Category: Maple Leafs

MAPLE LEAFS 2, FLAMES 0 POSTGAME NOTES

CALGARY FLAMES (15-14-3 – 33 Points) vs.

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (20-10-2 – 42 Points)

SATURDAY, MARCH 20, 2021

 123OTFINAL
CALGARY000–0
TORONTO110–2

GAME SUMMARY         |           EVENT SUMMARY        |           FACEOFF SUMMARY

ON THE SCORESHEET

  • Jason Spezza put the Maple Leafs on the board at 18:31 of the first period. Spezza has goals (2) in two consecutive games. He has recorded five of his seven goals on home ice this season. He has three points (2-1-3) in five games against the Flames this season. Toronto is 10-2-1 when Spezza has a point this season.
  • Zach Hyman scored the second Toronto goal of the game at 16:28 of the second period. Hyman has three goals and an assist over his last three games played. He has eight points (6-2-8) in 10 games during the month of March. He has scored eight of his 11 goals at even-strength.
  • Jake Muzzin recorded the lone assist on Spezza’s first period goal. He has a goal and an assist over his last four games played. He has a goal and two assists in four games against Calgary this season. The Maple Leafs are 8-0-1 when Muzzin records an assist in 2020-21.
  • John Tavares registered the primary assist on Hyman’s second period goal. Tavares has a goal and two assists over his last three games played. He has eight points (4-4-8) in 10 games during the month of March. He has 12 points (5-7-12) in 18 games on home ice.
  • Alex Galchenyuk had the secondary assist on Hyman’s second period goal. Galchenyuk’s assist is his first point as a Maple Leaf. He has a goal and an assist in 10 NHL games this season. In six games with the Toronto Marlies (AHL) he recorded eight points (2-6-8).
  • Jack Campbell stopped all 29 shots he faced to earn his second shutout of the season and the fourth of his career.

SHOTS ON GOAL (5-on-5 in brackets)

 1st2nd3rdOTTOTAL
CALGARY5 (5)13 (9)11 (6)–29 (18)
TORONTO11 (10)13 (8)8 (5)–32 (23)
      

SHOT ATTEMPTS (5-on-5 in brackets)

 1st2nd3rdOTTOTAL
CALGARY12 (12)22 (16)19 (10)–53 (38)
TORONTO25 (21)22 (14)15 (10)–62 (45)

NO PLACE LIKE HOME

Record at Home11-6-1 (18 Games)
All-Time Record vs. Calgary  65-62-12-5 (144 Games)
All-Time Record vs. Calgary at Home 38-21-7-3 (69 Games)

MAPLE LEAFS LEADERS

Shots6 (Hyman)
Shot Attempts9 (Matthews)
Faceoff Wins10 (Matthews)
Faceoff Win Percentage100% (Galchenyuk – 2 won, 0 lost)
Hits4 (Matthews)
Blocked Shots3 (Matthews)
Takeaways3 (Brodie)
TOI25:20 (Holl)
Power Play TOI4:55 (Marner, Matthews, Rielly)
Shorthanded TOI3:13 (Muzzin)
Shifts25 (Marner, Muzzin)
5-on-5 Shot Attempt Percentage69.0% (Rielly – 20 for, 9 against)
  

RECORD WHEN…

Scoring first14-3-1
Lead after 111-2-1
Lead after 214-2-1
Do not score a power play goal6-8-0
Do not allow a power play goal13-2-1
Outshooting opponent9-7-1
Saturday5-3-1

OF NOTE…

  • The Maple Leafs were 3-for-3 on the penalty kill and 0-for-4 on the power play tonight.
  • Pierre Engvall won 75% (3 won, 1 lost) of his defensive zone faceoffs.
  • Zach Hyman started 22% of his 5-on-5 shifts in the offensive zone, which was the lowest mark among Toronto skaters.
  • Jake Muzzin was on the ice for a team-high 23 shot attempts for at 5-on-5. Muzzin finished the game with a 5-on-5 shot attempt percentage of 54.8% (23 for, 19 against).

UPCOMING GAMES:

  • Thursday, March 25, 7:00 p.m. at Ottawa Senators (TSN4, FAN 590)
  • Saturday, March 27, 7:00 p.m. vs. Edmonton Oilers (Sportsnet, FAN 590)
  • Monday, March 29, 7:00 p.m. vs. Edmonton Oilers (Sportsnet Ontario, TSN 1050)
  • Wednesday, March 31, 7:30 p.m. at Winnipeg Jets (Sportsnet, FAN 590)
  • Friday, April 2, 8:00 p.m. at Winnipeg Jets (TSN4, TSN 1050)

Stats reflect official NHL stats at the time of distribution. Please consult official NHL game sheets (links above) to confirm no statistical changes were made.

FLAMES 4, MAPLE LEAFS 3 POSTGAME NOTES

CALGARY FLAMES (15-13-3 – 33 Points) vs.

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (19-9-2 – 40 Points)

FRIDAY, MARCH 19, 2021

 123OTFINAL
CALGARY310–4
TORONTO210–3

GAME SUMMARY         |           EVENT SUMMARY        |           FACEOFF SUMMARY

ON THE SCORESHEET

  • Jason Spezza put the Maple Leafs on the board at 12:47 of the first period. Spezza has a goal and an assist in four games against Calgary this season. He has recorded four of his six goals on home ice this season. He has five points (1-4-5) in nine games during the month of March.
  • Alex Kerfoot scored the second Toronto goal of the night at 19:35 of the first period. Kerfoot has a goal and an assist over his last four games played. He has recorded nine points (3-6-9) in 17 games on home ice.
  • Mitch Marner scored the third Toronto goal of the night at 3:48 of the second period. Marner has points (2-4-6) in five consecutive games. He has five points (2-3-5) in four games against the Flames this season. He has 23 points (8-15-23) in 17 games on home ice this season.
  • Morgan Rielly registered the primary assist on Spezza’s first period goal. Rielly has assists (2) in two consecutive games. In five games against the Flames this season, he has recorded six assists. He has eight points (1-7-8) in nine games during the month of March.
  • Wayne Simmonds had the secondary assist on Spezza’s first period goal. Simmonds’ assist is his first of the season. Tonight’s game is Simmonds’ first appearance since February 6 vs. Vancouver. Prior to his injury he had recorded five goals in 12 games played. 
  • Zach Bogosian registered the primary assist on Kerfoot’s first period goal. Bogosian has three assists in 30 games played this season.
  • Travis Dermott picked up the secondary assist on Kerfoot’s first period goal. Dermott has a goal and an assist in 27 games played in 2020-21. 
  • Frederik Andersen stopped 14 shots in the loss.

SHOTS ON GOAL (5-on-5 in brackets)

 1st2nd3rdOTTOTAL
CALGARY7 (5)9 (6)2 (2)–18 (13)
TORONTO12 (11)7 (6)8 (4)–27 (21)
      

SHOT ATTEMPTS (5-on-5 in brackets)

 1st2nd3rdOTTOTAL
CALGARY13 (10)17 (14)6 (4)–36 (28)
TORONTO25 (24)20 (15)25 (13)–70 (52)

NO PLACE LIKE HOME

Record on the Road10-6-1 (17 Games)
All-Time Record vs. Calgary  64-62-12-5 (143 Games)
All-Time Record vs. Calgary at Home 37-21-7-3 (68 Games)

MAPLE LEAFS LEADERS

Shots5 (Nylander)
Shot Attempts10 (Matthews)
Faceoff Wins9 (Spezza, Tavares)
Faceoff Win Percentage100% (Kerfoot – 1 won, 0 lost)
Hits6 (Simmonds)
Blocked Shots2 (Matthews)
Takeaways2 (Muzzin)
TOI26:14 (Rielly)
Power Play TOI5:12 (Matthews)
Shorthanded TOI2:47 (Muzzin)
Shifts27 (Muzzin, Rielly)
5-on-5 Shot Attempt Percentage85.7% (Thornton – 18 for, 3 against)
  

RECORD WHEN…

Opponent scores first6-7-1
Trail after 13-4-1
Trail after 21-7-0
Do not score a power play goal5-8-0
Allow 1 power play goal5-6-1
Outshooting opponent8-7-1
Friday1-2-0

OF NOTE…

  • The Maple Leafs were 2-for-3 on the penalty kill and 0-for-3 on the power play tonight.
  • Alex Galchenyuk skated in his first game as a Maple Leaf.
  • Jake Muzzin was on the ice for a team-high 23 shot attempts for at 5-on-5. Muzzin finished the game with a team-high 5-on-5 shot attempt percentage of 79.3% (23 for, 6 against).
  • Jason Spezza was 5-for-5 (100%) when taking offensive zone faceoffs.

UPCOMING GAMES:

  • Saturday, March 20, 7:00 p.m. vs. Calgary Flames (Sportsnet, TSN 1050)
  • Thursday, March 25, 7:00 p.m. at Ottawa Senators (TSN4, FAN 590)
  • Saturday, March 27, 7:00 p.m. vs. Edmonton Oilers (Sportsnet, FAN 590)
  • Monday, March 29, 7:00 p.m. vs. Edmonton Oilers (Sportsnet Ontario, TSN 1050)
  • Wednesday, March 31, 7:30 p.m. at Winnipeg Jets (Sportsnet, FAN 590)

Stats reflect official NHL stats at the time of distribution. Please consult official NHL game sheets (links above) to confirm no statistical changes were made.

FLAMES-LEAFS PREGAME NOTES

CALGARY FLAMES (14-13-3 – 31 Points) vs.

