Thursday, October 31, 2013

Game 13 - Leafs 4, Edmonton 0 - Kessel and Reimer the stars in comfy Leafs win

In their first game with Edmonton, the Leafs were constantly pushed, coming from beind late in the third period to grab an OT victory. This time, there was no such drama, as Toronto opened the scoring in the second minute of the game, and were up 3-0 at the halfway point. In the last ten minutes, the only drama was whether James Reimer would hold onto his shutout, which he did.

Toronto weren't great in the opening frame, but a strong second, featuring two goals and a 7-4 edge in chances saw them pull ahead. They were broadly outchanced in the third period, but almost all of Edmonton's chances came after Kadri scored the 4th goal, meaning that the edge in puck possession and chances was in a large part due to score effects.


A summary of the scoring chances:

Status Overall ES
Team Toronto Edmonton Toronto Edmonton
1 3 5 2 5
2 7 4 7 4
3 2 10 2 7
Total 12 19 11 16

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Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Game 12 - Leafs 4, Pittsburgh 1 - Leafs dominate 3rd to beat Pittsburgh

Over the last few seasons, Toronto's strong performance against Pittsburgh has always stood out to me. Despite the Penguins' relatively consistent high placing in the standings, while the Leafs were not quite so successful, and the presence of two major stars in Crosby and Malkin, the two teams have typically played closely fought game, with little between them. The same rang true on Saturday night.

Through two periods, the Penguins were heavily on top of the game, outchancing Toronto 20-6 overall, and 11-2 at ES. However, the game was tied, as the two teams traded special teams goals in the first, and the Leafs managed to survive the siege in the second.

In the third, the Leafs got an early goal from Nazem Kadri to pull ahead, and then totally shut down a potent Penguins attack, allowing only a single Penguin chance (and that one coming without Crosby or Malkin on). Phil Kessel added a late powerplay goal for insurance to secure the win.

A summary of the scoring chances:

Status Overall ES
Team Toronto Pittsburgh Toronto Pittsburgh
1 4 9 0 3
2 2 11 2 8
3 7 1 5 1
Total 13 21 7 12

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Monday, October 28, 2013

Game 11 - Columbus 5, Leafs 2 - A return to poor form

After a strong game at home to Anaheim, Toronto got back into a bad patch of form in Columbus, losing in front of a pretty strong contingent in blue and white at Nationwide Arena. David Clarkson finally made his Leafs debut, but didn't have a substantial impact on the game.

After a decent start, the Leafs were dominated in the middle of the first period, giving up a powerplay goal against, as well as 7 even strength chances. They had a much stronger second period, getting a goal to tie the game right at the start from Kessel, and holding Columbus to three ES chances in the period, though they still lost the period.

The Leafs lost it in the third, though, giving up the most overall chances of any third period so far this year. The backbreaker came as Toronto pushed for an equalizer on the powerplay, Dubinsky going down and scoring a shorthanded goal on a 2-on-1. A couple of late goals extended Columbus' lead, after Dave Bolland first pulled Toronto close with a goal, then too a penalty to leave the Leafs down a man in the last 3 minutes.



A summary of the scoring chances:

Status Overall ES
Team Toronto Columbus Toronto Columbus
1 4 8 4 7
2 2 4 2 3
3 7 10 3 6
Total 13 22 9 16

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Thursday, October 24, 2013

Game 10 - Leafs 4, Anaheim 2 - Leafs outchanced, but it's OK this time

You wouldn't have thought it after about 25 minutes or so, but this ended up being the most complete Leaf game of the last week or so, as they came back from down 2-0 to Anaheim to earn a 4-2 win. Three of the goals came from Phil Kessel, scoring his second Leaf hat-trick.

I thought I had gotten distracted when I went back to my charts for the first period, as I had just one chance in the whole frame, the Anaheim goal. A rewatch showed that I wasn't wrong; the first period had the fewest chances of any Leaf period so far in the season. 

The second period was then evenly split, but the Leafs were ahead at even strength, as well as scoring three goals to take the lead. Cricitally, this included surviving a solid stretch of 5-on-3, just after tying the game. They lost the third period overall, but won it at even strength, despite score effects seeing Anaheim push the play looking for an equalizer.

The last time Toronto allowed less than 10 even strength chances in a game was at Nashville, also the last time that they managed to win the even strength chance battle.

