Playing a road game versus the Buffalo Sabres, the Leafs visited their second home as the Maple Leafs crowd always makes their presence known. In front of thousands of Leafs fans, the Leafs put up a less-than-stellar display in both zones but managed to shutout the Sabres anyway with a three-goal effort by the game’s end.
Notes and discussion from the charts are all below, read on to see it all!
Game events
- The Leafs had just 22 shots on goal. In contrast, the Sabres posted 34 shots of their own. Looking at misses and blocks as well, the Leafs just did not shoot much at all while the Sabres were all over the puck most of the game.
- Toronto did manage 41 hits and was great in the faceoff circle, but they took a game where they were outplayed and turned it into a stolen game.
- The game saw Toronto with four power plays while the Sabres had six. A plethora of misconducts were handed out in the final minute of play after Rasmus Dahlin boarded T.J. Brodie.
Goals
| Goal | Assists | Time | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| John Tavares | William Nylander, Conor Timmins | 4:58 | 1st | TOR 1 – 0 BUF |
| Nicholas Robertson | Matthew Knies | 2:34 | 2nd | TOR 2 – 0 BUF |
| Auston Matthews | Conor Timmins | 14:23 | 3rd | TOR 3 – 0 BUF |
- The Leafs scored one goal per period while the Sabres scored naught. Ilya Samsonov was stellar throughout the game as he made some big saves to earn every bit of his shutout.
- All three goals were spectacles in their own right as John Tavares went post-and-in, Nicholas Robertson took full advantage of a partial break, and of course, Matthews’ 60th goal was scored in great fashion.
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All situations Corsi
- With Toronto scoring early, they caused the Sabres to chase the game. While the Sabres did get momentum in various instances, the Leafs got the goals to nip any chance of a comeback in the bud.
- The Leafs didn’t have much going for them in the as there were several extended stretches where they did not generate anything offensively. Notably, their penalty kill was unable to get any shots at all.
- The Leafs were sparse in their shots as they barely had any shots. Meanwhile, the Sabres were all over the net-front areas and everywhere else as they were shooting at will.
- Samsonov stopped everything he faced including double-digit shots right in front of him.
- Sometimes data can lead to fun things, such as the Leafs getting a row of goals with all three markers forming a straight line.
5v5 Corsi
- Most of this game was played away from 5v5 with all the penalties. At 5v5, it was a little closer despite the Sabres still playing better.
- That said, the Leafs got all three of their goals at 5v5 while their power play was fruitless and their penalty kill perfect.
- From a location perspective, the Leafs were more comparable to the Sabres at 5v5, but again, the Sabres had more shots from right in front of the crease while Leafs had more of their high-danger shots at least being in the slot but not as close in.
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