Game 22 - Nashville 4, Leafs 2 - Toronto wins chances, loses after poor 2nd period

After opening with one of their stronger periods this season, the Leafs seemed to have the edge at home against Nashville, but weren't able to keep it up, eventually falling 4-2.

The Leafs managed 12 chances in an excellent opening frame; this came despite only being credited with 11 shots, as they hit a post and sent five chances wide. This lack of accuracy may have ended up hurting them, as despite their domination, they left the frame up only 1-0.

It was Nashville's turn to dominate in the second, and not only did they manage to better the Leafs' chance margin in the first, they scored three times to seize the lead going into the final period. Another early goal, a bad one from Bernier, really had Toronto on the back foot, and after the Leafs couldn't score on a solid stretch right either side of the 10 minute mark, they only managed one more chance the rest of the way. They did get a goal without a chance, when Kadri's long shot deflected in, but couldn't get closer than two goals.

Despite the defeat, this four-game stretch without losing the chance battle is the longest for the Leafs this year. Of course, it's also their longest stretch playing teams that aren't currently in playoff position, so the positive results in that aspect aren't unexpected.

A summary of the scoring chances:

Status	Overall		ES
Team	Toronto	Nashville	Toronto	Nashville
1	12	4	8	3
2	2	11	2	8
3	5	3	5	3
Total	19	18	15	14

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						Nashville
TOR	ES	1	19:19	Clarkson wide from Smith	23	19	71	3	36	45	12	33	27	3	8	39
TOR	ES	1	19:13	Smith from rebound of Clarkson shot	23	19	71	3	36	45	11	25	57	6	59	39
TOR	ES	1	18:52	Kessel backhand from Kadri	43	81	21	4	51	45	11	25	57	6	59	39
NSH	SH	1	18:00	Cullen from Jones	11	41	3	36	45	-	7	15	33	3	4	39
TOR	ES	1	14:12	GOAL! Holland from Kulemin	24	12	41	15	44	45	11	25	57	6	59	39
TOR	PP	1	11:30	Kessel from Rielly	81	19	21	44	51	45	26	28	3	8	39	-
TOR	ES	1	11:03	Clarkson post from Kadri	43	71	12	44	51	45	7	12	25	6	59	39
TOR	ES	1	10:26	Clarkson wide from Franson	43	71	12	4	15	45	11	15	57	4	6	39
TOR	PP	1	08:31	Kessel wide from loose puck	81	19	21	3	4	45	13	28	6	59	39	-
TOR	PP	1	07:51	Clarkson from Rielly	43	71	12	44	51	45	12	13	3	64	39	-
TOR	PP	1	07:45	Raymond from rebound of Clarkson shot	43	71	12	44	51	45	12	13	3	64	39	-
TOR	ES	1	07:24	Kadri from Kessel	43	81	21	15	44	45	7	15	57	6	59	39
NSH	ES	1	06:41	Stalberg wraparound	24	12	41	4	51	45	11	25	57	4	64	39
NSH	ES	1	04:46	Ellis from loose puck	23	19	71	4	51	45	11	27	57	4	64	39
TOR	ES	1	04:23	Orr wide from loose puck	11	22	28	15	44	45	11	25	57	4	64	39
NSH	ES	1	01:29	Hornqvist wide from Wilson	23	19	71	3	36	45	12	33	27	6	59	39
NSH	SH	2	18:28	Wilson from Ellis	11	22	3	36	45	-	7	15	33	3	4	39
NSH	SH	2	16:13	Smith from Cullen	11	41	15	51	45	-	7	15	33	3	4	39
NSH	ES	2	13:13	Stalberg from loose puck	24	19	71	3	36	45	12	33	25	3	8	39
TOR	ES	2	12:00	Kessel from Kadri	43	81	21	15	44	45	7	13	15	6	59	39
NSH	ES	2	11:39	Smith wide from Cullen	43	81	21	15	44	45	7	13	15	6	59	39
NSH	ES	2	09:58	Ellis drives wide	23	19	71	3	4	45	12	33	27	4	64	39
NSH	ES	2	09:34	Hornqvist from Wilson	23	19	71	3	4	45	12	33	27	6	59	39
NSH	ES	2	08:46	GOAL! Cullen from Bourque	43	81	21	15	44	45	7	15	57	3	8	39
TOR	ES	2	08:39	Raymond wide from Kulemin	24	12	41	4	51	45	7	13	15	3	8	39
NSH	ES	2	05:24	Stalberg from Legwand	24	12	41	4	51	45	11	25	57	3	8	39
NSH	ES	2	05:08	Bourque wide from rebound of Cullen shot	24	12	41	4	51	45	7	15	57	3	8	39
NSH	SH	2	03:35	GOAL! Smith from Wilson	11	41	3	36	45	-	7	15	33	3	4	39
NSH	ES	2	02:34	Josi from Stalberg	43	81	21	4	51	45	11	12	25	3	59	39
NSH	ES	3	16:03	Hornqvist from Fisher	11	22	41	3	15	45	12	33	27	3	8	39
TOR	ES	3	12:29	Rielly drives	23	19	71	44	51	45	11	26	16	6	8	39
TOR	ES	3	12:02	Smith deflects Franson shot	23	19	71	4	51	45	11	26	16	6	8	39
TOR	ES	3	09:44	Clarkson drives	23	19	71	15	44	45	7	13	15	3	8	39
TOR	ES	3	08:59	Van Riemsdyk from Holland	24	81	21	4	51	45	11	25	57	6	59	39
NSH	ES	3	08:46	Bourque wide from Legwand	24	81	21	4	51	45	11	25	57	6	59	39
NSH	ES	3	05:42	Stalberg drives	23	19	71	15	44	45	11	25	57	6	59	39
TOR	ES	3	02:06	Holland post from loose puck	24	81	19	21	3	44	11	25	57	3	8	39

