests, he averaged 6.9 points, and scored 18 points in a Game 3 victory over Golden State in the finals.
With the return of Nick Foligno, coach Bruce Cassidy decided to drop Craig Smith down to the third line with Jake DeBrusk and Erik Haula and put Foligno with Taylor Hall and Charlie Coyle, at least to start Thursday’s game against the Edmonton Oilers. Smith, who missed three games earlier in the season with a…
TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (8-5-1 – 17 Points) at PHILADELPHIA FLYERS (6-3-2 – 14 Points) WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2021 1 2 3 FINAL TORONTO 0 1 2 3 PHILADELPHIA 0 0 0 0
ON THE SCORESHEET
William Nylander scored for the Maple Leafs at 11:11 of the second period. Nylander scored his second goal of the game on a power play opportunity at 5:09 of the third period. Nylander is currently on a five-game point streak where he has posted seven points (4G, 3A).
Ondřej Kaše scored for Toronto at 13:33 of the third period. Kaše posted his second goal of the season.
Jake Muzzin posted the primary assist on Nylander’s second period goal. Muzzin registered his third assist of the season.
Nick Ritchie posted the primary assist on Nylander’s third period power play goal. Ritchie notched his second assist of the season.
Auston Matthews recorded the secondary assist on both of Nylander’s goals. Matthews registered his fourth multi-point game of the season.
Alexander Kerfoot posted the primary assist on Kaše’s goal. Kerfoot recorded his fifth assist of the season.
David Kämpf notched the secondary assist on Kaše’s goal. Kämpf posted his first assist as a Maple Leaf after signing with the club as a free agent on July 28, 2021.
Jack Campbell stopped all 36 shots he faced in tonight’s win recording his second shutout of the season and sixth of his NHL career. SHOTS ON GOAL (5-on-5 in brackets) 1st 2nd 3rd TOTAL PHILADELPHIA 11 (9) 12 (11) 13 (11) 36 (31) TORONTO 12 (9) 7 (7) 14 (9) 33 (25) SHOT ATTEMPTS (5-on-5 in brackets) 1st 2nd 3rd TOTAL PHILADELPHIA 16 (14) 26 (24) 23 (19) 65 (57) TORONTO 18 (13) 14 (14) 19 (13) 51 (40) ON THE ROAD AGAIN
The Maple Leafs are 2-3-0 on the road this season.
Toronto’s all-time record is 65-93-22-7 in 187 games against the Philadelphia Flyers and 28-55-8-3 in 94 games played in Philadelphia.
Toronto is 6-3-1 against the Eastern Conference this season and 1-2-1 against the Metropolitan Division this season. MAPLE LEAFS LEADERS Shots 7 (Ritchie) Shot Attempts 7 (Ritchie) Faceoff Wins 11 (Matthews, Kämpf) Faceoff Win Percentage 55% (Matthews – 11 won, 9 lost) Hits 3 (Simmonds, Semyonov) Blocked Shots 4 (Muzzin) Takeaways 1 (Kaše, Engvall, Brodie) TOI 23:32 (Rielly) Power Play TOI 2:58 (Ritchie, Nylander) Shorthanded TOI 4:11 (Rielly) Shifts 26 (Muzzin, Holl) 5-on-5 Shot Attempt Percentage 56.00% (Brodie – 14 for, 11 against) RECORD WHEN…
The Maple Leafs were 1-for-3 on the power play and 4-for-4 on the penalty kill tonight.
Toronto is 4-1-0 when scoring the first goal of the game.
The Maple Leafs are 3-2-0 when tied after one period and 5-0-0 when leading after two periods.
Toronto is 3-2-0 when outshot by their opponent.
The Maple Leafs are 3-0-0 in Wednesday games. OF NOTE…
At 11:11 of the second period, a video review was initiated to determine whether or not there was a distinct kicking motion on the play. Video review determined that the puck deflected off of William Nylander’s skate and entered the net in a legal fashion. The call on the ice was overturned – Goal Toronto.
