Leafs look to rebound from Habs loss against the Flames – with David Rittich in net?

Listen, Jack Campbell was not going to win every game he started this season. A loss was bound to happen sooner or later, and I don’t know about you, but Leafs losses just don’t faze me as much this season. They’re good, their record is good, they have what it takes to pull out wins even when they might not deserve it. Yes, last night’s game was not exactly a great example of what they can do, but I can’t be too mad at a stinker every 9 or 10 games.
Onward. The Leafs play again tonight against the Flames – and on Sunday evening they traded for former Flames goalie David Rittich  (who has historically played very well against the Leafs) – it’s like a soap opera and I love it. Will he start tonight? If so, is that a good thing? Obviously having some extra goalie insurance is a plus, because with Frederik Andersen sidelined indefinitely the Leafs goalie options are Campbell, who is clearly not yet used to handling the starter’s workload, and Michael Hutchinson, who is Michael Hutchinson. It’ll be interesting to see what Rittich can do behind this Leafs team.
The …

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Author: Mer / The Leafs Nation

Jack Campbell wins 10th-straight and sets Leafs franchise record

Holy cow. Jack Campbell did the thing. 10 wins in a row to start a season. The first Leafs player to ever do it.
I don’t have many words other than “wow.” Campbell deserves everything that is coming his way after hearing about his journey to the NHL and all the battles he had to face. He’s an incredible person, the team rallies around him and again, he’s such an important person to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
After the game, I thought about how I was going to open up my video, and well, I think I did a pretty good job. I hope you enjoy the video!

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Author: Nick Barden / The Leafs Nation

Jack Campbell is making Leafs history – Rate That Leafs Game

With another win under his belt, Jack Campbell improves to 9-0-0 this season and ties the Maple Leafs franchise record for most consecutive wins. Does he make it to ten-straight?
Auston Matthews also scored two goals last night and now leads the Rocket Richard race with 27 goals this season. Does he win the goal-scoring title?
And finally, Jason Spezza, who’s a 37-year-old in the NHL, adds another point to his total this season (which is 21 points in 38 games). Is he the best veteran player in the NHL?
Happy power play goal day. I hope you enjoy the video!

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Author: Nick Barden / The Leafs Nation

Maple Leafs vs Flames 04/05/21 – Odds and NHL Betting Trends

by OddsShark (@OddsShark) – Sponsored Post
Saving Jack Campbell for the second night of a back-to-back might help the Toronto Maple Leafs keep their recent groove in a scenario where they tend to struggle. The Maple Leafs are -150 away favourites and the Flames are +130 underdogs with a 6.5-goal total on the NHL odds for Monday at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Toronto beat Calgary 4-2 on Sunday. The Maple Leafs are 3-11 in their last 14 games when they played the previous day, with the OVER hitting eight times at betting sites. The Flames are 0-4 this season when they are playing for the second consecutive day, and are 6-9 in their last 15 such contests with the UNDER hitting eight times. The Maple Leafs are 4-1 in their last five away games as a -130 to -170 favorite, with the UNDER hitting three times.
Maple Leafs vs Flames | OddsShark Matchup Report
The Maple Leafs lead the season series 5-2 and have a 14-10 edge over the Flames in five-on-five goals. Toronto has the edge in expected goals-for percentage, or xGF% (56.7), scoring-chances share (56.1) and high-danger chances share (60.0), per Natural Stat Trick. Head-to-head, the Maple Leafs are two-for-25 on the power play and …

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Author: Nation World HQ / The Leafs Nation

Leafs’ goalie injury woes continue as Andersen ruled out in the short term

So it looks like it’s going to be Jack Campbell’s net for the next little while, and given how he’s played this season I don’t think anyone is too upset by that aspect of today’s information from Sheldon Keefe:

Keefe says Andersen remains day-to-day, but that he shouldn’t be expected back for seven to 10 days.
— Joshua Kloke (@joshuakloke) March 24, 2021

Frederik Andersen has been dealing with a nagging lower body injury since he was last out (as per Kristen Shilton), and has been attempting to play through it. In those seven games since he’s returned have been some of the worst hockey we’ve seen from Andersen, as he’s posted an .872 save percentage in that time, and the Leafs have only picked up 2 wins in the 7 games he’s played (6 of them were starts, but Andersen was also the deciding goaltender in his strong relief effort.) Andersen had a slow start to the season, but had rebounded for a strong stretch in February. Still inconsistency has been the only consistent thing about Andersen, and the Leafs should take this opportunity to let him heal and come back ready to play pain free.
That could …

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Author: Jon Steitzer / The Leafs Nation

Did Jack Campbell steal the net from Frederik Andersen? – Rate That Leafs Game

Another shutout for Jack Campbell. Wow.
When I ask the question “Is Jack Campbell now the Maple Leafs starter?” I mean, until Frederik Andersen returns from injury, sure, he has the net. But what about after that? I think you can say that if Campbell plays really well while Andersen is out, he’s the Leafs starter, right?
I believe so. I also believe that Jason Spezza has the best shot in the NHL at the age of 37. I hope you enjoy the video!

