Game 26 - Buffalo 3, Leafs 2 (OT) - Leafs lose on unlucky OT goal against Buffalo

Toronto's third game against Buffalo was a fairly even, back-and-forth encounter, settled by a strange goal that went through a gap in Carl Gunnarsson's skate en route to the back of the net.

Toronto looked solid in the first, and took an early lead through Phil Kessel, but faced a Sabre pushback in the second, with the home team getting back level in chances, and on the scoreboard, first equalizing on the powerplay, then getting another tying goal late in the period from Luke Adam.

The third was a tighter affair, neither side generating a lot of chances, but there was a good period of play in the last 6 or 7 minutes, in which either team could have won it. A late penalty against the Leafs ended up costing them, with Buffalo getting a couple of chances in regulation, then getting the winner with the penalized Ranger still working his way back into the play.

After back to back poor performances, the Leafs just managed to outchance Buffalo, though only by one, mostly on the back of that strong first period performance.

A summary of the scoring chances:

Status	Overall		ES
Team	Toronto	Buffalo	Toronto	Buffalo
1	7	3	7	3
2	4	10	4	7
3	5	5	3	3
4	0	1	0	0
Total	16	19	14	13

Details below.



This was my list of scoring chances from the game. If you see any problems or omissions (here or anywhere else), please go ahead and leave a comment.

Club	St	P	Time	Note	Toronto						Buffalo
TOR	ES	1	18:17	Kessel from Van Riemsdyk	42	81	21	15	51	34	28	72	23	3	6	30
TOR	ES	1	17:48	GOAL! Kessel from Bozak	42	81	21	15	51	34	28	63	72	6	57	30
TOR	ES	1	16:14	Bozak wide from Kessel	42	81	21	3	36	34	19	21	26	10	52	30
TOR	ES	1	16:05	Kessel from Van Riemsdyk	42	81	21	3	36	34	19	21	26	10	52	30
BUF	ES	1	14:59	Ennis wide from loose puck	11	23	41	15	51	34	28	63	72	3	6	30
TOR	ES	1	12:21	Clarkson deflects Fraser shot wide	43	71	12	2	51	34	65	32	82	10	52	30
TOR	ES	1	07:21	McClement from Kessel	11	23	81	2	4	34	9	21	23	20	57	30
TOR	ES	1	06:55	Raymond from giveaway	23	12	41	2	4	34	9	27	23	10	52	30
BUF	ES	1	01:17	Adam from loose puck	43	71	12	4	51	34	28	63	72	10	52	30
BUF	ES	1	00:11	Hodgson drives	42	81	21	2	15	34	19	21	26	20	57	30
BUF	ES	2	19:24	Stafford wide from Moulson	42	81	21	3	36	34	19	21	26	20	57	30
TOR	ES	2	16:21	Kulemin deflects Franson shot wide	11	23	41	2	4	34	9	27	23	3	6	30
TOR	ES	2	15:29	Phaneuf from Kessel	42	81	21	3	36	34	19	21	26	20	57	30
BUF	SH	2	12:55	Stafford wide from Hodgson	22	21	2	4	34	-	19	21	23	26	10	30
BUF	SH	2	12:50	Moulson wide from loose puck	22	21	2	4	34	-	19	21	23	26	10	30
BUF	SH	2	12:03	GOAL! Moulson from loose puck	22	21	2	4	34	-	19	23	26	10	57	30
BUF	ES	2	10:26	Girgensons from Adam	11	42	81	2	15	34	28	63	72	20	57	30
TOR	ES	2	09:37	GOAL! Kulemin from Smith	11	23	41	36	51	34	65	32	82	10	52	30
BUF	ES	2	07:38	Stafford from Moulson	43	71	12	2	4	34	19	21	26	10	52	30
BUF	ES	2	07:36	Moulson wide from loose puck	43	71	12	2	4	34	19	21	26	10	52	30
TOR	ES	2	04:31	Kadri wide from Raymond	43	71	12	15	51	34	27	23	82	3	6	30
BUF	ES	2	01:11	Girgensons deflects Ehrhoff shot	11	23	41	2	15	34	28	63	72	10	52	30
BUF	ES	2	01:10	GOAL! Adam from rebound of Girgensons shot	11	23	41	2	15	34	28	63	72	10	52	30
BUF	ES	2	00:54	Myers from Moulson	42	81	21	3	36	34	19	21	26	20	57	30
TOR	PP	3	17:44	Raymond from Kadri	43	71	12	3	4	34	9	65	3	6	30	-
TOR	PP	3	17:28	Kadri post from rebound of Franson shot	43	71	12	3	4	34	9	65	3	6	30	-
TOR	ES	3	15:55	Kulemin wide from Ranger	11	23	41	15	51	34	19	21	26	3	6	30
BUF	ES	3	14:40	Girgensons deflects Ennis shot wide	11	42	81	15	51	34	28	63	72	10	52	30
TOR	ES	3	12:09	Kessel drives	42	81	21	3	51	34	19	21	26	20	57	30
BUF	ES	3	06:38	Myers wide from Ennis	11	42	81	2	4	34	28	63	72	20	57	30
BUF	ES	3	06:19	Adam from loose puck	42	81	21	2	4	34	28	63	72	20	57	30
TOR	ES	3	02:53	Kessel from Bozak	42	81	12	3	36	34	19	21	26	3	6	30
BUF	SH	3	01:02	Hodgson from Stafford	11	41	3	36	34	-	19	63	21	26	10	30
BUF	SH	3	00:01	Myers wide from Ott	11	41	2	4	34	-	9	27	23	3	57	30
BUF	SH	4	04:36	Hodgson from Stafford	11	3	36	34	-	-	19	21	26	10	30	-