The Extra Skater game profile.

The Leafs edged Nashville in overall Corsi 54-53, lost 38-40 5-on-5 and 25-26 5-on-5 close. So very little between the two teams.

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
Phaneuf	4	8	-4	22:09	3	5	-2	15:47	1	0	1	02:28	0	3	-3	03:54
Franson	6	8	-2	22:36	5	8	-3	18:57	1	0	1	02:28	0	0	0	01:11
McClement	1	5	-4	12:12	1	1	0	07:31	0	0	0	00:00	0	4	-4	04:41
Raymond	6	3	3	15:26	4	3	1	14:26	2	0	2	01:00	0	0	0	00:00
Ranger	6	5	1	17:24	6	4	2	15:29	0	0	0	00:07	0	1	-1	01:48
Lupul	8	6	2	20:07	6	6	0	17:14	2	0	2	02:53	0	0	0	00:00
Van Riemsdyk	7	4	3	19:19	5	4	1	14:21	2	0	2	03:00	0	0	0	01:58
Smithson	1	2	-1	10:19	1	1	0	08:05	0	0	0	00:00	0	1	-1	02:14
Smith	5	5	0	15:12	5	5	0	15:12	0	0	0	00:00	0	0	0	00:00
Holland	4	5	-1	13:21	4	5	-1	13:21	0	0	0	00:00	0	0	0	00:00
Orr	1	0	1	07:08	1	0	1	07:08	0	0	0	00:00	0	0	0	00:00
Gunnarsson	2	5	-3	17:39	2	2	0	13:45	0	0	0	00:00	0	3	-3	03:54
Kulemin	2	7	-5	16:11	2	4	-2	13:40	0	0	0	00:00	0	3	-3	02:31
Kadri	7	3	4	15:04	5	3	2	13:57	2	0	2	01:07	0	0	0	00:00
Rielly	11	3	8	18:04	8	3	5	16:32	3	0	3	01:32	0	0	0	00:00
Gardiner	9	7	2	22:08	6	6	0	20:06	3	0	3	01:25	0	1	-1	00:37
Clarkson	9	6	3	17:03	7	6	1	16:03	2	0	2	01:00	0	0	0	00:00
Kessel	7	4	3	15:27	5	4	1	12:27	2	0	2	03:00	0	0	0	00:00
Bernier	18	18	0	57:29	14	14	0	47:47	4	0	4	04:00	0	4	-4	05:42

