After a dominant 7-0 blowout win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Dec. 16, the Toronto Maple Leafs looked to keep this momentum going against the red-hot New York Rangers on Dec. 19. Unfortunately, that did not come to fruition, as the Rangers put together an impressive performance, defeating the Maple Leafs by a 5-2 final score. Here are three takeaways from the contest.
Matthews Stays Hot
Auston Matthews‘ performance was a clear positive for the Maple Leafs in this game. The superstar center kept his hot streak alive in this one, putting together a two-goal night. With his two-goal game, Matthews now has a five-game goal streak and nine goals over that span. With that, he also now has 25 goals in 28 games this season. Needless to say, the 2016 first-overall pick is feeling it.
On his first goal, Matthews received a nice feed in front from defenceman Morgan Rielly before beating Rangers superstar goalie Igor Shesterkin top shelf at the 7:32 mark of the second period. For his second goal of the game, Matthews wristed it by Shesterkin again after getting a perfect from Jake McCabe to tie the game up at 2-2. However, the Maple Leafs, of course, would surrender three unanswered goals following it.
Nevertheless, in what was a tough loss for the Maple Leafs, Matthews looked excellent. You can tell just how confident he is right now with his two goals, and it will be intriguing to see if he can keep this dominant play up moving forward.
Jones Runs Into Bad Luck
After recording a 38-save shutout against the Penguins, Martin Jones, understandably, got the start for Toronto against the Rangers. While allowing four goals on 35 shots may look underwhelming at first glance, he should not be blamed for this loss. The veteran netminder dealt with some bad luck in this one, and multiple goals he allowed were not his fault.
Related: 3 Takeaways From Maple Leafs’ 7-0 Win Over Penguins
Three of the Rangers’ goals on the night were due to “fluky bounces,” as Matthews perfectly described to reporters following the game. The Rangers’ first goal came from Blake Wheeler’s pass deflecting off Mika Zibanejad’s skate and getting by Jones. Alexis Lafreniere’s goal hit Morgan Rielly in front and changed directions before going past Jones. Then, Jones’ luck was even worse on Artemi Panarin’s third-period goal. His shot hit both Timothy Liljegren and William Lagesson before finding the back of the net.
So, in the end, three out of the four goals Jones allowed (the fifth goal was an empty-netter) were not his fault. He was the victim of bad circumstances, and he got saddled with the loss because of it.
Maple Leafs Keep Up With Rangers But Get Goalied
When watching this Original Six matchup, it is clear that the Maple Leafs and Rangers are equally matched teams. Although this game ended with a 5-2 final score, it was a very close contest for much of the game, and the bad bounces listed above led to a Rangers win. Yet, that does not mean that the Maple Leafs had a bad game. They kept up with the Rangers and even improved as the contest continued.
The Maple Leafs ended the game with an impressive 33 shots, but Shesterkin was on his A game. With that, Toronto had 28 shots over the final two periods, so they created several chances, but Shesterkin shut the door big time.
In the end, this is not a loss to be too concerned about. The Maple Leafs and Jones ran into some bad luck, while Shesterkin had a truly spectacular night. The Maple Leafs will now look to get back in the win column on Dec. 21 against the Buffalo Sabres.
