Game 52 - Leafs 5, Colorado 2 - Leafs run out to early lead in Colorado and hold on for sixth straight win

A very similar game in style to the Leafs' trip to Phoenix unfolded in Denver, as they pulled out to a 4-0 lead early in the second period, then managed to hold on, despite some resistance from the Avalanche to get a win. James Reimer was the goalie standing on his head this time, stopping a number of good Colorado chances down the stretch.

Toronto took the chances in the first, but it was only 3-2 at ES, and 5-2 overall, so the Leafs were in good shape with a two-goal lead after one. They added a pair more in the second, and could have had more, as they outchanced Colorado again in the frame, and in particular had a 5-1 chance lead after taking a 4-0 lead.

A goal at the end of the second gave Colorado some hope, and they dominated the third in the chase for the lead, genearting ten ES chances. The good thing for the Leafs was that they were able to shut down the Avalanche in the last five minutes, as they didn't generate a single chance in that time.
Colorado won chances at ES, 16-13, and 18-17 overall, but the ES close chances were won by Toronto, 3-2.

A summary of the scoring chances:

Status	Overall		ES
Team	Toronto	Colorado	Toronto	Colorado
1	5	2	3	2
2	6	4	5	4
3	6	12	5	10
Total	17	18	13	16

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						Colorado
COL	ES	1	18:45	Bordeleau wide from rebound of Barrie shot	11	28	37	4	8	34	15	24	58	4	61	1
TOR	ES	1	16:04	GOAL! Kessel from Phaneuf	42	81	21	3	44	34	7	25	55	6	8	1
COL	ES	1	08:05	Duchene from McGinn	43	19	41	4	8	34	9	90	11	2	61	1
TOR	ES	1	05:18	Kessel from Van Riemsdeyk	42	81	21	4	8	34	26	29	92	6	8	1
TOR	ES	1	05:17	Bozak from rebound of Kessel shot	42	81	21	4	8	34	26	29	92	6	8	1
TOR	PP	1	02:19	GOAL! Van Riemsdyk deflects Franson shot	42	81	21	3	4	34	25	24	2	8	1	-
TOR	PP	1	00:01	Phaneuf goalpost from Gardiner	43	19	12	3	51	34	7	55	6	61	1	-
COL	ES	2	18:42	McGinn deflects Johnson shot	42	81	21	3	4	34	9	90	11	6	61	1
COL	ES	2	18:29	Benoit from Duchene	42	81	21	3	4	34	9	90	11	6	61	1
COL	ES	2	15:14	Duchene from O'Rielly	42	81	37	44	51	34	9	90	11	2	61	35
TOR	ES	2	14:43	GOAL! Kessel from loose puck	42	81	21	3	36	34	9	90	11	2	61	35
TOR	ES	2	14:10	Lupul drives wide	43	19	41	4	8	34	26	15	92	6	8	35
TOR	PP	2	11:26	Kadri deflects Rielly shot	43	19	12	44	51	34	25	24	6	61	35	-
TOR	ES	2	05:07	Kessel from Bozak	42	81	21	3	51	34	7	26	92	2	61	35
TOR	ES	2	04:47	Bodie drives	24	40	12	3	36	34	25	29	15	6	8	35
TOR	ES	2	02:27	Van Riemsdyk from Kessel	42	81	21	44	51	34	26	55	92	2	6	35
COL	ES	2	01:25	GOAL! MacKinnon from Pareneteau	11	81	21	3	8	34	29	15	92	4	44	35
COL	ES	3	19:46	Mitchell drives	42	81	21	3	36	34	7	26	92	6	61	35
COL	ES	3	19:46	Statsny wide from rebound of Mitchell shot	42	81	21	3	36	34	7	26	92	6	61	35
COL	ES	3	18:55	O'Rielly deflects Landeskog shot	43	19	41	4	8	34	9	90	11	4	8	35
COL	ES	3	17:13	Cliché from rebound of Bordeleau shot	42	81	21	4	8	34	24	55	58	8	44	35
TOR	ES	3	16:14	Lupul post from Phaneuf	43	19	41	3	36	34	7	26	92	6	61	35
COL	ES	3	14:53	GOAL! MacKinnon from Talbot	42	81	21	44	51	34	25	29	15	4	8	35
TOR	ES	3	14:02	Kessel drives	42	81	21	3	36	34	25	29	15	6	61	35
TOR	ES	3	14:00	Van Riemsdyk from rebound of Kessel shot	42	81	21	3	36	34	25	29	15	6	61	35
COL	ES	3	13:33	Landeskog wide from Mitchell	42	81	21	4	8	34	7	26	92	4	8	35
COL	ES	3	11:19	Duchene from O'Rielly	42	81	21	3	36	34	9	90	11	6	44	35
TOR	ES	3	10:42	Kadri wide from Lupul	43	19	41	4	8	34	7	9	92	6	44	35
COL	ES	3	10:11	Stastny from Mitchell	24	40	12	44	51	34	7	26	92	4	8	35
TOR	ES	3	09:29	Kessel from giveaway	42	81	21	4	8	34	29	24	58	6	61	35
TOR	PP	3	08:51	Kessel from Phaneuf	42	81	21	3	4	34	25	24	2	8	35	-
COL	PP	3	08:40	Duchene drives	42	81	21	3	4	34	9	90	6	44	35	-
COL	SH	3	07:06	MacKinnon from loose puck	11	41	4	8	34	-	7	29	92	4	6	35
COL	ES	3	06:09	Duchene wide from O'Rielly	11	42	81	3	36	34	9	90	11	4	8	35
COL	ES	3	05:30	Mitchell from Barrie	43	81	19	3	4	34	7	9	90	4	44	35

