The Leafs burn continues

You want meaningful games. And you wanted Tuesday.
There were enough players with Ontario birth certificates and one — winger Josh Leivo — with a chip on his shoulder to make a regular-season tussle in December feel more like a mid-April playoff struggle.
That’s what happens when the Toronto Maple Leafs and their throng of leather-lunged supporters try to turn Griffiths Way into Yonge and Bloor. And whether it was the Vancouver Canucks purposely starting their all-Ontario line of Tanner Pearson, Bo Horvat and Leivo, this wasn’t just another game.
Here’s what we learned as little things added up to a big deal as the Canucks fell 4-1 at Rogers Arena
 On a night where Jacob Markstrom was standing up to superlative snipers like William Nylander — he stopped the winger twice from scoring early off rippers — it looked like it was going to take something special to beat the starter in an emotional return to the net after attending his father’s funeral in Sweden.

What it took was a perfect pass and a perfect deflection in a game where there was little margin for error.
The Leafs struck first when John Tavares pounced on a wide shot off the endboards that hit the back of the net. His backhand feed found Auston Matthews open at the side of the net for the tap-in. And in the second period, it was a perfect Tavares deflection of a point shot that bounced down and past Markstrom.

Action around the Leaf's net

To their credit, the Canucks kept pressing.
There were two deft deflections by J.T. Miller that nearly found the net. There were two third-period breakaways by Brock Boeser that were stymied by Frederik Andersen, who made glove and pad saves. Boeser was also denied on a first-period break.
And, finally, there was Leivo the ex-Leaf jamming home a loose puck in the crease to make it 2-1. Bo Horvat and Elias Pettersson were then foiled — Pettersson hit two crossbars — to make it look like it was going to be a nail-biter finish. But Tavares struck again with five minutes remaining before Zach Hyman scored into the empty net.

Boeser took issue with his own play despite eight shots and 10 attempts. If anything, one goal in his last eight games could be attributed to some hesitation in his release and occasional accuracy problems. Or, it is something else?
“At least I’m getting the chances,” said Boeser. “I haven’t been playing my best of late and I really wanted to make this a statement game. I tried to pick my spots on the breakaways. But there have been times when I could move my feet more and you can see when I do it — like tonight — I get more chances. I just have to make sure I play that way every night.”
As much as the Canucks could take stock in the game they played, they had to tip their cap to Tavares. It wasn’t just his three-point night (2-1), it was the manner in which the Leafs captain led by example, won 57 per cent of his draws and showed form and finish with five shots and 10 shot attempts.

Take him out of the game and it might have been a different result.
“He’s earned every little penny,” said Leivo. “He’s a workhorse and when I played with him, he was in the gym right away and on the ice early and always working. It showed tonight. He’s always on.”
“His biggest attribute is his two-way game and a lot of is offence comes from playing well defensively and he’s probably one of the better two-way defencemen in the league,” added Horvat. “He capitalizes on opportunities and hits holes and is good at finding players.”
Which made the night tough to stomach. After all, a 39-shot effort should have yielded more.

“One of our better games overall for the year to be honest,” added Horvat. “I felt like we were consistent and in a lot of games we kind of lull and tonight we finished strong. We played well for 15 minutes in the second period and traded chances, but nine times out of 10, you come out with win a win there.”
Maybe Pettersson, who more than held his own in tough matchups. put it best about the collective effort and the Tavares effect.
“If I score on the first crossbar, it’s a tie game,” said Pettersson. “It’s frustrating. We played good enough to win. One of those games where the puck won’t go in. But they played the puck faster than we could react. A great team and showed it today.”
And Tavares? He has been very good of late.
“He’s been such a good player in this league for a long time and it showed today — he scored two important goals for them.”
And, as expected, Tavares wanted to talk about what didn’t go quite right. So what !

Sorry , this a long blog, as it was a late night, and an even earlier morning. Look, I need coffee.

“At times tonight, especially in the third, we’re trying to be aggressive but we’ve got to be a little smarter,” said Tavares. “They’ve got skilled forwards who get in behind us and Freddie had to make big saves. But we’re getting better and making cleaner exits and digging and defending well when he have to.”
But what about his offence and that deft deflection and his first three-point night of the season?
“You’re fighting for every inch of ice and do anything you can to get a result,” he said. “I’m just trying to play my game and getting more comfortable with Mitchy (Mitch Marner) back on our line.”