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (19-8-2 – 40 Points)

MARCH 19, 2021 ▪ 7:00 PM EST

SCOTIABANK ARENA (TORONTO, ON) ▪
TV: SPORTSNET ONTARIO ▪ RADIO: SPORTSNET 590 THE FAN

MAPLE LEAFS HISTORY versus CALGARY

ALL-TIME RECORD:64-61-12-5 (142 Games)
ALL-TIME at HOME:37-20-7-3 (67 Games)
2020-21:3-1-0
LAST FIVE:3-1-1
LAST 10:6-3-1

MAPLE LEAFS CAREER LEADERS versus CALGARY

GAMES PLAYED:Joe Thornton (66), Jake Muzzin (33), Jason Spezza (31)
GOALS:Joe Thornton (11), John Tavares (8), Wayne Simmonds (7)
ASSISTS:Joe Thornton (44), Jake Muzzin (16), Morgan Rielly (8), Wayne Simmonds (8)
POINTS:Joe Thornton (55), John Tavares (19), Jake Muzzin (19)
PENALTY MINUTES:Jason Spezza (33), Joe Thornton (31), Wayne Simmonds (23)

MAPLE LEAFS – FLAMES TEAM STATS

 TORONTOCALGARY
GOALS FOR (Rank):102 (3rd)82 (t-20th)
GOALS AGAINST (Rank):       79 (12th)91 (19th)
POWER PLAY [%] (Rank):26/87 [29.9%] (2nd)22/107 [20.6%] (15th)
PENALTY KILL [%] (Rank):65/86 [75.6%] (22nd)77/98 [78.6%] (14th)
SHOTS PER GAME (Rank):30.6 (10th)29.9 (t-14th)
SHOTS AGAINST PER GAME (Rank):28.6 (t-7th)30.2 (17th)
5-on-5 SHOT ATTEMPTS FOR (Rank):1266 (11th)1265 (12th)
5-on-5 SHOT ATTEMPT % (Rank):49.4% (15th)51.5% (11th)
FACEOFF % (Rank):52.2% (t-8th)49.6% (19th)

MAPLE LEAFS – FLAMES NOTES

First Matchup between Clubs:Nov. 5, 1972 (Toronto 2, Atlanta 2)
All-Time Record:64-61-12-5 (142 Games)
All-Time Record at Home:37-20-7-3 (67 Games)
All-Time Record on the Road:27-41-5-2 (75 Games)
Last Win vs. Opponent at Home:Feb. 24, 2021 (Toronto 2, Calgary 1 OT)
  

MAPLE LEAFS LEADERS

CATEGORYLEADER
GOALS21 (Matthews)
ASSISTS28 (Marner)
POINTS39 (Marner)
POWER PLAY POINTS13 (Marner)
SHORTHANDED POINTS1 (Marner, Muzzin)
PIMs45 (Bogosian)
SHOTS112 (Matthews)
FACEOFF WIN%58.6% (Tavares)
5-on-5 SHOT ATTEMPT %55.6% (Thornton)
BLOCKED SHOTS45 (Muzzin)
TAKEAWAYS27 (Matthews)
HITS47 (Bogosian, Holl, Muzzin)
TOI PER GAME24:01 (Rielly)
PP TOI PER GAME3:17 (Matthews)
SH TOI PER GAME2:51 (Holl)

MAPLE LEAFS PLAYER NOTES

Frederik Andersen– Tied for fourth in the NHL in wins (13).- Sixth among NHL goaltenders in saves made (560).- Is 9-2-2 in 15 career games against Calgary with a 2.48 goals-against average and a .916.
Travis Boyd– Averaging 2.40 points per 60 minutes of ice time at 5-on-5, which ranks fourth among Toronto skaters who have appeared in multiple games.
TJ Brodie– Averaging 19:07 in even-strength ice time, which ranks second among Toronto skaters.- Has the highest on-ice goals-for percentage (65.2%) at even strength among Maple Leafs defencemen who have appeared in multiple games.- Appeared in 634 games for Calgary from 2010-20.
Jack Campbell– Is 3-0-0 with a 1.33 goals-against average and a .951 save percentage this season.
Justin Holl– Tied for 15th among NHL right handed defencemen who average at least 15 minutes of 5-on-5 ice time (17:30) with a shot attempt percentage of 52.9% when the score is within one goal.- Ranks 34th in the NHL in shorthanded ice time per game (2:51).- Tied for 20th among NHL right handed defencemen in takeaways (10).
Michael Hutchinson– Has a .922 save percentage and a 2.39 goals-against average through six starts this season. 
Zach Hyman–  Leads Maple Leafs forwards in shorthanded ice time per game (2:02).- Has the second-highest on-ice goals for percentage (65.7%) at 5-on-5 among Toronto skaters.- Ranks fourth among Maple Leafs in goals (10).
Alex Kerfoot– Tied for third among Maple Leafs forwards in on-ice goals for percentage (63.6%) at 5-on-5.- Sixth among Toronto forwards in shifts per game (19.9).- Has the sixth highest points per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 (1.83) among Toronto skaters who have appeared in over five games.- Has recorded six of his nine assists on home ice this season.
Mitch Marner– Fourth among NHLers in assists (28).- Fourth among NHLers in points (11-28-39).- Tied for third in the NHL in even-strength goals (11).- Leads NHL forwards in time on ice per game (22:38).- Tied for eighth among NHLers in takeaways (26).- Has the fourth highest on-ice goals for percentage (61.7%) at 5-on-5 among Toronto forwards..
Auston Matthews– Leads the NHL in goals (21).- Leads the NHL in game-winning goals (7).- Sixth among NHLers in points (21-15-36).- Averaging 22:03 in time on ice per game, which is third among NHL forwards.- Third among Maple Leafs forwards in 5-on-5 shot attempt percentage (52.4%).- Fourth in the NHL in shots on goal (112).
Ilya Mikheyev– Ranks third among Maple Leafs forwards in shorthanded ice time per game (1:46).- Has an average of 15.8 shot attempts per 60 minutes of shorthanded ice time, which is seventh among NHLers who have played at least 50 minutes of shorthanded ice time (53:08).  – Has started 36.0% of his 5-on-5 shifts in the offensive zone, which is the lowest percentage among Maple Leafs.
Jake Muzzin– Tied for 13th among NHL defencemen in assists at 5-on-5 (8).- Tied for 13th among NHL defencemen and tied for sixth among Maple Leafs in even-strength points (1-11-12). – Has started 49.6 percent of his 5-on-5 shifts in the offensive zone, which is tied for the lowest mark among Toronto defencemen.- Scored his first career shorthanded goal on March 13 vs. Winnipeg.
William Nylander– Second among Maple Leafs in goals (12).- Tied for 18th among NHLers in even-strength goals (9).- Has the seventh highest points per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 (1.80) among Toronto skaters who have appeared in over five games.- Has a 5-on-5 shot attempt percentage of 53.5%, which is the second-highest percentage among Maple Leafs.- Has an on-ice goals for percentage of 60.8% at 5-on-5, which is tied for the fifth highest mark among Toronto skaters.
Morgan Rielly– Leads the Maple Leafs and is tied for 21st among NHLers in average time on ice (24:01).- Tied for seventh among NHL defencemen in points (3-20-23).- Has five assists in four games against the Flames this season.- Tied for eighth among NHL defencemen in assists at 5-on-5 (9).
Jason Spezza– Has the highest points per 60 minutes rate (2.78) at 5-on-5 among Maple Leafs who have appeared in over five games.- Has won 57.8% of his defensive zone faceoffs, which is the sixth highest percentage among NHLers who have taken at least 125 defensive zone draws (131).
John Tavares– Tied for 28th among NHLers in assists (17).- Has the third highest faceoff win percentage (58.6%) among NHLers who have taken at least 450 faceoffs (457).- Has an on-ice goals for percentage of 63.6% at 5-on-5 in 2020-21, which is tied for third among Toronto skaters.- Averages 12.89 shot attempts per 60 minutes of ice time at 5-on-5, which ranks fourth among Toronto skaters who have appeared in at least 20 games.
Joe Thornton– Has the highest 5-on-5 shot attempt percentage among Toronto skaters who have appeared in multiple games at 55.6%.- Averaging 2.07 points per 60 minutes of ice time this season, which ranks fifth among Toronto skaters.
  

CURRENT POINT STREAKS

Mitch MarnerAssists (4) and points (1-4-5) in four consecutive games.
William NylanderPoints (2-2-4) in four consecutive games.
  

UPCOMING MILESTONES

Zach BogosianTwo points from 200 NHL points
William NylanderTwo goals from 100 NHL goals
John TavaresFive points from 800 NHL points
Joe ThorntonTwo assists from 1,100 career NHL assists
  

RECENT MILESTONES

Kenny AgostinoFirst game as a Maple Leaf (March 11 vs. WPG)
  

INJURY REPORT

Jack Campbell (Lower Body)Did not play on March 14 at Ottawa.
Wayne Simmonds (Wrist)On injured reserve.
 Man Games Lost: 76
  

RECENT TRANSACTIONS

March 12Acquired goaltender Veini Vehviläinen from Columbus in exchange for defenceman Mikko Lehtonen.
  

SENATORS 4, MAPLE LEAFS 3 QUOTES

SHELDON KEEFE

Q. Terry Koshan, Toronto Sun: What’s your assessment of the game tonight and having to battle from an early hole like you did and not come all the way back? What did you see overall from the group tonight?

Sheldon Keefe: Like you said, we get ourselves in a hole early. It’s a tough game to be playing from behind. We’ve been doing that too much lately. I thought we had parts of our game where we played well and had lots of pressure, did a lot of good things, but obviously our start and the hole we dug ourselves there, how we responded after getting down 1-0 off that faceoff, those are the kind of things that end up being the difference. Overall, Ottawa was better tonight. They were better at 5-on-5, they were better on special teams, they were better in goal. They deserved the result.

Q. Terry Koshan, Toronto Sun: I know a concern level can vary after losses depending on how the games are lost, but where is it for you right now considering you’ve had a couple efforts that weren’t great in back-to-back nights and now that it’s five of six? Is it a high concern level, is it low, is it medium? What is it for you?