The Extra Skater game profile.

The Leafs lost fairly widely on Corsi, 45-68 overall and 41-51 5-on-5.

The scoring chance numbers for the Leaf players:

Player	F	A	D	TOI	ESF	ESA	ESD	EVTOI	PPF	PPA	PPD	PPTOI	SHF	SHA	SHD	SHTOI
Fraser	4	12	-8	20:36	4	8	-4	16:32	0	0	0	00:00	0	4	-4	04:04
Phaneuf	7	4	3	23:17	5	2	3	17:42	2	0	2	01:58	0	2	-2	03:37
Franson	5	9	-4	15:56	3	5	-2	12:41	2	0	2	01:24	0	4	-4	01:51
McClement	4	9	-5	17:20	4	6	-2	12:52	0	0	0	00:00	0	3	-3	04:28
Raymond	6	3	3	17:51	4	3	1	14:46	2	0	2	01:24	0	0	0	01:41
Ranger	4	6	-2	20:47	4	6	-2	18:26	0	0	0	00:00	0	0	0	02:21
Van Riemsdyk	6	7	-1	20:34	6	4	2	17:17	0	0	0	00:36	0	3	-3	02:41
Smithson	0	3	-3	08:42	0	0	0	06:25	0	0	0	00:00	0	3	-3	02:17
Smith	5	3	2	13:10	5	3	2	13:10	0	0	0	00:00	0	0	0	00:00
Orr	0	0	0	06:06	0	0	0	06:06	0	0	0	00:00	0	0	0	00:00
Gunnarsson	5	4	1	19:27	5	2	3	15:48	0	0	0	00:02	0	2	-2	03:37
Ashton	0	0	0	05:23	0	0	0	05:23	0	0	0	00:00	0	0	0	00:00
Kulemin	4	5	-1	14:34	4	3	1	11:50	0	0	0	00:00	0	2	-2	02:44
Bozak	7	7	0	20:44	7	7	0	18:57	0	0	0	00:36	0	0	0	01:11
Kadri	4	3	1	14:13	2	3	-1	12:49	2	0	2	01:24	0	0	0	00:00
Gardiner	7	3	4	21:23	7	3	4	20:39	0	0	0	00:36	0	0	0	00:08
Clarkson	4	3	1	14:35	2	3	-1	13:11	2	0	2	01:24	0	0	0	00:00
Kessel	8	7	1	20:16	8	7	1	19:32	0	0	0	00:36	0	0	0	00:08
Reimer	16	19	-3	60:27	14	13	1	50:38	2	0	2	02:00	0	6	-6	07:49

The big line was the best of the forwards for the Leafs, with Van Riemsdyk a solid +2 and Phil Kessel on for a team-high eight chances for. Trevor Smith was also excellent in his 13 minutes; he's been very good against Buffalo, as three of his four games with a positive net have come against them. McClement was the weakest of the forwards, at -2.