The Extra Skater game profile.

Colorado dominated Corsi, 63-50 overall, 54-39 5-on-5 and 18-8 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
Phaneuf	10	9	1	25:08	7	8	-1	17:27	3	1	2	04:19	0	0	0	03:22
Franson	7	10	-3	23:04	5	8	-3	15:45	2	1	1	04:07	0	1	-1	03:12
Gleason	5	7	-2	18:29	5	6	-1	15:35	0	0	0	00:00	0	1	-1	02:54
McClement	0	4	-4	11:26	0	3	-3	07:22	0	0	0	00:00	0	1	-1	04:04
Raymond	3	1	2	14:00	1	1	0	11:13	2	0	2	00:29	0	0	0	02:18
Lupul	5	3	2	19:37	3	3	0	19:01	2	0	2	00:29	0	0	0	00:07
Van Riemsdyk	11	10	1	20:00	9	9	0	13:56	2	1	1	04:07	0	0	0	01:57
Holland	1	1	0	10:45	1	1	0	10:37	0	0	0	00:00	0	0	0	00:08
Orr	0	1	-1	03:52	0	1	-1	03:52	0	0	0	00:00	0	0	0	00:00
Gunnarsson	5	4	1	20:02	5	4	1	16:51	0	0	0	00:00	0	0	0	03:11
Ashton	0	2	-2	03:32	0	2	-2	03:32	0	0	0	00:00	0	0	0	00:00
Bodie	1	1	0	11:08	1	1	0	11:08	0	0	0	00:00	0	0	0	00:00
Kulemin	3	3	0	16:34	3	2	1	13:50	0	0	0	00:00	0	1	-1	02:44
Bozak	11	11	0	20:42	9	10	-1	15:25	2	1	1	04:07	0	0	0	01:10
Kadri	5	3	2	17:11	3	3	0	16:35	2	0	2	00:29	0	0	0	00:07
Rielly	3	3	0	15:23	2	3	-1	15:06	1	0	1	00:17	0	0	0	00:00
Gardiner	4	3	1	18:03	2	3	-1	17:27	2	0	2	00:29	0	0	0	00:07
Kessel	11	13	-2	23:11	9	12	-3	18:53	2	1	1	04:07	0	0	0	00:11
Reimer	17	18	-1	59:53	13	16	-3	48:54	4	1	3	04:36	0	1	-1	06:23

Kessel, JVR and Bozak were the best line on the team at generating chances, but were also on for quite a few against in the third period, as is their normal routine. The only Leaf forward on for more chances for than against was Nik Kulemin, who was a +1 in fourteen minutes. Carter Ashton was a -2, while Jay McClement also had a tough game, putting up a -3.