Sheldon Keefe: I don’t know. I don’t concern myself with those types of thoughts. We’ve got an opportunity here now to get some rest and some practice time. Obviously, it falls at the appropriate time in the schedule for us with what we’re going through here. It gives us a chance to get back to work.

Q. Kevin McGran, Toronto Star: I remember you guys using the same sort of tactic in pulling the goalie in the bubble against Columbus and loading up with your big guys despite there being five, six minutes left. That whole idea of doing that, can you talk about the genesis of that idea and, obviously you don’t want to be in that position to use it, but how much confidence do you have in your guys to give them the man advantage like that?

Sheldon Keefe: I have great confidence in our guys. We’ve had a lot of success with it even this season. It’s just really kind of reacting to what’s happening in the game. I felt like it’s a three-goal deficit, lots of time left in the sense there’s six minutes, six-plus minutes I think it was. If we didn’t get one soon it would be probably insurmountable to come back. I felt we needed one. All of our top guys were fresh at that point in time coming out of a TV timeout. It was an offensive zone faceoff so it just made a lot of sense for us to go with that and try to see if we could get one and, if we could, then it would change the remaining time significantly. If we let time continue to wind down without getting anything to fall for us, just the energy and emotion of our bench alone would have been too much to overcome. We had to get something going at that point in time. It just fell into place in terms of the guys being rested and timeout and we still had another TV timeout to come on top of that. I felt pretty good about being able to ride those guys.

Q. Mark Masters, TSN: Were you surprised the Mikheyev goal came off the board or going into that challenge were you thinking it might be going that way?

Sheldon Keefe: Yeah, I found it just to be one of those ones that’s kind of grey and you don’t know which way it’s going to go. I had a pretty good sense that it was going to be challenged. I think we would have done the same thing if we were in that situation and then it’s just up to the people upstairs or wherever they’re making the call. Like I said, we’ve seen enough of those and studied enough of those situations that we had a pretty good sense that it could go either way, but I wasn’t surprised they challenged it, especially with the three goal lead.

Q. Mark Masters, TSN: The rest, obviously, will be really valuable. Is there areas of emphasis that you’ve already identified that you’re going to want to focus on when you back on the ice with the guys though?

Sheldon Keefe: Yes, there is for sure, yeah. 

TJ BRODIE

Q. Lance Hornby, Toronto Sun: Do you feel the defence hasn’t been as sharp as a whole lately in terms of some mental errors and not breaking out as crisply and helping out the offence as you were earlier this season?

TJ Brodie: Yeah, definitely. The last couple games you noticed it. It’s definitely something that we want to clean up going forward. I think that’s what we’ll do the next couple days is try to work on that.

Q. Lance Hornby, Toronto Sun: How valuable will this rest be? Guys who have played a lot, maybe it’s showing the last couple games.

TJ Brodie: It’s been a busy season so far. Any time you can get a chance to recoup and recover is big. 

ZACH HYMAN

Q. Mark Zwolinski, Toronto Star: Obviously, again not the result you wanted and maybe not the start you wanted either. Defensively, do you think the team has slipped a little bit there or is it just a momentary thing?

Zach Hyman: Obviously, we haven’t been able to put some wins together. We’ve lost more than we’ve won the past week. We’ve had defensive breakdowns. I think against Winnipeg a lot of it was just one mistake and they come down and they’re such a good offensive team they’re able to score quickly. Then here tonight we gave them a couple of odd man rushes and they got a PK one. Our PK needs to be better. I think that anytime you’re losing you want to shore up your defensive game because they’re scoring more than you are.

Q. Lance Hornby, Toronto Sun: At the end of the practice week hopefully you get some people back from injury. How big is that going to be to get a couple of familiar names back on the roster?

Zach Hyman: Simmer’s been itching to get back. He is a huge part of our team and brings so much energy and grit and can score and play in the dirty areas. We’re excited to get him hopefully soon. And then obviously with Soup. I think we have tremendous depth and Soupy’s been playing extremely well. He had that injury so hopefully he’s back at it. We have an extremely deep team and I think that we’ll have guys coming back who are going to help our team and only make our team better. We’re excited. I don’t know the timeline on when they’ll be back, but I know we have two games here in a longer period than usual so we have a lot of rest and it’ll be good to regroup as a group and take a couple of days here and reassess. It’s right around the halfway mark, I think we’re just over the halfway mark, which is a great time to evaluate things and grow and get better.  

MITCH MARNER

Q. Mark Masters, TSN: Obviously, it’s a been busy schedule for you guys the last little bit. Did you sense the fatigue catch up to you or what was your sense of tonight’s game?

Mitch Marner: I thought we were doing things we wanted to. I thought we were doing a good job of staying above them. When we were getting our shifts down low we were really moving the puck well, spacing them out, getting guys to the net, getting second opportunities. It was just a couple didn’t fall. That’s what happens. We’ve got a couple days now to rest, get ourselves ready and be ready to finish out the season.

Q. Mark Masters, TSN: Were you surprised Ilya’s goal ended up being disallowed?

Mitch Marner: A little bit, but at the same time that’s up to the refs to decide that. From our angle it looked like there was a battle between Gudbranson and Pierre and then Pierre got whoever that was in front. I thought we did a good job of sticking with it, not letting that get us down. Obviously, we just came short there at the end. 

AUSTON MATTHEWS

Q. Mark Masters, TSN: Obviously, not easy when you fall behind on back-to-backs. What did you see as the difference tonight?

Auston Matthews: I think we just had a really poor start. They were able to score a couple early and we were chasing the game the rest of the time. I just think we didn’t really come out very well to start the game and they were obviously ready to go. They scored two quick and we had to dig ourselves out of that hole.

Q. Mark Masters, TSN: You guys have a bit of a break now. What are going to be the points of emphasis so you guys get back on track when you come out of it? 

Auston Matthews: I don’t know. I think we’ve been playing a lot of hockey lately. I think it will just be nice to reset and regroup as a team and have a couple days to just regroup. We’ve been playing a lot of games. I think it’s important for us to have a short memory, but obviously with this four or five day break now we’ve got to sit with this one. I think there’s plenty that we can take from here and move forward and use this week to rest and recover and get ready for the following.  

SENATORS 4, MAPLE LEAFS 3 NOTES

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (19-9-2 – 40 Points) vs.

OTTAWA SENATORS (10-20-1 – 21 Points)

SUNDAY, MARCH 14, 2021

 123OTFINAL
TORONTO102–3
OTTAWA220–4

GAME SUMMARY         |           EVENT SUMMARY        |           FACEOFF SUMMARY

ON THE SCORESHEET

  • Zach Hyman put the Maple Leafs on the board at 11:38 of the first period and later had the second Toronto goal of the game at 14:40 of the third period. Tonight’s game is his first multi-goal and fourth multi-point game of the season. Hyman has a pair of goals over his last four games played. He has scored seven of his nine goals on the road this season. He has four goals in eight games during the month of March.
  • William Nylander recorded the primary assist on Hyman’s third period goal and later scored the third Maple Leafs goal of the night at 17:48 of the third period. Nylander has goals (3) in three consecutive games and points (3-2-5) in four consecutive games. He has recorded eight points (5-3-8) in eight games during the month of March. He has five points (2-3-5) in six games against Ottawa this season.
  • Auston Matthews registered the primary assist on Hyman’s first period goal. Matthews has five points (3-2-5) over his last four games. He has 11 points (6-5-11) in six games against the Senators this season. In 12 games on the road this season, Matthews has recorded 13 points (7-6-13).
  • Morgan Rielly had the secondary assist on Hyman’s first period goal and later recorded the secondary assist on Nylander’s third period goal. Tonight’s game is his seventh multi-assist and eighth multi-point game of the season. Rielly has five assists over his last four games. He has five assists in six games against the Senators. In 14 games on the road this season, he has recorded 13 points (1-12-13). 
  • John Tavares had the secondary assist on Hyman’s third period goal. Tavares has four points (1-3-4) over his last five games played. He has 14 points (3-11-14) in 14 games on the road this season. In six games against the Senators in 2020-21, he has recorded five points (2-3-5).
  • Mitch Marner registered the primary assist on Nylander’s third period goal. Marner has assists (4) and points (1-4-5) in four consecutive games. He has registered 17 points (4-13-17) in 14 games on the road this season. In six games against Ottawa in 2020-21, he has recorded nine points (2-7-9).
  • Michael Hutchinson stopped one of the three shots he faced.
  • Frederik Andersen stopped 26 of the 28 shots he faced in relief of Hutchinson.

SHOTS ON GOAL (5-on-5 in brackets)

 1st2nd3rdOTTOTAL
TORONTO9 (9)12 (10)15 (6)–36 (25)
OTTAWA14 (10)13 (9)4 (4)–31 (23)
      

SHOT ATTEMPTS (5-on-5 in brackets)

 1st2nd3rdOTTOTAL
TORONTO14 (14)29 (26)28 (12)–71 (52)
OTTAWA26 (21)21 (15)11 (8)–58 (44)

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

Record on the Road9-4-1 (14 Games)
All-Time Record vs. Ottawa  59-55-3-12 (129 Games)
All-Time Record vs. Ottawa on the Road 26-33-1-4 (64 Games)

MAPLE LEAFS LEADERS

Shots6 (Marner)
Shot Attempts11 (Marner)
Faceoff Wins10 (Tavares)
Faceoff Win Percentage100% (Kerfoot – 1 won, 0 lost)
Hits3 (Mikheyev)
Blocked Shots4 (Rielly)
Takeaways1 (Kerfoot, Matthews, Nylander)
TOI27:56 (Rielly)
Power Play TOI2:00 (Five players tied)
Shorthanded TOI3:14 (Muzzin)
Shifts28 (Muzzin, Rielly)
5-on-5 Shot Attempt Percentage70.7% (Muzzin – 29 for, 12 against)
  

RECORD WHEN…

Opponent scores first6-6-1
Trail after 13-3-1
Trail after 21-6-0
Do not score a power play goal5-7-0
Allow 1 power play goal5-5-1
Outshooting opponent8-6-1
Sunday1-1-0

OF NOTE…

  • The Maple Leafs were 2-for-3 on the penalty kill and 0-for-1 on the power play tonight.
  • TJ Brodie and Jake Muzzin were on the ice for a team-high 29 shot attempts for at 5-on-5. Brodie finished the game with a 5-on-5 shot attempt percentage of 53.7% (29 for, 25 against) while Muzzin finished the game with a team-high 5-on-5 shot attempt percentage of 70.7% (29 for, 12 against).
  • Auston Matthews won 71% (5 won, 2 lost) of his offensive zone faceoffs.
  • Jason Spezza was 4-for-4 (100%) when taking defensive zone faceoffs.
  • Jimmy Vesey was the lone Toronto skater to not start a 5-on-5 shift in the offensive zone.

