The Toronto Maple Leafs were not “goalied.” Igor Shesterkin made a difference and was sound in the final frame, but he didn’t steal the game. The Leafs weren’t hard enough on him for the full 60 minutes of a 4-1 loss to the New York Rangers.
As the shots piled up, the dangerous chances in front of Shesterkin didn’t. There were limited second and third opportunities off initial shots, leaving Shesterkin to make the routine save or watch as the puck went wide. That changed in the third, and we started to see Shesterkin work for his saves, but the opening 40 minutes didn’t give the New York netminder much to stress about.
The Leafs started the game with pace and control. Most of the opening 10 minutes were spent in the Rangers’ end, and the Leafs were rolling shifts and quickly reloading if the puck was cleared. Despite the start, Alexis Lafrenière put the Rangers on the board first after a bad bounce off the official, an error in structure and a well-placed shot.
New York turned it up in the second as the game opened up. The two teams exchanged rush chances, and the Rangers doubled the lead on a delayed call thanks to Chris Kreider. Auston Matthews put the Leafs on the board in the third period and the team finally started to create havoc and chaos in front of Shesterkin.
The Leafs threw 18 shots at Shesterkin in the third and couldn’t put a second past him to tie the game. Kreider and Artemi Panarin scored with Stolarz out of the net and the team’s three-game winning streak ended.
The Leafs get a B on this one.
Player grades
Matthew Knies: A+
He continues to use his strength offensively to keep pucks alive along the boards and move them to Matthews and Mitch Marner. Knies may not be the most skilled on the team, but he’s proving he can be the perfect balance between skill and power as he creates a lot of in-zone and rush chances with his short passes and poke checks.
Knies goes dog mode
Marner and Matthews almost connect pic.twitter.com/ckYGb0rd5i
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) October 20, 2024
Auston Matthews: A+
Aside from the goal, Matthews finished the game with nine shots on goal and 15 shot attempts. He played lower and lower in the zone as regulation continued, and Shesterkin stopped him from having a couple.
AUSTON MATTHEWS 🚨
The Leafs are on the board! pic.twitter.com/1VOFKtcGXq
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) October 20, 2024
Anthony Stolarz: B+
It was a rebound-heavy game for Stolarz and the Rangers got some follow-up looks from his saves. He kept the Leafs in the game as long as he could only allowing one other five-on-five goal off an excellent passing play between Reilly Smith, Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider. Stolarz had to battle through bodies, contact from the Rangers and a lost skate-blade. You can’t hang this one on him.
Jake McCabe: B+
McCabe had the most shot attempts from the back end and seemed to be one of the few Leafs who noticed the Rangers’ tendency to collide with Stolarz.
Conor Timmins: B+
It was a great first game back for Timmins, who was steady defensively, with good positioning to cut off passes, and more noticeable offensively, trying to time deflections and jumping up for shots of his own.
Steven Lorentz–David Kämpf–Ryan Reaves (fourth line): B
Coach Craig Berube got some strong minutes out of his fourth line. Although Kämpf was the only one to get an actual shot on goal, the three got some good O-zone time, even surviving shifts against the Zibanejad line. Some changes late in the game saw Pontus Holmberg and Lorentz switch places while Kämpf had a run with William Nylander and Bobby McMann.
Chris Tanev: B
This was the first time this season that Tanev had noticeable moments for the wrong reasons. He missed a stick lift on Kreider and had some giveaways in the defensive zone. It sorted itself out in the second period, but Tanev ended up leaving the game after blocking a shot and didn’t return until the third.
Tanev went to the dressing room after this block pic.twitter.com/zJA0gtlKCH
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) October 20, 2024
Mitch Marner: B
The puck-luck bug hit Marner on that four-Leaf rush in the first as Matthews’ pass went by his stick. The top line was the Leafs’ best by far and his passes from the wall and the point low to Matthews and Knies kept the cycle going.
Bobby McMann: B
He did well finding the skilled guys on his line at five-on-five with well-placed stretch passes.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson: B
His jump-up is threatening offensively, though he didn’t add many more shots to a power play that needs to shoot more.
Simon Benoit: B
In games like these, Benoit’s defensive-zone shot blocks becoming scoring chances are key.
Morgan Rielly: B-
Rielly was late getting closer to the front of the net after the initial shot that created the rebound ahead of the Lafrenière goal.
William Nylander: B-
The game has some of the best looks, finishing with eight shots on net. Nylander shot wide from a McMann stretch pass and on the power play in the second. Sheshterkin had to make a good save on him in the middle of the game, but still no dice for Nylander, who finished the game a minus-3.
Nick Robertson: C
Robertson still hasn’t found the scoring he showed off in the preseason. He needs some luck to find his way as his best chance to score in the first saw the puck bounce over his stick.
John Tavares: C-
Although the power play didn’t convert, Tavares had his shot looks as Matthews and Nylander got much attention. He also took a hit in the plus/minus department, matching Nylander’s minus-3.
Max Domi: C-
The tendency to pass flipped a switch after Domi passed up on a golden scoring rush chance with this line. He started throwing the puck on net more, though neither chance hit the net.
second-line rush stopped by a skate pic.twitter.com/1NZje2mbZi
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) October 20, 2024
Pontus Holmberg: D
Holmberg was in penalty trouble and would’ve been officially called for a second, but the Rangers scored on the delayed call. He saw a lot of time on the fourth line in the latter half of the game.
Game score
What’s next for the Leafs?
Monday is the last of this four-game home stand (7:30 p.m. ET on Prime), and the Tampa Bay Lightning will look to rebound from their overtime loss to the Senators.
(Photo: Nick Turchiaro / Imagn Images)