A summary of the scoring chances:

Status Overall ES
Team Toronto Anaheim Toronto Anaheim
1 0 1 0 1
2 5 5 4 2
3 6 9 6 5
Total 11 15 10 8

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Sunday, October 20, 2013

Game 9 - Chicago 3, Leafs 1 - Defending champs teach Leafs a lesson

A familiar story to his post, as Toronto got badly beaten in Chicago. Getting outchanced for the third consecutive game, this time the Leafs weren't even enough in the game to benefit from some luck and weak goaltending, as in the Minnesota game, or to be felled by a weird game winner, as against Carolina. In fact, watching the game, it seems strange that the Leafs were as close as 3-1; Chicago did have a goal called back, but it felt as if they were much more secure than a two-goal margin.

The Leafs were on the back foot from the start, badly outchanced in the first, and generating only a single even strength chance. The second saw them get a goal, as well as generate a couple of chances, but they allowed even more, including three goals, with Mike Kostka's first NHL marker among them. The third was the team's best period, as they did manage a little fight early in the frame, but that's not saying much. The last ten minutes saw Chicago outchance the Leafs 6-1, and the game petered out for Toronto without much serious threat of posing a comeback.

Toronto had fewer chances in the Minnesota game, but had a better margin, as this was their worst game of the season. The 19 chances against at even strength were the highest of the season, as were the 25 overall.

A summary of the scoring chances:

Status Overall ES
Team Toronto Chicago Toronto Chicago
1 2 8 1 4
2 3 10 2 8
3 4 7 3 7
Total 9 25 6 19

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Friday, October 18, 2013

Game 8 - Carolina 3, Leafs 2 - Leafs struggle, but need weird fluke to lose

For a second straight game, the Leafs were soundly outplayed and outchanced, but this time they weren't able to get away with a point. Of course, this being the Leafs, it didn't come without something strange, Bernier allowing an extremely strange winning goal off an icing call.

The first period started well, Toronto winning the chance battle narrowly. Things stated to fall apart in the second, though, with Carolina pulling away to a big chance advantage, Toronto generating only two in the period. Of course, this wasn't reflected on the scoreboard, as the Leafs ended the period with a two-goal lead.

Toronto played a better third period, despite the score, as the teams traded early chances, allowing a goal on the powerplay that wasn't a chance, before Eric Staal put in a loose puck to tie the game, the only goal of Carolina's that came from a scoring chance.

The bizzare third goal by Carolina ended up in a result they probably deserved, but in an extremely strange way. Bernier took his attention off a long shot that seemed like it might go for icing, which then bounced off the boards and past him on the short side.

The two teams were even in the first and third period, but Toronto's miserable second (the period in which they scored both their goals), left that at a big deficit. The Leafs generated only one chance in the period other than the two goals.

A summary of the scoring chances:

Status Overall ES
Team Toronto Carolina Toronto Carolina
1 5 5 4 3
2 3 10 2 9
3 5 8 5 6
Total 13 23 11 18

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Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Game 7 - Leafs 4, Minnesota 1 - Leafs say "Corsi, who needs it?"

The Leafs played one of their worst game of the season thus far, but managed to win it nonetheless. Toronto generated just two chances in the first period, but both ended up in the Minnesota net, Bozak finishing a nice passing play and Smith putting one through Kuemper's five-hole after a nice pass from Rielly.

Toronto's second period was similarily rough, as they did not generate an even strength chance. However, they extended the lead after Raymond added a powerplay goal. With the lead, Toronto sat back and defended from further Minnesota attack.

The third period saw Minnesota generate seven chances, while Toronto again struggled, getting just two, but excellent play from Reimer kept the lead intact, and staked Toronto to another victory.

The three even strength chances Toronto generated were easily their lowest of the season. They tied their worst period in the first with just one, then "bettered" it in the second with no chances at even strength at all. Eleven against is one of their better totals, but after four straight games of at least being even in differential at even strength, this is a big beatdown.


A summary of the scoring chances:

Status Overall ES
Team Toronto Minnesota Toronto Minnesota
1 2 7 1 1
2 2 4 0 3
3 3 7 2 7
Total 7 18 3 11

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Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Week 2 Review

The Leafs continued their strong start; losing their first game of the year in a tight game against Colorado, before tkaing advantage of some good goaltending to shut-out Nashville and surviving a sloppy game against Edmonton.
Game Overall Even Strength
Leafs Opp Leafs Opp
Oct. 8 v. COL 19 17 16 16
Oct. 10 @ NSH 17 13 13 8
Oct. 12 v. EDM 17 21 14 14
Total 53 51 43 38

The Leafs win the week, a +2 overall and a +5 at ES, splitting the two closing games and winning the one game they were superior in, against Nashville.