UPCOMING GAMES:

  • Friday, March 19, 7:00 p.m. vs. Calgary Flames (Sportsnet Ontario, FAN 590)
  • Saturday, March 20, 7:00 p.m. vs. Calgary Flames (Sportsnet, TSN 1050)
  • Thursday, March 25, 7:00 p.m. at Ottawa Senators (TSN4, FAN 590)
  • Saturday, March 27, 7:00 p.m. vs. Edmonton Oilers (Sportsnet, FAN 590)
  • Monday, March 29, 7:00 p.m. vs. Edmonton Oilers (Sportsnet Ontario, TSN 1050)

Stats reflect official NHL stats at the time of distribution. Please consult official NHL game sheets (links above) to confirm no statistical changes were made.

JETS 5, LEAFS 2 QUOTES

SHELDON KEEFE

Q. Mark Masters, TSN: What made it harder to generate offence tonight versus the first couple of games in this series?

Sheldon Keefe: I thought we had a real time stringing together two passes tonight.

Q. Mark Masters, TSN: What’s your sense of where Freddie Andersen’s game is at right now?

Sheldon Keefe: I didn’t think anybody had a good game for us tonight.

Q. Luke Fox, Sportsnet: Considering that Sheldon, are you going to look at lineup changes for tomorrow?

Sheldon Keefe:  We don’t have much flexibility at all to be able to make lineup changes within our roster with how it is. Not expecting many, no.

Q. Luke Fox, Sportsnet: Any chance Jack Campbell will be ready tomorrow?

Sheldon Keefe: I’m unsure, we’ll have to see. He wasn’t available today, that was the word I got. He remains day-to-day for us. 

Q. Lance Hornby, Toronto Sun: Can you talk about the three game series as a whole? They’re the first team to beat you in one of those sets. What challenges does Winnipeg present? Certainly, you’ve got them a few more times down the stretch.

Sheldon Keefe: Within the three games I think you saw different storylines and different parts of what was going on. They present unique challenges. I think, certainly, it’s as deep or the deepest forward group that we’ve seen in the division and they’ve got game breakers. You make mistakes, they make you pay for them. I don’t think in the first two games we made many mistakes, but when we did they capitalized. Obviously, goaltending was a strength of their games in the first two. Today we just didn’t have a good game. We weren’t sharp mentally, weren’t sharp physically, couldn’t get our game going. Credit to them and how they play. They forecheck hard, they had good sticks on puck and made it difficult on us, for sure, and again, they made good on their chances. We just weren’t even close tonight with how we played.  

FREDERIK ANDERSEN

Q. Luke Fox, Sportsnet: The Jets controlled the play more tonight than in the previous two games. What did you see them do differently tonight?

Frederik Andersen: That’s a good question. I didn’t really focus on what they were doing. I was trying to be in the moment and trying to play my game and obviously try to stop the puck. That’s not really something I focus on during the game. I just try to see whatever comes at me I’ll try to focus on that.

Q. Luke Fox, Sportsnet: How do you feel you played tonight?

Frederik Andersen: Not good enough to win. I think there were some good parts. The third goal I’d like back. I thought he was going to go upstairs with it and obviously he snuck it under me. That one hurt us but besides that, I think there were some good things but, like I said, not good enough to win.

JAKE MUZZIN 

Q. Lance Hornby, Toronto Sun: This series obviously was a good showdown against two very good teams. They’re the first team to beat you in a three game set. How do you feel about the entire series, how it went? Obviously, you’ve got these guys five or six more times this year.

Jake Muzzin: It obviously didn’t go the way we wanted. There are some areas in our game that we have to improve on and I think that would help in a segment like this with a hard checking team like that. We’ve got to be cleaner in our zone in breakouts. We spent too time in our zone and you’re fatigued and not able to get through the neutral zone as easily or as efficient as usual and we’re tired. Then our offensive game, it’s not as crisp or sharp. There’s areas to improve on.

Q. Lance Hornby, Toronto Sun: You’re not known for shorthanded goals, obviously. How did that one feel?

Jake Muzzin: It was nice to get one. Just saw an opportunity to get in the play and Mitch made a nice pass and found a way in the net. Nice to get one. 

MORGAN RIELLY

Q. Lance Hornby, Toronto Sun: They’re the first team to beat you in a three-game set. What challenge did they present to you as far as chasing you down in the second half and you play them four or five more times?

Morgan Rielly: I think it’s more than that. I think we have them a bunch more times. I think it was bound to happen. We’ve been happy with how we’ve handled these extra game sets and we’ve managed to do all right. This one didn’t go our way and we’re obviously very aware of the standings. Where we are, where they are, we were aware of that going in. It’ll be interesting down the stretch. Like you said, we play them a bunch more times so it’s important that we enter those games prepared. We draw from these games, learn from them. Move forward and just get better.

Q. Mark Masters, TSN: What made it harder to generate offensive chances tonight?

Morgan Rielly: I think they did a good job. I don’t think they changed a lot. It was on us. I think the way that we managed the puck has to be better. I think as a D-corp, I don’t think it was our best game in terms of breaking out and creating flow that way. I think as a group we have to take responsibility a little bit for that. We just weren’t able to find our game and it was too little, too late. There was a stretch halfway through the game obviously where we got two goals, that’s important but it’s not enough.

JOHN TAVARES

Q. Mark Zwolinski, Toronto Star: Not the result you wanted. 21 shots on the board which is a little lower than you might expect from this team. Was it just tougher to get offence going tonight?

John Tavares: We just didn’t really seem to find our game consistently and generate momentum line after line or shift after shift. It wasn’t our best execution I don’t think. I don’t think we made it hard enough on their goalie and, saying that, we had a great opportunity going into the third. We’ve got to find a way to come on the right side of it and make the plays needed and obviously defend better than we did.

Q. Lance Hornby, Toronto Sun: A key three-game series, a lot of hockey left to play but how do you feel about matching up against Winnipeg over the course of this three-game series?

John Tavares: Well, results-wise obviously we came on the wrong end of it. First two games we generated a lot more than we did tonight. They’re a dangerous team, they’ve got a lot of depth. One of the best forward groups in the NHL. We played against some good goaltending. I don’t think today we tested their goalie enough and just didn’t end up on the right side of it. Not much time to really think about it. We’ve got to move forward and bounce back tomorrow.

MAPLE LEAFS-SENATORS PREGAME NOTES

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (19-8-2 – 40 Points) vs.

OTTAWA SENATORS (9-20-1 – 19 Points)

MARCH 14, 2021 ▪ 7:00 PM EST

CANADIAN TIRE CENTRE (OTTAWA, ON) ▪
TV: SPORTSNET ▪ RADIO: TSN 1050

MAPLE LEAFS HISTORY versus OTTAWA

ALL-TIME RECORD:59-54-3-12 (128 Games)
ALL-TIME on the ROAD:26-32-1-4 (63 Games)
2020-21:3-1-1
LAST FIVE:3-1-1
LAST 10:6-3-1

MAPLE LEAFS CAREER LEADERS versus OTTAWA

GAMES PLAYED:Joe Thornton (60), John Tavares (39), Zach Bogosian (30), Wayne Simmonds (30)
GOALS:Auston Matthews (19), Joe Thornton (19), Wayne Simmonds (10)
ASSISTS:Joe Thornton (34), Mitch Marner (16), John Tavares (15)
POINTS:Joe Thornton (53), Auston Matthews (32), Mitch Marner (24), John Tavares (24)
PENALTY MINUTES:Joe Thornton (57), Wayne Simmonds (36), Zach Bogosian (25)

MAPLE LEAFS – SENATORS TEAM STATS

 TORONTOOTTAWA
GOALS FOR (Rank):99 (2nd)77 (t-18th)
GOALS AGAINST (Rank):       75 (12th)121 (31st)
POWER PLAY [%] (Rank):26/86 [30.2%] (2nd)15/100 [15.0%] (26th)
PENALTY KILL [%] (Rank):63/83 [75.9%] (21st)73/99 [73.7%] (26th)
SHOTS PER GAME (Rank):30.4 (12th)31.4 (t-5th)
SHOTS AGAINST PER GAME (Rank):28.6 (7th)32.0 (t-28th)
5-on-5 SHOT ATTEMPTS FOR (Rank):1213 (8th)1360 (1st)
5-on-5 SHOT ATTEMPT % (Rank):49.2% (t-16th)49.6% (t-14th)
FACEOFF % (Rank):52.2% (t-7th)48.0% (24th)

MAPLE LEAFS – SENATORS NOTES

First Matchup between Clubs:Oct. 20, 1992 (Toronto 5, Ottawa 3)
All-Time Record:59-54-3-12 (128 Games)
All-Time Record at Home:33-22-2-8 (65 Games)
All-Time Record on the Road:26-32-1-4 (63 Games)
Last Win vs. Opponent on the Road:Jan. 16, 2021 (Toronto 3, Ottawa 2)
  

