Game 29 - Leafs 3, Dallas 2 (OT) - Leafs survive horrible second half to break losing streak

The Leafs have shown serious failings while trying to hold leads in the third period this season (and of course in the playoffs last year), and while they did manage to blow a late lead against Dallas, Jonathan Bernier held them in it enough to take them to overtime, where Trevor Smith scored to get the Leafs a win.

An even first period ended without a goal, but Toronto were rewarded for some good play early in the second, Kadri scoring on his return to the lineup. Toronto could have pulled ahead again midway through the period, but from then it went downhill, with Dallas dominating chances.

The Stars scored early in the third to draw level, but Kadri put Toronto back ahead five minutes later on the powerplay. However, Toronto would manage just one more chance in the remainder of regulation, while Dallas managed seven. Part of this was due to a couple of Dallas powerplays, with the extra man eventually providing a breakthrough through Horcoff.

Dallas had a couple of chances in overtime, but it was Smith who got the winner, deflecting in a Gardiner shot in the last minute of the period.

After a solid start, Toronto winning the first period overall, the Leafs were overwhelmed, especially in the third period. The game ended up similar to games against Columbus, Pittsburgh and Montreal, making it four bad blowouts in terms of chances in the Leafs' last six games. In particular, the Leafs' inability to defend a lead, along with their struggles chasing one, continue to hurt them.

A summary of the scoring chances:

Status	Overall		ES
Team	Toronto	Dallas	Toronto	Dallas
1	8	7	7	7
2	6	9	4	7
3	3	10	1	5
4	1	2	1	2
Total	18	28	13	21

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						Dallas
DAL	ES	1	16:04	Peverly wide from loose puck	43	81	21	3	36	45	17	91	14	6	33	32
DAL	ES	1	12:26	Gonchar from rebound	23	71	21	2	3	45	17	91	14	23	55	32
TOR	ES	1	08:28	Kessel from loose puck	43	81	15	36	45	-	20	12	6	33	32	-
DAL	ES	1	07:44	Eakin drives	43	81	15	36	45	-	17	20	33	55	32	-
TOR	SH	1	07:20	Smith drives	71	4	51	45	-	-	91	13	23	55	32	23
TOR	ES	1	04:27	Franson post from McLaren	11	29	38	4	51	45	11	21	38	4	5	32
TOR	ES	1	03:47	Kadri deflects Gunnarsson shot	43	81	21	3	36	45	17	91	14	6	33	32
TOR	ES	1	03:42	Van Riemsdyk from rebound of Kadri shot	43	81	21	3	36	45	17	91	14	6	33	32
TOR	ES	1	03:41	Van Riemsdyk from rebound	43	81	21	3	36	45	17	91	14	6	33	32
DAL	ES	1	03:35	Benn from Seguin	43	81	21	3	36	45	17	91	14	33	55	32
DAL	ES	1	03:27	Chiasson from loose puck	23	71	12	4	51	45	20	12	13	23	55	32
TOR	ES	1	01:51	Kessel from loose puck	43	81	21	3	36	45	17	91	21	6	33	32
DAL	ES	1	01:24	Roussel from Daley	43	71	21	3	36	45	11	21	38	6	55	32
DAL	ES	1	00:48	Jeffrey deflects Gonchar shot	23	71	21	3	36	45	11	21	38	6	55	32
TOR	ES	1	00:15	Kulemin wide from Raymond	11	12	41	4	51	45	20	43	13	4	5	32
TOR	ES	2	19:02	GOAL! Kadri from Kessel	43	81	21	3	4	45	91	12	13	6	33	32
DAL	ES	2	15:35	Whitney wide from Chiasson	23	71	12	2	15	45	20	12	13	5	55	32
DAL	ES	2	14:50	Benn drives	24	81	37	3	36	45	17	91	14	4	55	32
DAL	ES	2	14:22	Cole from loose puck	24	81	37	3	36	45	10	43	72	23	55	32
TOR	ES	2	13:47	Kulemin from giveaway	11	21	41	2	15	45	10	43	72	23	55	32
DAL	SH	2	11:37	Seguin wide from Cole	12	21	2	15	45	-	10	20	91	72	55	32
TOR	ES	2	11:19	Franson from Van Riemsdyk	43	12	21	4	51	45	10	21	72	4	55	32
TOR	ES	2	08:36	Kessel from loose puck	43	81	21	4	51	45	11	21	38	5	55	32
TOR	PP	2	07:34	Kessel from Phaneuf	43	81	21	3	4	45	10	20	4	5	32	-
TOR	PP	2	07:34	Van Riemsdyk from rebound of Kessel shot	43	81	21	3	4	45	10	20	4	5	32	-
DAL	PP	2	06:39	Benn from Roussel	23	71	12	3	4	45	14	21	33	55	32	-
DAL	ES	2	06:35	Benn from rebound	23	71	12	3	4	45	14	21	38	33	55	32
DAL	ES	2	03:57	Benn from loose puck	43	81	21	3	36	45	17	91	14	4	33	32
DAL	ES	2	01:53	Roussel wide from loose puck	43	81	21	2	15	45	11	21	38	4	5	32
DAL	ES	2	00:43	Whitney from rebound of Chiasson shot	23	71	12	3	36	45	20	12	13	5	33	32
DAL	ES	3	18:08	GOAL! Cole from Horcoff	11	37	41	2	15	45	10	43	72	23	33	32
DAL	ES	3	17:00	Benn from Seguin	11	81	21	3	36	45	17	91	14	4	5	32
DAL	ES	3	16:51	Benn from Seguin	11	81	21	3	36	45	17	91	14	4	5	32
TOR	PP	3	13:20	Van Riemsdyk from rebound of Kessel shot	43	81	21	3	4	45	21	38	4	5	32	-
TOR	PP	3	13:02	GOAL! Kadri from Franson	43	81	21	3	4	45	20	12	4	5	32	-
TOR	ES	3	12:24	Ashton wraparound	11	37	41	2	15	45	10	43	72	23	55	32
DAL	SH	3	11:23	Whitney deflects Goligoski shot	12	41	3	36	45	-	12	13	14	5	33	32
DAL	SH	3	11:23	Whitney from rebound	12	41	3	36	45	-	12	13	14	5	33	32
DAL	SH	3	11:01	Seguin from Gonchar	11	21	4	15	45	-	10	20	91	72	55	32
DAL	SH	3	10:43	Seguin from Gonchar	11	21	4	15	45	-	10	20	91	72	55	32
DAL	ES	3	08:50	Seguin from Benn	43	81	21	3	4	45	17	91	14	23	55	32
DAL	ES	3	05:20	Nichushkin from Cole	23	71	12	4	51	45	10	43	72	23	55	32
DAL	SH	3	02:46	GOAL! Horcoff deflects Connauton shot	23	12	2	3	45	-	10	20	72	23	55	32
DAL	ES	4	04:16	Connauton drives wide	12	21	4	51	45	-	20	43	23	55	32	-
DAL	ES	4	04:11	Connauton deflects Gonchar shot	12	21	4	51	45	-	20	43	23	55	32	-
TOR	ES	4	00:42	GOAL! Smith deflects Gardiner shot	23	71	3	51	45	-	17	20	4	55	32	-