The team's early pattern of slow starts has pretty much stopped; they were the better team against Colorado early, and a soporific start against Nashville didn't really benefit either side.

The players totals from the week are below:
Overall # F A N TOI ESF ESA ESN ESTOI F/60 A/60 N/60
Raymond 3 12 21 -9 54:42 8 17 -9 42:21 11.3 24.1 -12.8
Franson 3 17 23 -6 63:15 12 17 -5 45:56 15.7 22.2 -6.5
Gardiner 3 19 14 5 59:00 15 12 3 50:42 17.8 14.2 3.6
Rielly 3 16 17 -1 51:31 15 17 -2 48:01 18.7 21.2 -2.5
Van Riemsdyk 3 24 15 9 67:43 18 10 8 51:38 20.9 11.6 9.3
Lupul 3 20 18 2 50:28 16 18 -2 44:56 21.4 24.0 -2.7
Bodie 1 1 0 1 05:03 1 0 1 05:03 11.9 0.0 11.9
Bozak 3 23 16 7 69:43 17 11 6 53:09 19.2 12.4 6.8
Kadri 3 21 12 9 44:45 17 12 5 37:59 26.9 19.0 7.9
Leivo 2 3 4 -1 19:46 3 4 -1 19:12 9.4 12.5 -3.1
Phaneuf 3 22 17 5 73:36 16 13 3 55:25 17.3 14.1 3.2
McClement 2 4 10 -6 29:43 4 2 2 20:22 11.8 5.9 5.9
Orr 3 4 4 0 23:26 4 4 0 22:25 10.7 10.7 0.0
Smith 1 1 1 0 05:16 1 1 0 05:16 11.4 11.4 0.0
Broll 2 6 6 0 16:12 6 6 0 16:12 22.2 22.2 0.0
Devane 1 1 2 -1 04:51 1 2 -1 04:51 12.4 24.7 -12.4
Bolland 3 8 15 -7 47:55 8 12 -4 41:09 11.7 17.5 -5.8
Kessel 3 24 12 12 62:40 18 12 6 53:28 20.2 13.5 6.7
Ranger 3 19 13 6 59:23 15 7 8 44:52 20.1 9.4 10.7
Bernier 3 51 51 0 181:07 41 38 3 146:13 16.8 15.6 1.2
Ashton 3 7 2 5 21:55 7 2 5 21:05 19.9 5.7 14.2
Gunnarsson 3 13 19 -6 59:04 13 11 2 51:05 15.3 12.9 2.3

A prettier week, with most of the team above even in the differential.
 
Good weeks:
Paul Ranger (20.1 CF/60, 9.4 CA/60)
Ranger hasn't been particularly impressive from my eyes, but his Corsi numbers and chance numbers look quite good. He hasn't been on for a lot against, and has been with productive lines. He benifits from the fact that he and Gardiner have tended to get some of the weaker competition, but he's still done well in that time.


James Van Riemsdyk (3 goals, 1 assist | 20.9 CF/60, 11.6 CA/60)
JVR had an excellent week, showing some great visiion and hands. He is looking like having the potential for  a real breakout season. One major positive this week is his defneisve play; he was able to get his chances against under control, while his chances for went up marginally. Playing at this level for a prolonged stretch will make him a very dangerous player.

Nazem Kadri (1 goal, 2 assists | 26.9 CF/60, 19.0 CA/60)
Kadri is still on for a lot of chances, a virtually identical number to last week, but substantially improved on the offensive end, with a team best mark.

Bad weeks:
Mayson Raymond (2 assists | 11.3 CF/60, 24.1 CA/60)
After a solid start, Raymond felt fairly invisible this week. In particular, his defensive performance wasn't great. Part of this is down to his usage; he's got one of the lowest percentages of offensive zone starts of the regular forwards, so he's somewhat predisposed to being on for more chances against.