MAPLE LEAFS LEADERS

CATEGORYLEADER
GOALS21 (Matthews)
ASSISTS27 (Marner)
POINTS38 (Marner)
POWER PLAY POINTS13 (Marner)
SHORTHANDED POINTS1 (Marner, Muzzin)
PIMs28 (Bogosian)
SHOTS110 (Matthews)
FACEOFF WIN%59.3% (Tavares)
5-on-5 SHOT ATTEMPT %56.5% (Thornton)
BLOCKED SHOTS44 (Holl, Muzzin)
TAKEAWAYS26 (Marner, Matthews)
HITS46 (Bogosian, Holl, Muzzin)
TOI PER GAME23:52 (Rielly)
PP TOI PER GAME3:20 (Matthews)
SH TOI PER GAME2:50 (Holl)

MAPLE LEAFS PLAYER NOTES

Frederik Andersen– Tied for fourth in the NHL in wins (13).- Seventh among NHL goaltenders in saves made (534).- Tied for 12th among goaltenders who have appeared in at least 15 games (21) in even-strength save percentage (.917).
Travis Boyd– Averaging 2.51 points per 60 minutes of ice time at 5-on-5, which ranks fourth among Toronto skaters who have appeared in multiple games.
TJ Brodie– Averaging 19:06 in even-strength ice time, which ranks second among Toronto skaters.- Has the highest on-ice goals-for percentage (65.9%) at even strength among Maple Leafs defencemen who have appeared in multiple games.- Tied for third among Maple Leafs defencemen in points (0-10-10).
Jack Campbell– Is 3-0-0 with a 1.33 goals-against average and a .951 save percentage this season.
Justin Holl– Tied for 15th among NHL right handed defencemen who average at least 15 minutes of 5-on-5 ice time (17:32) with a shot attempt percentage of 53.1% when the score is within one goal.- Ranks 39th in the NHL in shorthanded ice time per game (2:50).- Tied for sixth among NHL defencemen in primary assists at 5-on-5 (5).
Michael Hutchinson– Has a .934 save percentage and a 2.03 goals-against average through five starts this season. 
Zach Hyman–  Leads Maple Leafs forwards in shorthanded ice time per game (2:02).- Has the second-highest on-ice goals for percentage (64.7%) at 5-on-5 among Toronto forwards.
Alex Kerfoot– Tied for third among Maple Leafs forwards in on-ice goals for percentage (63.6%) at 5-on-5.- Sixth among Toronto forwards in shifts per game (20.0).- Has the sixth highest points per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 (1.90) among Toronto skaters who have appeared in over five games.
Mitch Marner– Fourth among NHLers in assists (27).- Fourth among NHLers in points (11-27-38).- Tied for second in the NHL in even-strength goals (11).- Leads NHL forwards in time on ice per game (22:32).- Has played 39.6% of Toronto’s shorthanded ice time.- Has the fifth highest on-ice goals for percentage (60.8%) at 5-on-5 among Toronto forwards..
Auston Matthews– Leads the NHL in goals (21).- Leads the NHL in game-winning goals (7).- Sixth among NHLers in points (21-14-35).- Averaging 21:58 in time on ice per game, which is fifth among NHL forwards.- Third among Maple Leafs forwards in 5-on-5 shot attempt percentage (52.0%).- Tied for third in the NHL in shots on goal (110).
Ilya Mikheyev– Ranks third among Maple Leafs forwards in shorthanded ice time per game (1:48).- Has an average of 16.1 shot attempts per 60 minutes of shorthanded ice time, which is sixth among NHLers who have played at least 50 minutes of shorthanded ice time (52:01).  – Has started 36.1% of his 5-on-5 shifts in the offensive zone, which is the lowest percentage among Maple Leafs.
Jake Muzzin– Tied for 10th among NHL defencemen in assists at 5-on-5 (8).- Tied for 11th among NHL defencemen and tied for fifth among Maple Leafs in even-strength points (1-11-12). – Has started 48.6 percent of his 5-on-5 shifts in the offensive zone, which is the lowest mark among Toronto defencemen.- Scored his first career shorthanded goal on March 13 vs. Winnipeg.
William Nylander– Second among Maple Leafs in goals (12).- Tied for 15th among NHLers in even-strength goals (9).- Has the seventh highest points per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 (1.87) among Toronto skaters who have appeared in over five games.- Has a 5-on-5 shot attempt percentage of 53.9%, which is the second-highest percentage among Maple Leafs.- Has an on-ice goals for percentage of 63.6% at 5-on-5, which is tied for the fourth highest mark among Toronto skaters.
Morgan Rielly– Leads Maple Leafs in average time on ice (23:52).- Tied for seventh among NHL defencemen in points (3-19-22).- Has a goal and 10 assists in 13 games on the road this season.- Tied for 10th among NHL defencemen in assists at 5-on-5 (8).
Jason Spezza– Has the highest points per 60 minutes rate (2.90) at 5-on-5 among Maple Leafs who have appeared in over five games.- Has won 56.5% of his defensive zone faceoffs, which is the ninth highest percentage among NHLers who have taken at least 125 defensive zone draws (131).
John Tavares– Tied for 27th among NHLers in assists (16).- Has the third highest faceoff win percentage (59.3%) among NHLers who have taken at least 425 faceoffs (435).- Has three goals and 10 assists in 13 games on the road this season.- Has two goals and two assists in five games against Ottawa in 2020-21.- Has an on-ice goals for percentage of 66.6% at 5-on-5 in 2020-21, which is tied for first among Toronto skaters.
Joe Thornton– Has the highest 5-on-5 shot attempt percentage among Toronto skaters who have appeared in multiple games at 56.5%.- Averaging 2.16 points per 60 minutes of ice time this season, which ranks fifth among Toronto skaters.
  

CURRENT POINT STREAKS

Mitch MarnerPoints (1-3-4) in three consecutive games.
William NylanderGoals (2) in two consecutive games and points (2-1-3) in three consecutive games.
  

UPCOMING MILESTONES

Zach BogosianTwo points from 200 NHL points
William NylanderTwo goals from 100 NHL goals
Joe ThorntonTwo assists from 1,100 career NHL assists
  

RECENT MILESTONES

Kenny AgostinoFirst game as a Maple Leaf (March 11 vs. WPG)
  

INJURY REPORT

Jack Campbell (Lower Body)Did not play on March 13 vs. WPG.
Wayne Simmonds (Wrist)On injured reserve.
 Man Games Lost: 74
  

RECENT TRANSACTIONS

March 12Acquired goaltender Veini Vehviläinen from Columbus in exchange for defenceman Mikko Lehtonen.
  

WINNIPEG-TORONTO PREGAME NOTES

WINNIPEG JETS (16-8-2 – 34 Points) vs.

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (19-7-2 – 40 Points)

MARCH 13, 2021 ▪ 7:00 PM EST

SCOTIABANK ARENA (TORONTO, ON) ▪
TV: SPORTSNET ▪ RADIO: SPORTSNET 590 THE FAN

MAPLE LEAFS HISTORY versus WINNIPEG

ALL-TIME RECORD:36-20-1-9 (66 Games)
ALL-TIME on the ROAD:19-10-1-4 (34 Games)
2020-21:2-1-0
LAST FIVE:3-1-1
LAST 10:7-2-1

MAPLE LEAFS CAREER LEADERS versus WINNIPEG

GAMES PLAYED:Jason Spezza (53), Joe Thornton (46), John Tavares (31)
GOALS:Jason Spezza (15), Joe Thornton (12), John Tavares (10)
ASSISTS:Jason Spezza (36), Joe Thornton (32), John Tavares (23)
POINTS:Jason Spezza (51), Joe Thornton (44), John Tavares (33)
PENALTY MINUTES:Joe Thornton (41), John Tavares (25), Jason Spezza (20)

MAPLE LEAFS – JETS TEAM STATS

 TORONTOWINNIPEG
GOALS FOR (Rank):97 (2nd)86 (t-7th)
GOALS AGAINST (Rank):       70 (t-10th)75 (15th)
POWER PLAY [%] (Rank):26/83 [31.3%] (2nd)18/76 [23.7%] (12th)
PENALTY KILL [%] (Rank):61/79 [77.2%] (19th)49/64 [76.6%] (20th)
SHOTS PER GAME (Rank):30.8 (t-9th)29.3 (21st)
SHOTS AGAINST PER GAME (Rank):28.4 (7th)32.1 (28th)
5-on-5 SHOT ATTEMPTS FOR (Rank):1181 (8th)1082 (16th)
5-on-5 SHOT ATTEMPT % (Rank):49.4% (t-17th)47.5% (27th)
FACEOFF % (Rank):52.2% (t-8th)48.4% (22nd)

MAPLE LEAFS – JETS NOTES

First Matchup between Clubs:Oct. 27, 1999 (Toronto 4, Atlanta 0)
All-Time Record:36-20-1-9 (66 Games)
All-Time Record at Home:19-10-1-4 (34 Games)
All-Time Record on the Road:17-10-0-5 (32 Games)
Last Win vs. Opponent on the Road:March 11, 2021 (Toronto 4, Winnipeg 3 OT)
  

MAPLE LEAFS LEADERS

CATEGORYLEADER
GOALS21 (Matthews)
ASSISTS26 (Marner)
POINTS37 (Marner)
POWER PLAY POINTS13 (Marner)
SHORTHANDED POINTSN/A
PIMs26 (Bogosian)
SHOTS108 (Matthews)
FACEOFF WIN%59.2% (Tavares)
5-on-5 SHOT ATTEMPT %56.9% (Thornton)
BLOCKED SHOTS43 (Brodie, Holl)
TAKEAWAYS25 (Matthews)
HITS46 (Muzzin)
TOI PER GAME23:56 (Rielly)
PP TOI PER GAME3:22 (Matthews)
SH TOI PER GAME2:50 (Holl)