The Extra Skater game profile.

Dallas badly beat the Leafs in Corsi, 95-45 overall, 63-33 5-on-5 and 52-29 5-on-5 close.

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	2	6	-4	16:08	2	4	-2	12:54	0	0	0	00:00	0	2	-2	03:14
Phaneuf	10	17	-7	24:24	6	13	-7	17:24	4	1	3	02:40	0	3	-3	04:20
Franson	10	9	1	22:58	5	6	-1	19:13	4	1	3	02:40	1	2	-1	01:05
McClement	4	5	-1	16:34	4	3	1	12:21	0	0	0	00:00	0	2	-2	04:13
Raymond	2	12	-10	17:46	2	7	-5	14:15	0	1	-1	00:46	0	4	-4	02:45
Ranger	3	7	-4	18:48	3	4	-1	15:21	0	0	0	00:00	0	3	-3	03:27
Van Riemsdyk	12	15	-3	25:22	8	12	-4	20:28	4	0	4	01:54	0	3	-3	03:00
Smith	1	9	-8	19:41	1	7	-6	17:32	0	1	-1	00:46	0	1	-1	01:23
Holland	0	2	-2	05:49	0	2	-2	05:47	0	0	0	00:00	0	0	0	00:02
D'Amigo	1	0	1	04:02	1	0	1	04:02	0	0	0	00:00	0	0	0	00:00
Gunnarsson	5	13	-8	21:07	5	11	-6	17:32	0	0	0	00:00	0	2	-2	03:35
Ashton	1	3	-2	09:44	1	3	-2	09:35	0	0	0	00:00	0	0	0	00:09
McLaren	1	0	1	03:06	1	0	1	03:06	0	0	0	00:00	0	0	0	00:00
Kulemin	3	3	0	16:55	3	1	2	12:44	0	0	0	00:00	0	2	-2	04:11
Kadri	12	7	5	19:23	8	7	1	17:29	4	0	4	01:54	0	0	0	00:00
Gardiner	6	4	2	25:30	5	4	1	01:19	0	0	0	00:00	1	0	1	00:11
Clarkson	2	9	-7	18:01	1	8	-7	17:17	0	1	-1	00:35	1	0	1	00:09
Kessel	11	10	1	21:58	7	10	-3	19:53	4	0	4	02:05	0	0	0	00:00
Bernier	18	28	-10	64:18	13	21	-8	53:42	4	1	3	02:40	1	6	-5	07:56

