Game 72 - Montreal 4, Leafs 3 - Leafs fall into playoff jeopardy after another defeat

The Leafs' fourth loss in five games, coming against a team they were closely chasing only a week or so ago, leaves their playoff hopes in sudden jeopardy, and once again it's the goaltending that will draw a lot of the questions.

James Reimer's struggles saw the Leafs fall behind early, with Montreal getting two goals in just over a minute, neither great efforts from the Leafs goalie. Toronto actually won the chances during the period, 9-7, and fought back to draw level with a pair of goals of their own, but a goal in the last minute, deflecting in off a Leaf stick, left them down by one.

The pace of the game settled down after that, with the Leafs taking command of the chances. They dominated the second period, allowing Montreal only one late chance, but couldn't manufacture a goal, though they hit two posts. 

The third saw the Leafs get back level after an early powerplay, but a couple of late penalties made them pay, with Plekanec getting the winner just as one expired and a second killing any building momentum in the closing minutes. They weren't able to generate any chances in the last 4 minutes, and only two in the last 13, as they slumped to another defeat.

The Leafs won the chance battle, 19-10 at ES and 23-13 overall. They really dominated the close chances, 15-9, mostly thanks to that strong, if fruitless, second period.

A summary of the scoring chances:

Status	Overall		ES
Team	Toronto	Montreal	Toronto	Montreal
1	9	7	9	7
2	6	1	6	1
3	8	5	4	2
Total	23	13	19	10

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						Montreal
TOR	ES	1	18:53	Kessel from Bozak	42	81	21	3	8	34	51	20	67	74	79	31
MTL	ES	1	18:18	Eller drives	63	71	21	8	44	34	81	22	32	6	43	31
TOR	ES	1	18:18	Raymond from Gardiner	11	71	12	4	51	34	48	17	21	43	55	31
TOR	ES	1	16:38	Lupul wide from Kadri	43	81	19	8	44	34	48	17	21	55	74	31
MTL	ES	1	16:21	Briere wide from rebound of Bourque shot	42	81	21	8	44	34	48	17	21	74	79	31
TOR	ES	1	16:07	Bozak from Kessel	42	81	21	8	44	34	48	17	21	74	79	31
MTL	ES	1	14:13	GOAL! Pacioretty from Desharnais	42	81	21	3	36	34	51	20	67	74	79	31
MTL	ES	1	13:08	GOAL! Bourque from Gionta	63	71	12	4	51	34	48	17	21	6	43	31
TOR	ES	1	12:54	Kessel wide from Gardiner	42	81	21	4	51	34	81	22	32	74	79	31
MTL	ES	1	09:15	Pacioretty drives	63	71	41	8	36	34	51	20	67	55	76	31
TOR	ES	1	08:58	GOAL! Lupul from Raymond	43	19	12	4	51	34	48	17	21	74	79	31
TOR	ES	1	06:11	Van Riemsdyk from Kessel	42	81	21	4	51	34	48	17	21	74	76	31
MTL	ES	1	04:52	Pacioretty from Vanek	42	81	21	3	8	34	51	20	67	55	76	31
TOR	ES	1	02:00	Bozak wraparound	42	81	21	3	36	34	51	20	67	55	76	31
TOR	ES	1	01:57	GOAL! Bozak from Kessel	42	81	21	3	36	34	51	20	67	55	76	31
MTL	ES	1	00:35	Wiese from giveaway	43	19	41	3	36	34	81	22	32	74	79	31
TOR	ES	2	18:40	Lupul drives	43	19	41	8	44	34	51	20	32	74	79	31
TOR	ES	2	15:09	Bozak wide from Kessel	42	81	21	4	51	34	27	21	20	74	79	31
TOR	ES	2	14:52	Van Riemsdyk from Kessel	42	81	21	3	36	34	51	20	67	43	74	31
TOR	ES	2	07:20	Lupul from loose puck	43	19	12	44	51	34	14	27	11	6	43	31
TOR	ES	2	06:50	Gardiner post from giveaway	63	71	21	44	51	34	48	17	21	6	43	31
TOR	ES	2	02:49	Rielly drives post	43	19	12	8	44	34	27	51	20	55	76	31
MTL	ES	2	02:14	Pacioretty from Desharnais	42	81	21	3	36	34	51	20	67	76	79	31
TOR	EN	3	18:59	Van Riemsdyk from rebound of Franson shot	42	81	19	21	4	51	14	27	11	55	74	31
TOR	EN	3	18:59	Van Riemsdyk from rebound	42	81	19	21	4	51	14	27	11	55	74	31
TOR	PP	3	18:48	Van Riemsdyk deflects Franson shot	42	81	21	3	4	34	21	32	74	79	31	-
TOR	PP	3	17:11	GOAL! Kadri from Lupul	43	19	12	44	51	34	22	67	6	43	31	-
TOR	ES	3	16:09	Van Riemsdyk drives post	42	81	21	3	36	34	51	20	67	55	76	31
MTL	ES	3	13:52	Wiese wide from Markov	42	81	21	36	51	34	14	22	32	74	79	31
TOR	ES	3	13:41	Kessel drives	42	81	21	36	51	34	14	22	32	74	79	31
MTL	ES	3	12:14	Bourque post from Briere	63	19	21	8	44	34	48	17	21	55	76	31
MTL	SH	3	09:11	Gallagher wide from Galchenyuk	11	41	3	36	34	-	14	27	11	76	79	31
MTL	SH	3	08:55	Galchenyuk from Markov	11	41	3	36	34	-	14	27	11	76	79	31
TOR	ES	3	05:00	Kadri wraparound	43	19	41	4	51	34	14	22	32	74	79	31
TOR	ES	3	04:39	Kulemin from Lupul	42	19	41	3	44	34	51	20	67	55	74	31
MTL	SH	3	03:55	Desharnais wide from Pacioretty	11	41	3	36	34	-	51	20	67	76	79	31