MAPLE LEAFS PLAYER NOTES

Frederik Andersen– Tied for second in the NHL in wins (13).- Tied for ninth among NHL goaltenders in saves made (507).- Has a 11-1-2 record with a 2.93 goals-against average and a .908 save percentage in 15 career games against Winnipeg.
Travis Boyd– Averaging 2.61 points per 60 minutes of ice time at 5-on-5, which ranks fourth among Toronto skaters who have appeared in multiple games.
TJ Brodie– Averaging 19:05 in even-strength ice time, which ranks second among Toronto skaters.- Has the highest on-ice goals-for percentage (65.1%) at even strength among Maple Leafs defencemen who have appeared in multiple games.- Third among Maple Leafs defencemen in points (0-10-10).
Jack Campbell– Is 3-0-0 with a 1.33 goals-against average and a .951 save percentage this season.
Justin Holl– Tied for 15th among NHL right handed defencemen who average at least 15 minutes of 5-on-5 ice time (17:32) with a shot attempt percentage of 53.4% when the score is within one goal.- Ranks 37th in the NHL in shorthanded ice time per game (2:50).- Tied for fourth among NHL defencemen in primary assists at 5-on-5 (5).
Michael Hutchinson– Has a .934 save percentage and a 2.03 goals-against average through five starts this season. 
Zach Hyman–  Leads Maple Leafs forwards in shorthanded ice time per game (2:04).- Has the third-highest on-ice goals for percentage (64.7%) at 5-on-5 among Toronto forwards.
Alex Kerfoot– Leads the Maple Leafs in on-ice goals for percentage (70.0%) at 5-on-5.- Sixth among Toronto forwards in shifts per game (19.9).- Has the sixth highest points per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 (1.97) among Toronto skaters who have appeared in over five games.
Mitch Marner– Fourth among NHLers in assists (26).- Fourth among NHLers in points (11-26-37).- Tied for second in the NHL in even-strength goals (11).- Leads NHL forwards in time on ice per game (22:33).- Has played 39.5% of Toronto’s shorthanded ice time.- Has the sixth highest on-ice goals for percentage (60.8%) at 5-on-5 among Toronto forwards..
Auston Matthews– Leads the NHL in goals (21).- Leads the NHL in game-winning goals (7).- Fifth among NHLers in points (21-14-35).- Averaging 21:58 in time on ice per game, which is fourth among NHL forwards.- Third among Maple Leafs forwards in 5-on-5 shot attempt percentage (52.9%).- Third in the NHL in shots on goal (108).
Ilya Mikheyev– Ranks third among Maple Leafs forwards in shorthanded ice time per game (1:46).- Has an average of 17.1 shot attempts per 60 minutes of shorthanded ice time, which is tied for sixth among NHLers who have played at least 45 minutes of shorthanded ice time (49:14).  – Has started 35.2% of his 5-on-5 shifts in the offensive zone, which is the lowest percentage among Maple Leafs.
Jake Muzzin– Tied for eighth among NHL defencemen in assists at 5-on-5 (8).- Tied for 30th among NHL defencemen and tied for eighth among Maple Leafs in points (1-12-13). – Has started 48.8 percent of his 5-on-5 shifts in the offensive zone, which is the lowest mark among Toronto defencemen.
William Nylander– Tied for second among Maple Leafs in goals (11).- Has the seventh highest points per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 (1.77) among Toronto skaters who have appeared in over five games.- Has a 5-on-5 shot attempt percentage of 54.1%, which is the second-highest percentage among Maple Leafs.- Has an on-ice goals for percentage of 61.9% at 5-on-5.
Morgan Rielly– Leads Maple Leafs in average time on ice (23:56).- Tied for fourth among NHL defencemen in points (3-19-22).- Has a pair of goals and nine assists in 15 games at home this season.- Tied for eighth among NHL defencemen in assists at 5-on-5 (8).
Jason Spezza– Has the highest points per 60 minutes rate (2.99) at 5-on-5 among Maple Leafs who have appeared in over five games.- Has won 56.8% of his defensive zone faceoffs, which is tied for the eighth highest percentage among NHLers who have taken at least 125 defensive zone draws (125).
John Tavares– Has the fourth highest faceoff win percentage (59.2%) among NHLers who have taken at least 400 faceoffs (419).- Has a goal and two assists in three games against the Jets this season.- Has 10 goals and 23 assists in 31 career games against Winnipeg.- Has an on-ice goals for percentage of 65.0% at 5-on-5 in 2020-21, which ranks third among Toronto skaters.
Joe Thornton– Has the highest 5-on-5 shot attempt percentage among Toronto skaters at 56.9%.- Averaging 2.00 points per 60 minutes of ice time this season, which ranks fifth among Toronto skaters.
  

CURRENT POINT STREAKS

TJ BrodieAssists (3) in three consecutive games.
Mitch MarnerAssists (2) in two consecutive games and points (1-2-3) in two consecutive games.
Auston MatthewsGoals (3) and points (3-1-4) in two consecutive games.
William NylanderPoints (1-1-2) in two consecutive games.
Morgan RiellyAssists (3) in two consecutive games.
John TavaresAssists (2) in two consecutive games and points (1-2-3) in three consecutive games.
  

UPCOMING MILESTONES

Zach BogosianTwo points from 200 NHL points
William NylanderThree goals from 100 NHL goals
Joe ThorntonThree assists from 1,100 career NHL assists
  

RECENT MILESTONES

Kenny AgostinoFirst game as a Maple Leaf (March 11 vs. WPG)
  

INJURY REPORT

Jack Campbell (Lower Body)Did not play on March 11 vs. WPG.
Wayne Simmonds (Wrist)On injured reserve.
 Man Games Lost: 72
  

RECENT TRANSACTIONS

March 12Acquired goaltender Veini Vehviläinen from Columbus in exchange for defenceman Mikko Lehtonen.
  

LEAFS ACQUIRE VEHVILÄINEN FROM COLUMBUS FOR LEHTONEN

The Toronto Maple Leafs announced today that the hockey club has acquired goaltender Veini Vehviläinen from the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for defenceman Mikko Lehtonen.

Vehviläinen, 24, made his NHL debut with the Blue Jackets on March 6. He has also appeared in one game with the Cleveland Monsters (AHL) and 13 games with JYP (Liiga) in 2020-21. He appeared in 33 games with Cleveland in 2019-20, posting a 10-18-5 record with a 2.76 goals-against average and a .901 save percentage as a rookie in the AHL. Prior to coming to North America, Vehviläinen earned the Urpo Ylönen Award as the Liiga’s best goaltender and was named to the Liiga All-Star Team in both the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons as a member of Kärpät.

The Jyväskylä, Finland native has represented his country on multiple occasions in international play. He captured a gold medal at the 2019 IIHF World Championships and previously won gold at the 2016 World Junior Hockey Championships. He was also named a Top Three Player for Finland at the 2017 World Juniors after recording a 3-2-0 record with a 1.51 goals-against average and a .931 save percentage at the tournament. 

Vehviläinen was originally selected by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the sixth round (173rd overall) of the 2018 NHL Draft.

MAPLE LEAFS 4, JETS 3 (OT)

WINNIPEG JETS (16-8-2 – 34 Points) vs.

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (19-7-2 – 40 Points)

THURSDAY, MARCH 11, 2021

 123OTFINAL
WINNIPEG11103
TORONTO01214

GAME SUMMARY         |           EVENT SUMMARY        |           FACEOFF SUMMARY

ON THE SCORESHEET

  • Mitch Marner put the Maple Leafs on the board at 3:14 of the second period and later had the secondary assist on Auston Matthews’ overtime goal. Tonight’s game is his 11th multi-point game of the season. Marner has assists (2) and points (1-2-3) in two consecutive games. He has 21 points (7-14-21) in 15 home games this season. He has five points (3-2-5) in three games against the Jets in 2020-21.
  • William Nylander scored the second Toronto goal of the game at 6:31 of the third period. Nylander has points (1-1-2) in two consecutive games. He has 15 points (6-9-15) in 15 games on home ice this season. He has a goal and two assists in three games against Winnipeg.
  • Ilya Mikheyev scored the third Maple Leafs goal of the night at 12:39 of the third period. Mikheyev has two goals and an assist over his last five games. He has two goals and two assists through six games during the month of March.
  • Auston Matthews registered the primary assist on Marner’s second period goal and later scored the overtime winning goal at 0:59 of the extra frame. Tonight’s game is his 10th multi-point performance of the season. Matthews has goals (3) and points (3-1-4) in two consecutive games. He has 23 points (14-9-23) in 14 games on home ice. In 11 career games against the Jets, he has recorded 16 points (7-9-16). He leads the NHL in goals (20) and game-winning goals (7).
  • TJ Brodie picked up the secondary assist on Marner’s second period goal. Brodie has assists (3) in three consecutive games. He has a pair of assists in three games against Winnipeg this season.
  • John Tavares registered the primary assist on Nylander’s third period goal. Tavares has points (1-2-3) in three consecutive games. He has five points (2-3-5) over his last five games played. He has a goal and two assists in three games against the Jets this season.
  • Morgan Rielly had the secondary assist on Nylander’s third period goal and later recorded the primary assist on Matthews’ overtime winner. Tonight’s game is Rielly’s sixth multi-assist and seventh multi-point game of the season. He has three assists in three games against Winnipeg this season.
  • Alex Kerfoot registered the primary assist on Mikheyev’s third period goal. He has a pair of assists over his last three games. He has recorded six of his nine assists on home ice this season. In three games against Winnipeg this season, he has recorded two assists.
  • Pierre Engvall picked up the secondary assist on Mikheyev’s third period goal. Engvall has a goal and two assists over his last five games played. He has recorded two goals and four assists in 19 games played this season.
  • Frederik Andersen stopped 23 shots to earn his 13th win of the season.

