The Rangers went into Toronto last night looking to skate with a potential Stanley Cup hopeful, and came out with “only” a 5-3 loss. The Rangers actually kept up with the Leafs in the first two periods. But with the game tied 1-1 heading into the third, Toronto opened it up with a pair of early goals.
Toronto is dangerous up and down the lineup. This time around, it was John Tavares (two assists), Morgan Reilly (goal, assist), and Mitch Marner (two goals, assist) who did the damage. There is so much fire power, I’m surprised it wasn’t more from the Leafs. Then again, five goals is a lot.
It looks like the Rangers are what they were last year. A team that will score a good amount, but will also give up a ton. Such is life.
Leafs 1, Rangers 0
Mats Zuccarello with the costly turnover along the boards in the defensive zone, which led to the point shot by Reilly that was tipped by Patrick Marleau. The bouncing puck found its way past Alex Georgiev for the goal. Bouncing pucks are tough.
Rangers 1, Leafs 1
This was a good setup by Brady Skjei to find Neal Pionk as the fifth man in at the opposite point. There may have been a lot of traffic, But Freddy Andersen had a clear line of sight. It was just a blast of a shot.
Leafs 2, Rangers 1
The point shot gets deflected by John Tavares into the slot, and Marner’s shot into the empty net goes off Andreas Johnsson. Just a mess in front by the Rangers, but a great play by Tavares to redirect the puck to the slot.
Leafs 3, Rangers 1
Another slot line pass allowed by the Rangers. Reilly joined the play, and Johnsson had three Rangers covering him. Recipe for disaster.
Leafs 3, Rangers 2
What a play by Filip Chytil here. Kid is good, folks.
Leafs 4, Rangers 2
This is another great pass by Tavares, but the 2-on-1 happens because Adam McQuaid tried to break up the initial Reilly pass to Frederik Gauthier and missed, followed by Skjei swinging and missing at the puck and missing. Great play, but bad defense too.
Leafs 4, Rangers 3
Another goal by Chris Kreider in front. He’s really good there.
Leafs 5, Rangers 3
Mitch Marner empty netter.
Shot Heatmap
That’s a lot of shots by the Leafs, and the majority again from the home plate area. At this point, this is what the Rangers are. So much for the system hopefully changing things up.
The Rangers are back in action tonight at MSG against the Flyers. The Flyers are nowhere near the quality of the Leafs, and are laughable in net. This should be an interesting game.
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