A very good defensive night from Jake Gardiner, who handily led the team in ES ice time, and was a team-high +4. Dion Phaneuf and Carl Gunnarsson were also both among the team leaders. Mark Fraser had a brutal game, on for eight chances against, and with a team-worst in net chances. Franson also had a relatively weak game, as did Paul Ranger.

The Sabres:

Player	F	A	D	TOI	ESF	ESA	ESD	EVTOI	PPF	PPA	PPD	PPTOI	SHF	SHA	SHD	SHTOI
Pysyk	2	7	-5	17:20	1	5	-4	14:11	1	0	1	02:25	0	2	-2	00:44
Weber	1	8	-7	16:29	1	6	-5	15:45	0	0	0	00:00	0	2	-2	00:44
Ott	1	5	-4	17:46	0	3	-3	14:21	1	0	1	02:28	0	2	-2	00:57
Ehrhoff	11	5	6	23:04	6	5	1	16:24	5	0	5	05:24	0	0	0	01:16
Hodgson	10	6	4	23:47	5	6	-1	18:43	5	0	5	05:02	0	0	0	00:02
Tallinder	6	3	3	18:41	6	3	3	18:41	0	0	0	00:00	0	0	0	00:00
Stafford	9	7	2	22:22	5	7	-2	18:05	4	0	4	04:15	0	0	0	00:02
Leino	4	5	-1	18:18	0	5	-5	14:39	4	0	4	03:39	0	0	0	00:00
Moulson	10	6	4	21:42	5	6	-1	17:16	5	0	5	04:26	0	0	0	00:00
D'agostini	1	3	-2	15:39	0	3	-3	12:56	1	0	1	02:43	0	0	0	00:00
Girgensons	8	2	6	13:09	8	2	6	12:04	0	0	0	00:04	0	0	0	01:01
Scott	0	2	-2	07:07	0	2	-2	07:07	0	0	0	00:00	0	0	0	00:00
Sulzer	6	5	1	17:20	6	5	1	15:16	0	0	0	00:48	0	0	0	01:16
Myers	8	4	4	24:10	6	4	2	21:24	2	0	2	02:46	0	0	0	00:00
Ennis	9	1	8	13:48	8	1	7	10:03	1	0	1	03:45	0	0	0	00:00
Flynn	0	4	-4	08:20	0	2	-2	07:23	0	0	0	00:00	0	2	-2	00:57
Adam	8	2	6	10:56	8	2	6	10:04	0	0	0	00:52	0	0	0	00:00
Foligno	0	3	-3	10:38	0	3	-3	09:37	0	0	0	00:00	0	0	0	01:01
Fleury	0	0	0	20:13	0	0	0	20:05	0	0	0	00:00	0	0	0	00:08
Miller	19	16	3	60:34	13	14	-1	50:45	6	0	6	07:49	0	2	-2	02:00

 
A great game for Girgensons, Ennis and Adam, all at least +6, and far-and-away the most effective of the Sabres. Tyler Myers also did well. Buffalo also had some brutal performances as well, with Ott and Leino not on for a single ES chance for, and Weber and Pysyk also posting big negatives.

Players with nice chance numbers:
Toronto - Jake Gardiner, Dion Phaneuf, Carl Gunnarsson
Buffalo - Zemgus Girgensons, Tyler Ennis, Luke Adam

Players with poor chance numbers:
Toronto - Mark Fraser, Cody Franson, Jay McClement
Buffalo - Mike Weber, Ville Leino, Mark Pysyk