SHOTS ON GOAL (5-on-5 in brackets)

 1st2nd3rdOTTOTAL
WINNIPEG8 (8)8 (8)10 (8)0 (0)26 (24)
TORONTO10 (10)14 (10)12 (11)1 (0)37 (31)
      

SHOT ATTEMPTS (5-on-5 in brackets)

 1st2nd3rdOTTOTAL
WINNIPEG11 (11)13 (13)16 (12)0 (0)41 (37)
TORONTO20 (20)27 (21)23 (22)1 (0)72 (64)

NO PLACE LIKE HOME

Record at Home10-4-1 (15 Games)
All-Time Record vs. Winnipeg  36-20-1-9 (66 Games)
All-Time Record vs. Winnipeg 19-10-1-4 (34 Games) 

MAPLE LEAFS LEADERS

Shots5 (Four players tied)
Shot Attempts10 (Marner)
Faceoff Wins13 (Tavares)
Faceoff Win Percentage100% (Kerfoot, Nylander)
Hits3 (Matthews, Muzzin)
Blocked Shots1 (Six players tied)
Takeaways2 (Brodie)
TOI25:00 (Brodie)
Power Play TOI1:13 (Matthews, Rielly)
Shorthanded TOI2:18 (Muzzin)
Shifts28 (Holl, Marner, Muzzin)
5-on-5 Shot Attempt Percentage75.0% (Agostino – 3 for, 1 against)
  

RECORD WHEN…

Opponent scores first6-4-1
Trail after 13-2-1
Trail after 21-5-0
Do not score a power play goal5-5-0
Do not allow a power play goal12-1-1
Outshooting opponent8-5-1
Overtime3-2
Thursday4-1-0

OF NOTE…

  • The Maple Leafs were 2-for-2 on the penalty kill and 0-for-2 on the power play tonight.
  • Toronto’s line of Kenny Agostino, Jason Spezza and Jimmy Vesey were the lone Maple Leafs to not start a 5-on-5 shift in the offensive zone.
  • Kenny Agostino played in his first game as a Maple Leaf.
  • Auston Matthews and Morgan Rielly were on the ice for a team-high 31 shot attempts for at 5-on-5. Matthews finished the game with a 5-on-5 shot attempt percentage of 60.9% (31 for, 20 against), while Rielly finished the game with a 5-on-5 shot attempt percentage of 66% (31 for, 16 against).
  • John Tavares won 78% (7 won, 2 lost) of his offensive zone faceoffs and was 4-for-5 (80%) on defensive zone faceoffs.

UPCOMING GAMES:

  • Saturday, March 13, 7:00 p.m. vs. Winnipeg Jets (Sportsnet, FAN 590)
  • Sunday, March 14, 7:00 p.m. at Ottawa Senators (Sportsnet, TSN 1050)
  • Friday, March 19, 7:00 p.m. vs. Calgary Flames (Sportsnet Ontario, FAN 590)
  • Saturday, March 20, 7:00 p.m. vs. Calgary Flames (Sportsnet, TSN 1050)
  • Thursday, March 25, 7:00 p.m. at Ottawa Senators (TSN4, FAN 590)

Stats reflect official NHL stats at the time of distribution. Please consult official NHL game sheets (links above) to confirm no statistical changes were made.

JETS-LEAFS PREGAME NOTES

WINNIPEG JETS (16-8-1 – 33 Points) vs.

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (18-7-2 – 38 Points)

MARCH 11, 2021 ▪ 7:00 PM EST

SCOTIABANK ARENA (TORONTO, ON) ▪
TV: TSN4 ▪ RADIO: SPORTSNET 590 THE FAN

MAPLE LEAFS HISTORY versus WINNIPEG

ALL-TIME RECORD:35-20-1-9 (65 Games)
ALL-TIME on the ROAD:18-10-1-4 (33 Games)
2020-21:1-1-0
LAST FIVE:3-1-1
LAST 10:6-2-2

MAPLE LEAFS CAREER LEADERS versus WINNIPEG

GAMES PLAYED:Jason Spezza (52), Joe Thornton (45), John Tavares (30)
GOALS:Jason Spezza (15), Joe Thornton (12), John Tavares (10)
ASSISTS:Jason Spezza (36), Joe Thornton (32), John Tavares (22)
POINTS:Jason Spezza (51), Joe Thornton (44), John Tavares (32)
PENALTY MINUTES:Joe Thornton (41), John Tavares (25), Jason Spezza (20)

MAPLE LEAFS – JETS TEAM STATS

 TORONTOWINNIPEG
GOALS FOR (Rank):93 (t-1st)83 (t-6th)
GOALS AGAINST (Rank):       67 (11th)71 (t-14th)
POWER PLAY [%] (Rank):26/82 [31.7%] (1st)18/74 [24.3%] (12th)
PENALTY KILL [%] (Rank):59/77 [76.6%] (21st)48/63 [76.2%] (22nd)
SHOTS PER GAME (Rank):30.5 (t-10th)29.4 (21st)
SHOTS AGAINST PER GAME (Rank):28.5 (7th)31.8 (t-27th)
5-on-5 SHOT ATTEMPTS FOR (Rank):1116 (9th)1045 (17th)
5-on-5 SHOT ATTEMPT % (Rank):48.8% (t-20th)48.0% (t-23rd)
FACEOFF % (Rank):52.0% (9th)48.5% (t-20th)

MAPLE LEAFS – JETS NOTES

First Matchup between Clubs:Oct. 27, 1999 (Toronto 4, Atlanta 0)
All-Time Record:35-20-1-9 (65 Games)
All-Time Record at Home:18-9-1-4 (32 Games)
All-Time Record on the Road:17-11-0-5 (33 Games)
Last Win vs. Opponent on the Road:Jan. 18, 2021 (Toronto 3, Winnipeg 1)
  

MAPLE LEAFS LEADERS

CATEGORYLEADER
GOALS20 (Matthews)
ASSISTS25 (Marner)
POINTS35 (Marner)
POWER PLAY POINTS13 (Marner)
SHORTHANDED POINTSN/A
PIMs24 (Bogosian)
SHOTS103 (Matthews)
FACEOFF WIN%58.8% (Tavares)
5-on-5 SHOT ATTEMPT %55.5% (Thornton)
BLOCKED SHOTS43 (Brodie)
TAKEAWAYS25 (Matthews)
HITS44 (Hyman, Muzzin)
TOI PER GAME23:54 (Rielly)
PP TOI PER GAME3:27 (Matthews)
SH TOI PER GAME2:53 (Holl)

MAPLE LEAFS PLAYER NOTES

Frederik Andersen– Tied for second in the NHL in wins (12).- Ranks 11th among NHL goaltenders in saves made (483).- Has a 10-1-2 record with a 2.81 goals-against average and a .909 save percentage in 14 career games against Winnipeg.
Travis Boyd– Averaging 2.61 points per 60 minutes of ice time at 5-on-5, which ranks fourth among Toronto skaters who have appeared in multiple games.
TJ Brodie– Averaging 18:56 in even-strength ice time, which ranks second among Toronto skaters.- Has the highest on-ice goals-for percentage (63.4%) at even strength among Maple Leafs defencemen who have appeared in multiple games.- Tied for third among Maple Leafs defencemen in points (0-9-9).
Jack Campbell– Is 3-0-0 with a 1.33 goals-against average and a .951 save percentage this season.
Justin Holl– Tied for 18th among NHL right handed defencemen who average at least 15 minutes of 5-on-5 ice time (17:25) with a shot attempt percentage of 52.9% when the score is within one goal.- Ranks 31st in the NHL in shorthanded ice time per game (2:54).- Tied for third among NHL defencemen in primary assists at 5-on-5 (5).
Michael Hutchinson– Has a .934 save percentage and a 2.03 goals-against average through five starts this season. 
Zach Hyman–  Leads Maple Leafs forwards in shorthanded ice time per game (2:03).- Has the second-highest on-ice goals for percentage (63.6%) at 5-on-5 among Toronto forwards.
Alex Kerfoot– Leads the Maple Leafs in on-ice goals for percentage (68.4%) at 5-on-5.- Sixth among Toronto forwards in shifts per game (19.9).- Has the sixth highest points per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 (1.87) among Toronto skaters who have appeared in over five games.
Mitch Marner– Fourth among NHLers in assists (25).- Fourth among NHLers in points (10-25-35).- Tied for fifth in the NHL in even-strength goals (10).- Leads NHL forwards in time on ice per game (22:29).- Has played 39.5% of Toronto’s shorthanded ice time.- Has the fifth highest on-ice goals for percentage (62.7%) at 5-on-5 among Toronto forwards..
Auston Matthews– Leads the NHL in goals (18).- Sixth among NHLers in points (20-13-33).- Averaging 21:51 in time on ice per game, which is fifth among NHL forwards.- Third among Maple Leafs forwards in 5-on-5 shot attempt percentage (52.3%).- Third in the NHL in shots on goal (103).
Ilya Mikheyev– Ranks third among Maple Leafs forwards in shorthanded ice time per game (1:49).- Has an average of 17.1 shot attempts per 60 minutes of shorthanded ice time, which ranks fifth among NHLers who have played at least 45 minutes of shorthanded ice time (49:14).  – Has started 35.3% of his 5-on-5 shifts in the offensive zone, which is the lowest percentage among Maple Leafs.
Jake Muzzin– Tied for fifth among NHL defencemen in assists at 5-on-5 (8).- Tied for 27th among NHL defencemen and ranks eighth among Maple Leafs in points (1-12-13). – Has started 46.2 percent of his 5-on-5 shifts in the offensive zone, which is the lowest mark among Toronto defencemen.
William Nylander– Has the seventh highest points per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 (1.68) among Toronto skaters who have appeared in over five games.- Has a 5-on-5 shot attempt percentage of 53.7%, which is the second-highest percentage among Maple Leafs.- Has an on-ice goals for percentage of 60.0% at 5-on-5.- Averaging 1.90 takeaways per 60 minutes of ice time, which ranks fifth among Maple Leafs.   
Morgan Rielly– Leads Maple Leafs in average time on ice (23:54).- Seventh among NHL defencemen in points (3-17-20).- Has a pair of goals and seven assists in 14 games at home this season.- Tied for 11th among NHL defencemen in assists at 5-on-5 (7).
Jason Spezza– Has the highest points per 60 minutes rate (3.07) at 5-on-5 among Maple Leafs who have appeared in over five games.- Has won 57.5% of his defensive zone faceoffs, which is tied for the seventh highest percentage among NHLers who have taken at least 100 defensive zone draws (120).
John Tavares– Has the fourth highest faceoff win percentage (58.8%) among NHLers who have taken at least 400 faceoffs (400).- Has a goal and an assist in two games against the Jets this season.- Has 10 goals and 22 assists in 30 career games against Winnipeg.- Has an on-ice goals for percentage of 63.1% at 5-on-5 in 2020-21, which ranks fourth among Toronto skaters.
Joe Thornton– Has the highest 5-on-5 shot attempt percentage among Toronto skaters at 55.5%.- Averaging 2.15 points per 60 minutes of ice time this season, which ranks fifth among Toronto skaters.
  

