"The Leafs largely carried over their five-on-five ascendancy from the final 40 minutes of the Red Wings game in the first period of play. They're more often breaking out cleanly in five-man units vs. punting pucks away, and unsurprisingly, they looked like a faster team in the process, gaining the offensive zone with possession or skating onto dumped-in pucks with speed, enabling their forecheck game."
"They broke through with two goals by defensemen, Jake McCabe and Oliver Ekman-Larsson. With Matthew Knies recovering from a shot block, Dakota Joshua took a shift with the top line and got a puck in deep. As F1, Easton Cowan tied up the defender before Joshua swooped in and recovered the puck. Joshua rounded the net and kicked it back to the point, where Jake McCabe got a friendly deflection for his first of the season and first in 34 games (including last season's playoffs)."
"OEL added to the lead after making a nice play inside the defensive blue line to break up an entry. Simon Benoit sprung Nylander with a nice breakout pass for a rush up ice, where Nylander stopped up inside the blue line and slipped a pass to OEL joining the rush. With Tavares driving the center lane, OEL ripped a pass to the backdoor, where the Predators' Ozzy Wiesblatt deflected it into his own net;"
Toronto improved its five-on-five play, breaking out in five-man units, gaining the offensive zone with possession and using speed to support its forecheck. The Leafs dominated early, recording five of the first six shots and generating chances from John Tavares, Simon Benoit, Matias Maccelli, and Auston Matthews. Defensemen Jake McCabe and Oliver Ekman-Larsson provided goals, with McCabe's first of the season coming off a Dakota Joshua recovery and OEL's contribution leading to an own goal by Ozzy Wiesblatt. Cayden Primeau faced one significant save on Steven Stamkos's slow cross-ice pass during a power play.
Read at Maple Leafs Hotstove
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