The Extra Skater game profile.

The Leafs managed to win Corsi, 73-62 overall, 59-55 5-on-5 and 52-50 5-on-5 close.

The scoring chance numbers for Leaf players:

Player	F	A	D	TOI	ESF	ESA	ESD	EVTOI	PPF	PPA	PPD	PPTOI	SHF	SHA	SHD	SHTOI
Phaneuf	7	7	0	20:44	6	4	2	15:42	1	0	1	02:21	0	3	-3	02:41
Franson	9	1	8	24:39	6	1	5	21:09	1	0	1	02:28	2	0	2	01:02
Gleason	5	5	0	18:00	5	5	0	16:51	0	0	0	00:00	0	0	0	01:09
McClement	1	3	-2	13:50	1	0	1	11:09	0	0	0	00:00	0	3	-3	02:41
Raymond	5	1	4	16:41	4	1	3	13:47	1	0	1	01:35	0	0	0	01:19
Lupul	10	2	8	20:18	7	2	5	18:43	1	0	1	01:35	2	0	2	00:00
Van Riemsdyk	14	7	7	21:46	11	7	4	18:41	1	0	1	02:13	2	0	2	00:52
Orr	0	0	0	02:32	0	0	0	02:32	0	0	0	00:00	0	0	0	00:00
Gunnarsson	5	8	-3	14:42	5	5	0	11:51	0	0	0	00:00	0	3	-3	02:51
Bodie	0	0	0	09:33	0	0	0	09:33	0	0	0	00:00	0	0	0	00:00
Kulemin	3	5	-2	18:16	3	2	1	15:49	0	0	0	00:00	0	3	-3	02:27
Bozak	14	5	9	18:58	11	5	6	16:04	1	0	1	02:13	2	0	2	00:41
Kadri	7	1	6	17:15	6	1	5	15:40	1	0	1	01:35	0	0	0	00:00
Rielly	8	3	5	19:18	7	3	4	17:51	1	0	1	01:27	0	0	0	00:00
Gardiner	12	2	10	22:37	9	2	7	21:00	1	0	1	01:20	2	0	2	00:17
Bolland	1	4	-3	09:01	1	4	-3	09:01	0	0	0	00:00	0	0	0	00:00
Clarkson	2	3	-1	08:54	2	3	-1	08:54	0	0	0	00:00	0	0	0	00:00
Kessel	14	5	9	20:16	11	5	6	18:03	1	0	1	02:13	2	0	2	00:00
Reimer	21	13	8	58:40	19	10	9	50:52	2	0	2	03:48	0	3	-3	08:38

