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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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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