Cody Franson (2 assists | 15.7 CF/60, 22.2 CA/60)
A very tough week for Franson, though again I suspect it's down to usage; having a rookie partner and getting a lot of D-zone starts isn't conducive to good results. One of the Leafs' problems early in the year seems to be that Franson is being asked a little too much of. He did well with Fraser on a third D-pairing last season, the step-up seems to have caught him out somewhat this season.

Dave Bolland (1 goal | 11.7 CF/60, 17.5 CA/60)
Similar to Raymond, in that he cooled down after a strong first week, though not to the same degree. Didn't produce many chances over the week, though he did manage the game winner against Edmonton.



Overall # F A N TOI ESF ESA ESN ESTOI F/60 A/60 N/60
Reimer 2 36 37 -1 90:44 21 30 -9 67:30 18.7 26.7 -8.0
Raymond 6 29 36 -7 102:18 17 28 -11 78:27 13.0 21.4 -8.4
Franson 6 39 47 -8 134:45 24 36 -12 98:01 14.7 22.0 -7.3
Gardiner 6 43 34 9 113:22 30 30 0 96:50 18.6 18.6 0.0
Rielly 4 19 25 -6 69:38 18 25 -7 65:43 16.4 22.8 -6.4
Abbott 1 2 6 -4 05:16 2 6 -4 05:16 22.8 68.4 -45.6
Fraser 2 2 10 -8 24:07 2 5 -3 17:44 6.8 16.9 -10.2
Van Riemsdyk 6 48 41 7 129:46 33 32 1 95:38 20.7 20.1 0.6
Lupul 6 42 31 11 102:01 27 29 -2 87:45 18.5 19.8 -1.4
Bodie 4 8 10 -2 28:13 8 10 -2 27:40 17.3 21.7 -4.3
Bozak 6 49 44 5 133:43 34 34 0 99:40 20.5 20.5 0.0
Kadri 6 38 29 9 90:07 25 27 -2 74:38 20.1 21.7 -1.6
Leivo 2 3 4 -1 19:46 3 4 -1 19:12 9.4 12.5 -3.1
Phaneuf 6 50 42 8 152:14 30 31 -1 107:05 16.8 17.4 -0.6
McClement 5 11 26 -15 75:04 9 8 1 50:50 10.6 9.4 1.2
Orr 6 6 7 -1 41:28 6 7 -1 40:27 8.9 10.4 -1.5
Smith 1 1 1 0 05:16 1 1 0 05:16 11.4 11.4 0.0
Broll 2 6 6 0 16:12 6 6 0 16:12 22.2 22.2 0.0
Devane 2 3 2 1 11:43 3 2 1 11:43 15.4 10.2 5.1
Bolland 6 21 22 -1 95:11 19 17 2 82:17 13.9 12.4 1.5
Kessel 6 53 37 16 128:40 36 36 0 105:57 20.4 20.4 0.0
Kulemin 2 3 6 -3 31:40 3 1 2 22:43 7.9 2.6 5.3
Ranger 6 42 33 9 120:02 31 23 8 94:36 19.7 14.6 5.1
Bernier 5 74 77 -3 275:11 58 55 3 220:15 15.8 15.0 0.8
Ashton 5 9 4 5 32:12 9 4 5 31:19 17.2 7.7 9.6
Gunnarsson 6 28 38 -10 122:15 27 21 6 100:51 16.1 12.5 3.6





Sunday, October 13, 2013

Game 6 - Leafs 6, Edmonton 5 (OT) - Leafs prevail in sloppy, entertaining game.

There was a lot of talk in last night's entertaining, come from behind win by the Leafs about how many chances there were both ways; looking at this game more closely actually showed that there weren't nearly as many chances as the previous two games on HNIC, the season opener and the Ottawa game. However, there were some egregious giveaways and some below-par goaltending, which meant a lot of scoring. 

Neither team ever led by more than one goal, and each period ended tied. The chances were similarily even; Edmonton's advantage in the second came from a late powerplay stretch that the Leafs did well to kill off, with the Oilers producing four chances in the two minutes. After Smyth put the Oilers ahead in the last ten minutes, Toronto dominated the chances, capping it with a late goal from Lupul and getting the only chances of overtime, with Bolland finishing the winner.