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Author: Nick Barden / The Leafs Nation

TLN Three Stars: Campbell records a shutout, because of course he did

So, Jack Campbell is going to be the starter now, right?
The Leafs desperately needed a win after going into the contest losing six of their previous seven games and boy did they come away with a good result. Not only did they generate a lot of offensive chances but they got some reliable goaltending for the first time in what seemed like ages. You could also tell the Leafs played a different type of game in front of Campbell as they felt more relaxed compared to 24 hours prior.

Jack Campbell has made 69 consecutive saves.
— luke fox (@lukefoxjukebox) March 21, 2021

Both teams combined for seven penalties on the night with a number of them being questionable calls at best. On Toronto’s end, they came up short time and time again which could have widened the gap even further had just one found twine (more on that later). Despite the lacklustre power play, their penalty kill was miles better than it has been the past few weeks.
All of which is to say that this is the result they needed heading into another lengthy break.
Three Stars
3rd Star: Jason Spezza
Late in the first period, Spezza lived up to his …

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Author: Michael Mazzei / The Leafs Nation

Jack Campbell looks to potentially take the starter’s reigns vs. Flames

Tonight may be the most important game of Jack Campbell’s career.
The Leafs go into tonight’s game against the Flames having lost six of their last seven, with five of them seeing Frederik Andersen play in net (although he didn’t start against Ottawa). This has come while the Leafs have a 54.58% 5v5 CF% and a 56.39% 5v5 xGF%, which is fifth and fourth in the league during that span. The Leafs are clearly losing games because of Frederik Andersen, and unlike past seasons where this has been the case, it hasn’t been backed up by otherwise good to elite goaltending.
Campbell hasn’t gotten the crease much in his Leafs tenure, but when he has, he’s impressed. He has a .920 save percentage in 9 games with the Leafs, and a .951 in 3 games this season. It’s an incredibly small sample size, but his .918 career save percentage has at least earned him the benefit of the doubt, especially with Freddie playing as poorly as he has. If he plays well, there’s a good chance he at least gets to split the starts, although there’s reason to believe that that was the plan all along.
Of course, …

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Author: Scott Maxwell / The Leafs Nation

Leafs News & Notes: Matthews and Andersen nearing return, Nylander held out of practice, Dermott ready for retribution?

The Leafs are riding high after Jack Campbell and Michael Hutchinson helped lead the team to back to back shutouts over Connor McDavid and company in the last couple of games, and they’ve done so without Auston Matthews in the lineup as well. Tuesday’s practice, however, brought with it some optimism that reinforcements for an already formidable squad could be on the way sooner rather than later.
Matthews has been skating for the last few days but Tuesday’s practice was the first time that he was back skating in his regular place between Mitch Marner and Joe Thornton as part of the main practice group. He is still questionable to return for Wednesday’s matchup but returning to full practice is an encouraging step in his recovery.

Auston Matthews on how his hand/wrist is doing:
“It’s feeling a lot better. Day by day it’s progressed. The plan is to see how it feels tomorrow and go from there.”
— Kristen Shilton (@kristen_shilton) March 2, 2021

According to head coach Sheldon Keefe, Matthews has been battling with an injury to his hand/wrist area for most of the season but it was aggravated further in last Wednesday’s overtime …

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Author: Nick Richard / The Leafs Nation

There’s no “Goaltending Controversy” because it’s a double goalie league now

Freddy Andersen, the Leafs’ starter, has been bad. Jack Campbell, the team’s back-up, has been good. What do we have here? A good old fashioned Goaltending Controversy? Not quite. Not in 2020, at least.

The odds that we get at least one “GOALTENDING CONTROVERSY?!?” headline in Toronto before the end of the season are like 100%, right?
— draglikepull (@draglikepull) February 13, 2020

Goaltending has been a major topic of conversation in Toronto all season, mostly because it hasn’t been very good. Andersen, who had been one of the most valuable players on the team in recent years, is having the worst season of his career, while back-up Michael Hutchinson came nowhere close to getting the job done in his role.
All told, the two of them have produced a save percentage just a shade over .900 in all situations, which has played a very key role in the reason the team ranks 27th in the league in goals against and is currently fighting tooth and nail for a playoff spot.

What ails the Maple Leafs? A deep dive into grit, back-checking, leadership, and why the key to salvaging the season may ultimately come down to trading William Nylander.
My …

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Author: Cam Lewis / The Leafs Nation