Dave Bolland's much talked-about return wasn't particularly impressive, as he was the worst Leaf forward at -3, perhaps not surprising given how long it's been since he played. David Clarkson also had a poor game, the only other Leaf in the negative. The top line was excellent, with all three on for 11 Leaf chances, and Kessel and Bozak both +6. The second line also played strongly, with Kadri and Lupul both +5.

Jake Gardiner was the team's best player, a +7 in 21 ES minutes. Cody Franson was also excellent, playing a little more than Gardiner and going +5. Gunnarsson and Gleason had off nights on the back end, with both going even, despite the team's big positive.

The Canadiens:

Player	F	A	D	TOI	ESF	ESA	ESD	EVTOI	PPF	PPA	PPD	PPTOI	SHF	SHA	SHD	SHTOI
Murray	2	3	-1	10:13	2	2	0	08:39	0	0	0	00:00	0	1	-1	01:34
Gallagher	2	3	-1	15:26	0	1	-1	14:09	2	0	2	01:17	0	2	-2	00:00
Plekanec	3	5	-2	20:59	1	3	-2	18:03	2	0	2	01:33	0	2	-2	01:23
Bourque	3	6	-3	11:52	3	6	-3	11:52	0	0	0	00:00	0	0	0	00:00
Vanek	5	9	-4	16:43	4	9	-5	13:54	1	0	1	02:43	0	0	0	00:06
Gionta	3	8	-5	14:30	3	7	-4	12:46	0	0	0	00:00	0	1	-1	01:44
Weise	3	4	-1	12:25	3	3	0	11:44	0	0	0	00:00	0	1	-1	00:41
Galchenyuk	2	5	-3	16:38	0	3	-3	15:10	2	0	2	01:28	0	2	-2	00:00
Moen	3	5	-2	13:47	3	4	-1	11:23	0	0	0	00:00	0	1	-1	02:24
Weaver	2	5	-3	13:24	2	4	-2	11:50	0	0	0	00:00	0	1	-1	01:34
Briere	3	6	-3	13:20	3	6	-3	13:04	0	0	0	00:16	0	0	0	00:00
Desharnais	5	8	-3	16:26	4	8	-4	14:15	1	0	1	02:11	0	0	0	00:00
Bouillon	3	9	-6	25:10	3	7	-4	24:23	0	0	0	00:41	0	2	-2	00:06
Pacioretty	5	7	-2	17:29	4	6	-2	13:39	1	0	1	02:32	0	1	-1	01:18
Emelin	4	15	-11	20:52	4	12	-8	17:54	0	0	0	00:50	0	3	-3	02:08
Subban	7	5	2	26:14	4	5	-1	22:58	3	0	3	03:10	0	0	0	00:06
Markov	8	9	-1	24:07	5	8	-3	18:40	3	0	3	03:19	0	1	-1	02:08
Eller	2	1	1	06:37	2	1	1	06:37	0	0	0	00:00	0	0	0	00:00
Bishop	13	23	-10	60:00	10	19	-9	46:44	3	0	3	08:38	0	4	-4	04:38

Not a lot of good numbers from the Habs, with only two players, Murray and Wiese even on the night. Emelin had the worst night of any player, a -8 in 18 ES minutes. Up front, Vanek had a poor game, the worst of the forwards at -5.

Players with nice chance numbers:
Toronto - Jake Gardiner, Tyler Bozak, Phil Kessel
Montreal - Douglas Murray, Dale Wiese

Players with poor chance numbers:
Toronto - Dave Bolland, David Clarkson
Montreal - Alexei Emelin, Thomas Vanek, Francis Bouillon