Per the NHL Situation Room, the decision was made in accordance with Rule 37.4 that states, in part, “a puck that deflects into the net off an attacking Player’s skate who does not use a ‘distinct kicking motion’ shall be ruled a GOAL. A puck that is directed into the net by an attacking Players’ skate shall also be ruled a GOAL, as long as no ‘distinct kicking motion’ is evident.”
Kirill Semyonov made his NHL debut during tonight’s game.
With his third period goal, Ondřej Kaše registered his 100th career NHL point (45G, 55A).
Nick Ritchie recorded seven shots during tonight’s game, marking a single-game career high.
Auston Matthews was on the ice for a team-high 15 Toronto shot attempts-for at 5-on-5.
TJ Brodie finished the game with a team-high 5-on-5 shot attempt percentage of 56.00 percent (14 for, 11 against). UPCOMING GAMES: Nov. 12 Leafs vs. Calgary Scotiabank Arena 7:00 pm ET Nov. 13 Leafs at Buffalo KeyBank Center 7:00 pm ET Nov. 16 Leafs vs. Nashville Scotiabank Arena 7:00 pm ET Nov. 18 Leafs vs. New York Rangers Scotiabank Arena 7:00 pm ET Nov. 20 Leafs vs. Pittsburgh Scotiabank Arena 7:00 pm ET Nov. 21 Leafs at New York Islanders UBS Arena 7:30 pm ET Stats reflect official NHL stats at the time of distribution.
POSTGAME QUOTES: HEAD COACH SHELDON KEEFE Q: On tonight’s game: Sheldon Keefe: I just thought we did a really good job of defending our net today both coming into our zone and into the defensive zone. I really liked our special teams, penalty killing was outstanding. That gives us a lot of life and lot of chances obviously to keep it out of our net. If we keep the score down and keep the game manageable as offence was hard to come by. And then we get a goal and I don’t think we gave them very much after that, and the power play come through and we get a nice insurance goal so I just liked the intensity of our team played with defensively in a game we knew was going to be low event and hard to get much offence as a team in Philadelphia that hasn’t given up much throughout the season in terms of chances against and goals against so we needed to be able to be comfortable playing in a tight game. When we went into the third, we talked about being comfortable winning the game 1-0 if that’s what it was going to take and we thought that if we had that approach there would be some offence available to us. Textbook third period in a lot of ways. It was a clean win for our team. AUSTON MATTHEWS (TWO ASSISTS) Q: Good response game? Matthews: “…Really good response from us. Everybody down the lineup just really, really solid all throughout. Soupy was unbelievable for us, just like he’s been all year. Big kudos to him but I just thought our effort from puck drop was just really solid throughout the whole game.” Q: On William Nylander: Matthews: When he’s going, he’s going. When he’s skating and moving his feet, he’s dangerous all over the ice and he leads the play well obviously with his skills and his skating. He sees the ice well and he’s easy to play with. He’s been shooting the puck a little bit more and it’s obviously been going in so he’s obviously a huge part of this team so when he’s going it obviously makes it a lot easier on us. JACK CAMPBELL (36 SAVES) Q: Do you feel like you were able to bounce back from the other night? Campbell: “Certainly. You could tell right from the get-go that we had a serious purpose out there and just executed the whole night. To beat a team like Philly in their own building, and then you gotta win the net front, they have a lot of great players in front of the net and they weren’t able to get any tips out there and we were just doing such a great job in front.” Q: Did you feel like you were in the zone tonight? Campbell: “I felt like everybody was in the zone, top to bottom. Doesn’t matter who it was, everybody did their job and did it for 60 minutes. It’s great to see. WILLIAM NYLANDER (TWO GOALS) Q: Did you think your first goal was going to survive video review? Nylander: “I didn’t really know. I didn’t know if I kicked it or not but when I got to the bench they told me it was a goal so I was pretty confident that it would be a goal.” Q: Do you feel like you’re in a zone right now? Nylander: “Yeah, I think we’re buzzing as a line, creating a lot of chances, and the power play is starting to get really good.