Clarkson had his worst night as a Leaf yet, a miserable -7, while Smith and Raymond also struggled. Their struggles may have to do with the absence of Kadri, who was one of the few Leafs to be positive on the night. The leader for Toronto was Kulemin, who was on for only one ES chance against in 12 minutes, and was a +2. JVR and Kessel produced a lot of chances, but were also on for quite a few, and ended up with substantial negatives.

Back to back bad nights for the top pairing, as Phaneuf was on for a game-worst 13 chances against, and Gunnarsson wasn't far behind at 11. Franson, Ranger and Fraser were all moderate negatives, while the only positive on the back line was Gardiner, who was well rewarded for it, with 25 minutes of ES time, a high for the Leafs this season.


The Stars:

Player	F	A	D	TOI	ESF	ESA	ESD	EVTOI	PPF	PPA	PPD	PPTOI	SHF	SHA	SHD	SHTOI
Dillon	5	8	-3	24:11	5	4	1	22:05	0	0	0	00:11	0	4	-4	01:55
Oleksiak	7	7	0	21:42	5	3	2	17:58	2	0	2	01:49	0	4	-4	01:55
Daley	3	6	-3	09:20	3	6	-3	08:36	0	0	0	00:44	0	0	0	00:00
Horcoff	7	5	2	16:36	3	3	0	11:49	4	0	4	03:53	0	2	-2	00:54
Jeffrey	3	2	1	07:16	3	2	1	07:07	0	0	0	00:09	0	0	0	00:00
Chiasson	5	3	2	17:14	3	2	1	12:26	2	0	2	04:09	0	1	-1	00:39
Whitney	5	3	2	17:56	3	2	1	14:11	2	0	2	03:45	0	1	-1	00:00
Benn	12	3	9	17:49	9	3	6	13:13	2	0	2	03:51	1	0	1	00:45
Peverley	9	5	4	15:29	9	5	4	15:29	0	0	0	00:00	0	0	0	00:00
Eakin	10	6	4	19:59	6	3	3	14:53	4	0	4	03:33	0	3	-3	01:33
Roussel	5	5	0	11:08	4	4	0	09:43	0	0	0	00:18	1	1	0	01:07
Connauton	9	4	5	15:22	8	2	6	14:47	1	0	1	00:35	0	2	-2	00:00
Goligoski	10	6	4	30:13	7	6	1	25:17	2	0	2	04:11	1	0	1	00:45
Fiddler	4	3	1	10:04	4	2	2	09:10	0	0	0	00:32	0	1	-1	00:22
Nichushkin	5	3	2	16:48	5	3	2	16:39	0	0	0	00:09	0	0	0	00:00
Gonchar	19	6	13	23:09	14	5	9	18:41	4	0	4	03:43	1	1	0	00:45
Cole	7	3	4	16:31	3	3	0	13:02	4	0	4	03:29	0	0	0	00:00
Seguin	11	6	5	21:45	8	5	3	17:06	3	0	3	04:39	0	1	-1	00:00
Lehtonen	28	18	10	64:18	21	13	8	53:42	6	0	6	07:56	1	5	-4	02:40

I recently read an article about Jamie Benn's push for the Canadian Olympic team; he showed some good credentials in this game, dominating the Leafs. He wasn't the best on the team, though, as that honour went to Sergei Gonchar, with the veteran Russian's +9 one of the best against the Leafs this year. Kevin Connauton was also quite impressive, equaling Benn's +6. Trevor Daley, who played only the first half of the game before sustaining what looked like a serious injury, was the only Star in the negative, as he missed out on Dallas' strong period while chasing th game.

Players with nice chance numbers:
Toronto - Nikolai Kulemin, Nazem Kadri
Dallas - Sergei Gonchar, Jamie Benn, Kevin Connauton

Players with poor chance numbers:
Toronto - Dion Phaneuf, David Clarkson, Trevor Smith
Dallas - Trevor Daley