CURRENT POINT STREAKS

TJ BrodieAssists (2) in two consecutive games.
John TavaresPoints (1-1-2) in two consecutive games.
  

UPCOMING MILESTONES

Zach BogosianTwo points from 200 NHL points
William NylanderFour goals from 100 NHL goals
Joe ThorntonThree assists from 1,100 career NHL assists
  

RECENT MILESTONES

None 
  

INJURY REPORT

Jack Campbell (Lower Body)Did not play on March 9 vs. WPG.
Wayne Simmonds (Wrist)On injured reserve.
 Man Games Lost: 70
  

RECENT TRANSACTIONS

None 
  

JETS 4, MAPLE LEAFS 3 QUOTES

SHELDON KEEFE

Q. Lance Hornby, Toronto Sun: Your first three game losing streak this year. Where’s the team at, but also obviously considering you’re still first overall?

Sheldon Keefe: I think we’re just going through it here a little bit. I think every team goes through little stretches like this, but I think there’s lots for us to take away from it. I think it’s obviously a good thing for us that in all three games we’re right there, we’re in every game and we could have very easily gotten points out of each. That’s a good sign that we’re still right there. That said, I think what really clearly comes out of these games for me is usually games are close, the division is extremely competitive, that’s a very good team we’re playing against tonight, but you either have winning habits or you have losing habits. When you have losing habits you end up giving up free goals and then when you’re not scoring enough on the other side of it, you lose games. We’ve got to get back to having consistent winning habits and we’ll find that things will end up working out in our favour in the end. It’s obviously very disappointing that after three fantastic, perhaps three of our of best games of the season in Edmonton, that we’ve followed it up here now with, not poor performances, we’ve played fine in each game, but just not doing enough of the little things well that end up getting you to find ways to win games. 

Q. Kevin McGran, Toronto Star: Can you give me an example of a winning habit or two, as opposed to a losing habit or two? What do you mean by that?

Sheldon Keefe: A winning habit simply, for me, is when you don’t have a play, there’s nothing happening and force a play through the middle of the ice versus just moving the puck forward and putting it to safe place and get structure around it. It cost us a goal in Vancouver and essentially cost us the game, and then tonight very similar play. We’re stuck in the neutral zone and we’re tired and we turn it over. When we need to get fresh guys on we’re caught in a line change and then you don’t have any structure coming back in your end, the puck’s in your net. Little things like that that when you’re not scoring enough to allow for mistakes like that you’ve just got to keep piling positive and good habits and good shifts. Over time things will find their way. Those are the little things that come out of it that are just lessons that we need to continue to learn. As I said, we didn’t play poorly. I thought we played good enough certainly to get a point out of this game here today. We were right there. I’d like to see us generate more offence, but I still think we generated more than enough to score more than we did. Obviously, their goaltender, I think it’s fair to say, was their best player tonight. To me, you can still win games or get points if you’ve got good enough habits and those are the little things that have slipped a little bit for us here in the last few games. 

Q. Chris Johnston, Sportsnet: You spoke after practice yesterday about different ways Auston was contributing. He scored a couple goals tonight in ways we don’t typically see him score. What did you think of his game as he continues to adapt to what he’s dealing with?

Sheldon Keefe: I think it just speaks to the calibre of player that he is. I also think he doesn’t get enough credit for scoring those types of goals. I think you go back through his goals he’s scored more than a fair share of those types of goals. He’s got extremely good hands in and around the net. He doesn’t typically play in those positions so he doesn’t get as many opportunities as other people, but he’s got a lot of goals – I’ve looked at his career goals – that he scores in around the net. That’s what I’m talking about where it’s him just adapting his game a little bit, going to different spaces and he’s good enough abilities and sense to make good on those chances. 

Q. Steve Simmons, Toronto Sun: Tonight you get scored-on on a tough line change, your own deflection into your own goal and a tough penalty kill. Is this a case tonight of you beating you as opposed than them beating you?

Sheldon Keefe: Yeah I would say so, Steve. That’s kind of what I’m getting at. I think we definitely get caught on a line change but you need to make line changes, guys are tired so I think it’s about taking care of the puck and putting it in a good spot to let the line change happen in that case. Again, penalty kill has got to find a way to get a kill for us. We’ve got to get that stop, it’s a very similar goal to the one we gave up the other night. We’ve got to get a blocked shot and seven seconds left in the kill, you’ve got to get through it, we were right there. Winnipeg played a good game too, they defended well. They’re very opportunistic, but certainly when we’re talking about habits and mistakes, when you’re up against a goalie that’s playing really well and they’re not giving you anything for free on offense you can’t have those types of breakdowns if you’re expecting to get points out of games. For me that’s why we’ve come up empty handed in these three games. I don’t think we’ve played poorly. As I’ve said, it’s just little things that have end up going the other side and throughout the season a lot of nights, we’ve scored enough or bounces have gone our way. Looking back the other way I think we’re helping it go that way with some of our decisions and how things have slipped. Maybe we can chalk it up to fatigue, I don’t quite know. I just know we have to continue to learn from it. 

Q. David Alter, The Hockey News: What was your overall assessment of Zach Hyman’s game tonight?

Sheldon Keefe: I thought he was really good. He’s been really good for us. He played hard, big time goal he scored for us. He’s working, he’s doing his job for us. He’s been really good.

JUSTIN HOLL

Q. Kevin McGran, Toronto Star: Just your thoughts on this game, you guys now losing three in a row. What do you think is going on from your perspective?

Justin Holl: I thought we just made some critical errors tonight which put us in a bad spot. We surrendered some goals when we shouldn’t have and let the game get away from us a little bit. We all know that we have the ability to score goals and score goals in bunches. I thought we had our chances in the third but you have to give credit to their goalie who’s very good. We just couldn’t find a way to get the fourth one.

Q. Bob McGill, Leafs Nation Network: Tonight, you have a 2-1 lead and were there just some missed opportunities as well where you could have upped your lead before they were able to get back?

Justin Holl: Exactly, I think some missed opportunities in there and a 2-1 lead is obviously never safe. The more goals that we can score the better but we still feel like we defend well enough to protect a lead like that and get our goals through our structure. It’s disappointing for us but nothing to do but move forward.

ZACH HYMAN

Q. Mark Masters, TSN: What did you see as the difference tonight?

Zach Hyman: We had some chances. We didn’t capitalize on all our chances and they had some grade A opportunities that they were able to capitalize on. They’ve got a bunch of elite players that can make plays, we just have to be ready for them for a full 60. It could have gone either way I think but they were able to capitalize a little more than us.

Q. Lance Hornby, Toronto Sun: After the first three game losing streak of the season, where do you think the team is at?

Zach Hyman: I think we’re in a good spot. I think all teams go through adversity, like you said this is the first time we’ve lost three in a row and we want to bounce back. We’re not happy about it obviously. Especially to a team that’s chasing us in the division and on home ice. We’ve got to be better but all teams face adversity throughout the year and it’s a good thing to go through a little adversity.

AUSTON MATTHEWS

Q. Kevin McGran, Toronto Star: Two goals for you tonight. Obviously, you’d much rather have the win than the goals, but can you just assess the game tonight and give us an update on your wrist felt after playing tonight?

Auston Matthews: I thought it wasn’t a bad game, but definitely wasn’t our best. I think we had really good moments at times and had the puck in their zone and were creating lots of chances. I thought in the third period we had a couple really good looks and you’ve got to tip your hat to their goalie, he made some good saves. I don’t think chasing the game and being behind is obviously a position we’d like to be in, but I think a couple bounces either way we could have definitely been back in that game. I think we can take a lot from this one moving forward. We’ve got these guys two more times. Hopefully a good practice day tomorrow, rest up and make some adjustments and be ready for Thursday.

Q. Jonas Siegel, The Athletic: I’m just wondering how much pain or discomfort you’re in right now?

Auston Matthews: Once you get out there it dwindles away. I felt fine today and my legs felt good. We did some good stuff tonight. Obviously, we’d like to get the two points, but I think it’s always a positive when you’re helping the team in different areas of the game. 

JOHN TAVARES

Q. Kevin McGran, Toronto Star: Three losses in a row all in regulation. What’s your personal concern level here with what’s going on with the team?

John Tavares: We just haven’t been as crisp as we like to be for 60 minutes. We just don’t seem to be ending up on the right side of it. We’ve been in all these games, really tight. We’ve had chances to win them all. We’ve just got to make some key plays and obviously do a little better of a job defending against our opponent. We generated enough chances tonight. We just gave them a little bit too much off the rush.

Q. Mark Masters, TSN: You seem to be running into a bunch of hot goalies here of late. What stands out to you about the challenge presented to you by Connor Hellebuyck?

John Tavares: He’s a great netminder. Tremendous here last year, doing great things again this year. You just have got to continue to find ways to solve him and get to the net and create opportunities. We’ve got quality shooters. We’ve just got to find ways to capitalize on what we’re generating.