The Toronto Maple Leafs face off against the New York Rangers in another Original Six matchup. This is the fourth game against an Original Six team in the first five games. The Maple Leafs are looking to extend their winning streak to two games after beating the Nashville Predators 7-4 on Tuesday night.
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As for the Rangers, they were shut out in back-to-back games at home and are looking to bounce back with a big game tonight. They don’t want to go through another game where they are held scoreless and risk panic setting in amongst the fan base and potentially their players losing a ton of confidence.
Game Recap:
1st Period:
The first period was entertaining. It had a little bit of everything. The Maple Leafs were able to capitalize on the power play (PP) for the first time this season, which was also the first goal that the Rangers gave up on the penalty kill. Matthew Knies was able to take a backdoor shot/pass from William Nylander, which capped off a very productive power play and gave them a 1-0 lead.
The Rangers had a few good scoring chances, including one where Anthony Stolarz robbed them at least three times on the same sequence in a highlight reel play. The Maple Leafs’ 1-0 lead held up at the end of one, but if it wasn’t for some great saves by Stolarz, they could have easily been losing.
2nd Period:
The second period had a lot of the same. A lot of back and forth chances, fast-paced action that could have resulted in more goals if the goalies weren’t standing on their heads. One line for the Maple Leafs that stood out during the second was the Nylander, John Tavares, and Mattias Maccelli trio. Despite not controlling the puck in the zone too often, they had some good chances. As a group, they do a lot of things well, which typically results in goals.
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If one thing was made clear, it was that this game was going to be close, and that was largely because of the play of both goalies. Stolarz and Shesterkin played outstanding through 40 minutes, which made for a good game with a ton of scoring chances but not a ton of scoring. The Rangers did get a PP chance after Simon Benoit was called for tripping. However, they didn’t score on the ensuing man advantage. They did get a three-on-one less than a minute after the PP ended, but Stolarz came up with another big stop to keep the game 1-0. That’s how the second period ended.
3rd Period:
The third period was much of the same, but the Rangers were able to control more of the play than the Leafs. This was the first time all game that a team had been able to sustain pressure for an extended period of time. It did pay off. New York was able to score, but there were a lot of questions regarding if it would stand because it looked like it came off a high stick. However, Brandon Carlo knocked the puck down with his hand, which negated the high stick, allowing the goal to stand and tying the game 1-1.
The second half of the third period was similar to the first two. There wasn’t a lot of puck control in the offensive zone, just a lot of back and forth with very few stoppages. Aside from an icing call, the next stoppage came when Stolarz’s helmet fell off, and he was still making saves until the ref finally blew the whistle. In the last minute of play, the Maple Leafs iced the puck again, which led to another scoring chance for the Rangers, but the period ended tied 1-1. That means this game is going to overtime.
Overtime:
In the extra frame, the Rangers gained possession first and controlled play for the first 30 to 40 seconds until Mika Zibanejad fanned on his shot and the Maple Leafs broke out on the rush. Morgan Rielly chipped the puck to Auston Matthews, who passed it to Nylander, and he did the rest. Nylander toe-dragged around a sprawling Adam Fox and sent another backdoor pass to Matthews, who redirected it past Shesterkin to win the game 2-1.
