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Game in 10: Auston Matthews leads in a bounce-back home opener win over Washington

Auston Matthews, John Tavares, Toronto Maple Leafs
Written by adrina

After Sheldon Keefe highlighted his team’s performance in the loss to the Montreal Canadiens, the Maple Leafs responded with a 3-2 win over Washington at their home game at the Scotiabank Arena.

While I wouldn’t exactly call it a top performance, two points is two points and it’s always nice to get the first two of the season.

Your game in 10:

1. Both teams took early penalties to start this game. When Washington capitalized on the night’s first man, Alex Ovechkin hit the bar, but the Capitals didn’t register a shot at the net after that. Toronto then went into a power play of their own, absolutely buzzing for over a minute until they finally scored.

They could have scored at least three times in front of the actual goal. John Tavares did well to catch the puck and make sure it went into the net, but it was the pass over Morgan Rielly that made the game. After a zero-for-four in the season opener, the power play came ablaze with a point to prove, scoring the game’s first goal.

2. It appeared the Leafs were settling in and possibly even taking control of the game for a moment. The fourth line in particular produced a good shift, leading to sales increasing David fight broke in all by himself, but Kampf headed the puck. Austin Matthews Then he put on a big hit on Garnet Hathaway, and things got messy from there.

Hathaway shot Matthews, Michael Bunt came in to protect him (and huffed when hit), the defensive zone became a scramble, and Mitch Marner watched the puck instead of covering his defender who came in and gave Nic Dowd a nice pass. An admittedly weak shot squeaked in the net – one Ilya Samsonov should have saved.

3. Speaking of goals that should have been saved, the Capitals made it 2-1 with a goal shortly afterwards Ilya Samsonov really should have stopped. Marcus Johansson came in and pulled off an easy shot from the wrist that went through the Leafs keeper. It wasn’t off the bar or anything, and it wasn’t exactly top-notch Phil Kessel speeding down the wing. It’s a save he had to make.

Morgan RiellyThe gap control on the goal was also missing; He allowed Johansson to walk in freely and shoot undisturbed. Many viewers will compare it to Cole Caufield’s goal the night before, but that goal showed a communication failure in a 3v2 that quickly became a 3v3. Johansson’s goal was a direct 1-on-1 that Rielly resorted to.

4. The Leafs finished the first third with 21 shots at the net and generally controlled the game. They have four lines that can control the game and it has been shown in spurts.

Defensively they were everywhere. Although they generally controlled the game, the Leafs seemed to be adventuring defensively whenever Washington gained possession, which was the case against Montreal. For now, the Leafs don’t appear to have the goal of getting away with such a leak.

5. The Leafs immediately leveled the game 2-2 to start the second time Morgan Rielly made another good play with the puck, this time patiently staying at his own blue line and smashing a pass through the neutral zone Alex Kerfoot, who made a great pass himself by ripping a feed perfectly to the back door. This is one of the nicer passes Kerfoot has ever made as a Leaf. Calle Jarnkrok did well to immediately spot the development of the game and net Dmitri Orlov with his first goal of the season.

6. The rest of the third was really a back and forth of good but not great scoring chances. Each team went on a power play in the period but failed to score. Jake Muzzin ran Garrett Hathaway with a good hit. Ilya Samsonov made a really good save on an Alex Ovechkin one-timer. Austin Matthews‘Backhand shot in front of the net went off the goalkeeper’s mask, followed by Michael Bunt Take a hit on the second opportunity and miss a wide open net.

Washington was pretty happy using his fourth line against the Matthews line, and the Leafs hadn’t really made them pay (yet). Dowd took a penalty on Matthews, which the Leafs took advantage of, but Dowd also scored afterwards to level the game. This matchup worked pretty well for Washington in two periods.

7. In the third, the Leafs scored in that matchup situation. Austin Matthews won a faceoff and the Leafs controlled possession before the puck finally found its way to him Markus Giordanowho was able to send a wrister through traffic that Matthews may have touched (it also definitely slid off Dowd) before squeaking into the net.

Giordano is really effective at getting pucks through traffic along the blue line. He had six consecutive double-digit scoring seasons at one point, including 17- and 21-goal seasons. He’s not that type anymore, but he’s clearly still skilled and can play in the offensive zone.

8th. That goal ended up being the game winner. Washington went for some late power plays, but they never really felt dangerous. Justin Holl had one hell of a good ending to the game, blocking multiple Alex Ovechkin one-timers and effectively finishing the game by stepping up John Carlson to smash away a one-timer pass in the dying seconds.

Like last season, Holl was very good in penalties. He played 4:25 shorthanded, which was second among Leafs defensemen (TJ Brodie played 5:01). The only reason Holl didn’t ice them out outnumbered is because he took one of the penalties himself.

9. Washington are a big, strong team, although they were missing Tom Wilson for this one. For years they’ve been trying to lead the Leafs and wear them down physically (which, in fairness, many teams try to do). However, I liked the Leafs’ physical reaction today.

Dmitri Orlov laid out Pierre Engvallbut Austin Matthews also blasted a few players. Zach Aston Reese defeated TJ Oshie in an altercation. Even after the kick-off there was some scrambling. Nicolas Aube Kubel is really a nuisance to the opposition. Jake Muzzin ran Hathaway, as mentioned. Even Rasmus Sandin and Markus Giordano some hits lined up.

The Leafs don’t really have anyone who can fight per se, but there’s definitely a physicality to this team that’s more noticeable in the flow of the game. It helps when the best player on the team goes first. Speaking of…

10 I thought Austin Matthews had a Game in the house opener. It was a performance that showed he was upset at losing the night before and wanting to lead the team to a setback win. He put five shots into the net and scored one goal. He was physically busy. He brought urgency to the power play and set the tone for them ripping the puck around there. Matthews led all forwards in Ice Age and was great on the night.

Gameplay: 5v5 shot attempts

Heatmap: 5v5 shot attempts

Game Highlights: Maple Leafs 3 vs. Capitals 2


#Game #Auston #Matthews #leads #bounceback #home #opener #win #Washington

 







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