A decent game from Nazem Kadri, the best Leaf forward at +2. Clarkson also continued with some solid play, pushing himself into the positive overall on the season, and on for the highest number of chances for of any Leaf forward. Nikolai Kulemin was the worst of the Leaf forwards at -2.

Morgan Rielly has responded perfectly to sitting for a couple of games, playing two solid games this week, including his career-best in this game. A game-high +5, and on for a game-high 8 chances for, was a very strong showing. Paul Ranger was the other positive Leafs defender. It was another tough game for Cody Franson, a team-low -3, while Jake Gardiner was even as he led the team in ES ice time.


The Predators:

Player	F	A	D	TOI	ESF	ESA	ESD	EVTOI	PPF	PPA	PPD	PPTOI	SHF	SHA	SHD	SHTOI
Jones	10	7	3	21:13	6	4	2	16:01	4	0	4	03:36	0	3	-3	01:36
Ellis	7	2	5	12:39	3	2	1	09:45	4	0	4	02:54	0	0	0	00:00
Weber	5	11	-6	28:57	5	10	-5	24:30	0	0	0	02:03	0	1	-1	02:24
Cullen	7	5	2	14:06	3	5	-2	09:56	4	0	4	03:42	0	0	0	00:28
Klein	5	7	-2	20:50	5	6	-1	19:53	0	0	0	00:00	0	1	-1	00:57
Legwand	6	9	-3	17:41	6	9	-3	15:41	0	0	0	02:00	0	0	0	00:00
Fisher	6	4	2	19:23	6	2	4	16:00	0	0	0	01:53	0	2	-2	01:30
Spaling	1	6	-5	13:06	1	3	-2	11:09	0	0	0	00:00	0	3	-3	01:57
Smith	7	5	2	13:42	3	5	-2	10:00	4	0	4	03:42	0	0	0	00:00
Clune	0	2	-2	07:51	0	2	-2	07:51	0	0	0	00:00	0	0	0	00:00
Stalberg	6	7	-1	16:43	6	7	-1	16:40	0	0	0	00:03	0	0	0	00:00
Hendricks	0	3	-3	11:27	0	2	-2	09:52	0	0	0	00:00	0	1	-1	01:35
Hornqvist	5	1	4	15:41	5	1	4	13:44	0	0	0	01:57	0	0	0	00:00
Gaustad	0	2	-2	11:19	0	0	0	08:56	0	0	0	00:00	0	2	-2	02:23
Wilson	9	1	8	18:40	5	1	4	14:54	4	0	4	03:46	0	0	0	00:00
Bourque	7	8	-1	16:16	7	8	-1	16:06	0	0	0	00:03	0	0	0	00:07
Josi	6	8	-2	25:45	6	7	-1	20:33	0	0	0	02:48	0	1	-1	02:24
Bartley	3	3	0	10:41	3	1	2	09:59	0	0	0	00:03	0	2	-2	00:39
Mazanec	18	19	-1	60:00	14	15	-1	50:18	4	0	4	05:42	0	4	-4	04:00

Hornqvist, Wilson and Fisher were the best of the Predators forwards, and some of the few Nashville players with positive differentials. Seth Jones was also one of those, while Shea Weber had a tough game, at a game-worst -5.

Players with nice chance numbers:
Toronto - Morgan Rielly, Nazem Kadri, Paul Ranger
Nashville - Patric Hornqvist, Colin Wilson, Mike Fisher

Players with poor chance numbers:
Toronto - Cody Franson, Nikolai Kulemin, Dion Phaneuf
Nashville - Shea Weber, Rich Clune