Carl Gunnarsson was the top Leaf overall, a +1 in 17 ES minutes. Rielly and Gardiner were both -1s, as were Phaneuf and Gleason, while Franson was a team-low -3.

The Avalanche:

Player	F	A	D	TOI	ESF	ESA	ESD	EVTOI	PPF	PPA	PPD	PPTOI	SHF	SHA	SHD	SHTOI
Holden	2	5	-3	16:24	2	3	-1	09:51	0	0	0	02:42	0	2	-2	03:51
Barrie	9	0	9	22:41	8	0	8	19:00	1	0	1	03:41	0	0	0	00:00
Johnson	7	13	-6	23:34	5	11	-6	18:59	1	0	1	03:36	1	2	-1	00:59
Mitchell	6	5	1	14:07	5	4	1	12:00	1	0	1	00:41	0	1	-1	01:26
Hejda	6	7	-1	21:48	6	5	1	18:11	0	0	0	00:00	0	2	-2	03:37
Duchene	9	2	7	18:52	8	2	6	16:15	0	0	0	02:13	1	0	1	00:24
Mcginn	7	1	6	18:16	7	1	6	15:03	0	0	0	02:05	0	0	0	01:08
Parenteau	3	4	-1	12:06	3	4	-1	11:58	0	0	0	00:08	0	0	0	00:00
Cliche	2	4	-2	11:25	2	1	1	08:39	0	0	0	00:00	0	3	-3	02:46
Talbot	1	7	-6	14:15	1	4	-3	11:22	0	0	0	00:07	0	3	-3	02:46
Stastny	4	6	-2	15:50	4	6	-2	12:26	0	0	0	03:24	0	0	0	00:00
Mackinnon	3	6	-3	14:29	2	6	-4	10:22	1	0	1	04:07	0	0	0	00:00
Wilson	5	1	4	17:18	4	1	3	16:51	0	0	0	00:17	1	0	1	00:10
Mcleod	1	3	-2	11:55	1	2	-1	11:29	0	0	0	00:08	0	1	-1	00:18
Bordeleau	2	1	1	08:41	2	1	1	08:41	0	0	0	00:00	0	0	0	00:00
Benoit	7	8	-1	18:16	7	6	1	15:10	0	0	0	02:31	0	2	-2	00:35
O'reilly	9	1	8	18:20	8	1	7	15:43	0	0	0	02:13	1	0	1	00:24
Landeskog	6	7	-1	16:13	5	7	-2	12:11	1	0	1	04:02	0	0	0	00:00
Varlamov	4	5	-1	22:55	4	3	1	16:42	0	0	0	04:00	0	2	-2	02:13
Giguere	14	12	2	36:22	12	10	2	31:36	1	0	1	02:23	1	2	-1	02:23

Duchene was flying for Colorado on the night, and was an excellent +6, along with McGinn, but was bested by Ryan O'Reilly and Tyson Barrie, who wasn't on for a single chance against, and was a game best +8. Nathan MacKinnon had some moments, but was a -4, and Erik Johnson had a miserable night, a game-worst -6.


Players with nice chance numbers:
Toronto - Carl Gunnarsson, Nikolai Kulemin
Colorado - Tyson Barrie, Ryan O'Reilly, Matt Duchene

Players with poor chance numbers:
Toronto - Cody Franson, Jay McClement, Phil Kessel
Colorado - Erik Johnson, Nathan MacKinnon, Maxime Talbot