Auston Matthews (Kevin Sousa, Getty Images)
Yet another comeback for the Toronto Maple Leafs sealed the two points over the New Jersey Devils. An awful first period set the team back early, but they bounced back in a big way with a scoring barrage in the third period.
Here are my 5 takeaways from the high-scoring game.
1. What is Happening in the Crease?
Jack Campbell, who was an absolute warrior in net for the Leafs early this year, has been absolutely brutal recently. The hammer finally struck last night as he was pulled from his goal after allowing 3 goals on 9 shots.
The defense was very poor on those three goals. Pavel Zacha was left wide open, Jesper Boqvist wasn't boxed out and Andreas Johnsson got past Timothy Liljegren too easily.
However, this night more than other nights during Campbell's recent struggle, a lot of blame should fall on the goalie himself. The first goal was a bad one that he usually would've saved. The second goal was poor rebound control. The third marker was easy for Johnsson, because Campbell cheated to his left way too early.
When Petr Mrazek replaced him, the Leafs looked much more comfortable. This may be the start of a 50-50 tandem for the Leafs from now on, or they may just ride the hot hand.
Sheldon Keefe needs to be wary, though, as there is a fine line between an even tandem and a full-on goaltending controversy.
All I'm saying is that we will not see Mrazek traded anytime soon.
2. Hatty for Matty
Auston Matthews' fifth career hat trick was absolutely crucial in securing the game for the Leafs. He has now reached 400 points in his career already, showcasing tremendous skill and goal-scoring instinct.
What I find very exciting about Matthews' game this year is where his goals are coming from. Take the second goal, for example. He drove to the net and got a perfect tip on a seeing-eye shot from Morgan Rielly. He has scored the vast majority of his goals in front of the net this year, which is a style that translates well to the playoffs.
He made a really nice pass to Mitch Marner to set up the game-tying goal and mark his ninth career four-point game. I'm becoming more and more comfortable with the fact that I placed him at #2 on my top 50 players list every game.
3. Marner's Excellence
Since returning from COVID protocol, Mitch Marner has been the Leafs' best player. He now has a career-best streak of goals in 6 consecutive games. He is shooting the puck a lot more and becoming a scoring threat on 5-on-5. His skating and instinctive stick play have helped the Leafs' penalty kill stay at the top of the league.
He does so much more for this squad than pass the puck really nicely. We all know that Marner occasionally blows hot and cold. But, when he's on fire, he's really on fire.
He's feeling confident and should continue to drive play on a consistent basis, now that he's been reunited with Matthews on the first line.
Speaking of that reunion...
4. Keefe's Forward Experiment Comes to an End
Despite scoring at 5.5 goals per game with the new lines that I touched on following the win over Anaheim, Keefe decided to abandon the experiment in favour of a more traditional lineup.
I'm not entirely sure why he changed this, as it was clearly working well offensively. Maybe he just wanted to spark Auston Matthews back to life. Either way, it was still a really solid effort in the offensive zone for the Leafs' tonight.
I did notice a few times that the chemistry that the original lines possess is not quite at the same level with the makeshift lines. Some forwards occasionally clogged the lanes and blocked their own teammates' shots.
Though I was excited to see how a Leafs lineup with more variety would perform, it makes sense that Keefe would revert to what he is comfortable with.
5. Revisiting the Johnsson Trade
We all knew Andreas Johnsson was going to score tonight, didn't we?
The Leafs curse continues, as another former member of the team notched a goal against Toronto. The 2020 trade between these two teams has actually worked out fairly well for both teams.
From the Leafs' perspective, it was a perfect salary dump for a player that they didn't need anymore. They were looking to upgrade on the blueline, but they needed more cap space to acquire somebody. That blueliner eventually became TJ Brodie, who has been a great top-pairing player for this team.
For the Devils, it has been fairly useful too. Johnsson has been one of the Devils' more lethal point producers this year and is on pace for a 20-goal season in New Jersey.
All in all, a rare trade that ages well for both clubs.
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