Of the 11 goals, I didn't count one as a scoring chance; Kadri's shot from a really sharp angle, which is a great play from him, but wasn't from a scoring chance position, and one Dubnyk probably should have had covered. Bernier allowed two goals that weren't great, misplaying a missed shot from Perron to allow Gordon an easy chance alone in front, and getting a piece, but not enough of Eberle's shot. In both cases, it seemed like he wasn't following the puck that well. It was a rough game for him, and the Leafs' attack had to bail him out to get the win. Fortunately for them, Dubnyk was equally sketchy in Edmonton's net.

A summary of the scoring chances:


Status Overall ES
Team Toronto Edmonton Toronto Edmonton
1 4 6 2 4
2 5 9 4 4
3 6 6 6 6
4 2 0 2 0
Total 17 21 14 14

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Friday, October 11, 2013

Game 5 - Leafs 4, Nashville 0 - Bernier excellent as Leafs outchance Nashville

A very slow first period, with just three even strength chances, made it seem like it could be a long, dull night in Nashville. Fortunately, things livened up in the second. The Leafs dominated the play while the game was 5-on-5 in the second, outchancing the Predators 6-1. They opened the scoring thanks to a great pass from Van Riemsdyk to Kessel, and got another from JVR in the last minute.

Nashville woke up in the third, finally starting to generate some chances, but the Leafs were able to match them, and when Fisher took a five-minute penalty for boarding against Franson, who was pretty seriously cut against a stanchion, Nashville's chance lost all momentum. The Leafs added two on the ensuing powerplay, and that was it. Bernier held off the Predators to earn his first shutout as a Leaf.

I saw on the Preds broacast that they had the chances at 17-10; agreeing with me, but with one big problem: that graphic was at the 17 minute mark of the third, when I had the chances 11-9 for Toronto. I feel like I'm fairly generous with these summaries, but apparently not.

A summary of the scoring chances:
 
Status Overall ES
Team Toronto Nashville Toronto Nashville
1 4 1 2 1
2 6 6 6 1
3 7 6 5 6
Total 17 13 13 8

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Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Game 4 - Colorado 2, Leafs 1 - Leafs take first loss after struggling in the second

The Leafs took their first loss of the year to a talented young Colorado team, which, like the Leafs, came in undefeated. The opening period was open, and filled with chances, entertaining to watch, but didn't actually feature any goals. The second period was the worst the Leafs have had in the season for chances, generating only two, both on the shift that saw Lupul open the scoring. 

Colorado was all over the Leafs for a long stretch, outchancing them 10-4 over the middle half hour of the game. They were rewarded for their dominance early in the third, Parenteau and McGinn taking advantage of a poor shift from Ranger and Gardiner to break in on a 2-on-1. After falling behind, the Leafs finally showed some pressure of their own, but despite a solid powerplay and a few other good chances, they couldn't beat Varlamov for an equalizer.

It may be the first loss of the year, but it's hard to despair too much, as the game was fairly even. Colorado's first goal was a poor one, not from the scoring chance area, the only real blemish on what was otherwise a good game from Bernier.
A summary of the scoring chances:

Status Overall ES
Team Toronto Colorado Toronto Colorado
1 9 7 9 7
2 2 7 2 6
3 7 4 4 4
Total 18 18 15 17

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Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Week 1 Review - Poor starts and strong finishes lead to a 3-0 record

One of the big questions in analytics this year was whether the Leafs would regress after posting poor possession numbers and a high PDO (save percentage + shooting percentage), but making the playoffs anyway. 

So far in this young season, they've been just as enigmatic, posting one of the league's worst rates in Corsi and Fenwick close, and getting outchanced 5-on-5. Despite this, they've won all three games, and lead the league standings. You can't say anything from three games, of course, but it's funny to see things following a fmailiar pattern.

Game Leafs Chances Opp. Chances
Overall Even Str. Overall Even Str.
Oct. 1 @ MTL 22 10 24 18
Oct. 2 @ PHI 10 7 20 11
Oct. 5 v. OTT 27 21 19 18
Total 59 38 63 47

A net -4 overall, and -9 at even strength. The Leafs have been good on the powerplay, getting a lot of chances in both the Ottawa and Montreal games with the extra man (and one with a man less, Bozak's goal against the Habs. 

The most concerning aspect of the Leafs' early games has been poor starts, they've been outchanced by 11 at even strength in the first period of the three games, and actually managed to win the rest of the game after that, albeit narrowly. As I mentioned in the Ottawa game write-up, they've given up only 6 chances in the last ten minutes of games, and just 3 in the last five minutes, including in two games where the opponents were trailing and needing a goal.

Period For Against
1 12 23
2 12 12
3 12 12
4 2 0

Now for a quick overview of the players this week. I'll just look at even strength chances, and introduce some new measures; chances for/against/net per 60 minutes.

Even Strength # F A N TOI F/60 A/60 N/60
Fraser 2 2 5 -3 0.7 5.0 12.4 -7.46
Phaneuf 3 14 18 -4 2.2 10.7 13.7 -3.05
Franson 3 12 19 -7 2.2 10.1 15.9 -5.87
McClement 3 5 6 -1 1.3 6.6 7.9 -1.32
Raymond 3 9 11 -2 1.5 11.3 13.9 -2.52
Ranger 3 16 16 0 2.1 15.8 15.8 0.00
Lupul 3 11 11 0 1.8 12.8 12.8 0.00
Van Riemsdyk 3 15 22 -7 1.8 14.5 21.3 -6.77
Orr 3 2 3 -1 0.8 6.7 10.0 -3.33
Reimer 2 21 30 -9 2.8 13.9 19.8 -5.95
Gunnarson 3 14 10 4 2.1 13.3 9.5 3.80
Ashton 2 2 2 0 0.4 11.7 11.7 0.00
Bodie 3 7 10 -3 0.9 18.1 25.9 -7.77
Kulemin 2 3 1 2 0.9 5.7 1.9 3.79
Bozak 3 17 23 -6 1.9 15.9 21.6 -5.63
Kadri 3 8 15 -7 1.5 10.6 19.8 -9.26
Gardiner 3 15 18 -3 1.9 16.6 19.9 -3.31
Bolland 3 11 5 6 1.7 14.0 6.3 7.62
Kessel 3 18 24 -6 2.2 16.4 21.8 -5.45
Bernier 2 17 17 0 3.1 10.8 10.8 0.00
Rielly 1 3 8 -5 0.7 9.9 26.5 -16.56
Abbott 1 2 6 -4 0.2 22.8 68.4 -45.57
Devane 1 2 0 2 0.3 17.5 0.0 17.48

No surprise that much of the team is in the negative, given the team's overall totals. I'll look at some players from a chance perspective, see how it fits with my eyes and other impressions. It's worth noting that 3 games is a useless sample size, there's a lot of noise in these stats. You can't really make any serious conclusions from the data; it's still fun to look at, though.

Good weeks:
Dave Bolland (2 goals, 1 assist | 14.0 chances for/60 (CF/60), 6.3 chances against/60 (CA/60))
The best player for the Leafs against Ottawa, and though the chances didn't reflect it, two goals in the Philadelphia win.

Nikolai Kulemin (2 assists | 5.7 CF/60, 1.9 CA/60)
One of only two players (along with Bolland) above 52% in Corsi. On for less than two even strength chances/60. Not creating offensively, but when you can shut down opponents like that, you don't need to worry about that nearly as much.

Carl Gunnarson (13.3 CF/60, 9.5 CA/60)
Not a flashy player, but effective. Gunnarson was one of only a few Leafs to post a positive chance split. 

Bad weeks:
Nazem Kadri (1 goal, 2 assists | 10.6 CF/60, 19.8 CA/60)
Bolland eating into Kadri's ice time isn't a surprise; the young centre hasn't been particularily good this week. Of all the forwards that you'd consider offensive threats (ie. not goons or checkers), only the injured Kulemin was on for fewer chances. 

Troy Bodie (2 assists | 18.1 CF/60, 25.9 CA/60)
Some bad luck for Bodie, I think, as he's looked very good to my eyes, and generated chances much better than I'd expect from what I figured would just be a plug-in checking line guy. The problem is, with just getting a few minutes a game, a couple of bad performances really dent his numbers, and he has been on for a lot of chances against, 10 in 22 minutes.

James Van Riemsdyk (2 goals | 14.5 CF/60, 21.3 CA/60)
One of the team's worst defensive records. When you consider his powerplay time, he's actually even, but just at even strength he's been the lowest of a line that has been soundly outchanced. Anecdotally, I've definitely seen some defensive sloppiness from him as well.


Also worth noting that on the defense, Fraser and Franson have poor numbers, while Ranger has the best other than Gunnarson. Not sure I agree with the Ranger call given how he's looked, but he's been good in terms of chances.