Travis Dermott appears to be hurt after colliding with Matthews.
Nation Sites
The Nation Network
The LeafsNation has no direct affiliation to the Toronto Maple Leafs, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, NHL, or NHLPA
Postgame: Blues Blues
By Ryan Hobart
Feb 19, 2019, 22:52 EST
The Leafs were in St. Louis tonight taking on the Blues for the second time this season. The Blues have been on an absolute roll lately, with 10 straight wins.
The last time the Leafs played the Blues, it was a 4-1 defeat in one of very few early-season wins for St. Louis on October 20th.
Tonight, they certainly hoped to do a little better, but to face a team with this much momentum proved to be tougher than they hoped.
1st period
Early in the first, the Leafs lost Travis Dermott only temporarily as he collided accidentally with Auston Matthews:
He did return later in the period, though.
Things got off to a rocky start on the scoresheet as well, as this slip from Jake Muzzin leads to an unfortunate goal against:
Muzzin blows a tire and the Blues take advantage. Jaden Schwartz makes it 1-0.
It wasn’t long before things got even worse, as a Parayko shot that appeared to hit the post and go out actually hit the back crossbar inside the net for a goal:
Play is stopped after video review shows that Parayko's shot did in fact enter the net. 2-0 Blues.
The Kadri line had been, to this point, one of few bright spots for Toronto in this game. However, the series of unfortunate events continued there, as this hit by Vince Dunn on Kadri was a rocking collision:
Kadri continued to play in the game until the end of the 1st, which ended 2-0 for St. Louis.
2nd period
The Leafs announced that Kadri would not return to the game after the massive hit by Dunn. It can be assumed that they assessed him for concussion symptoms and he did not pass the test.
Other than that, the second period really only consisted of calm, effective goaltending from both sides. This is a great contest between young Jordan Binnington and Vezina candidate Frederik Andersen.
This was a scoreless period as the Leafs looked to the 3rd to try to claw back from this 2-0 deficit.
3rd period
Finally, partway through the 3rd period, the Leafs would break the Blues’ 200-minute shutout streak with a goal of their own by Zach Hyman:
Zach Hyman 🚨 The Blues shutout bid ends as they put the puck in their own net. 2-1.
Immediately afterward, they followed up with another goal on another fortunate bounce and suddenly this is a tie game:
Auston Matthews 🚨 34 cleans up the rebound in front and ties up the game.
This was challenged by St. Louis for a kicking motion/goaltender interference but it was ultimately ruled a goal.
The period ended 2-2 and this game headed into Overtime.
Overtime
It didn’t take long for this one to be decided in overtime, as Ryan O’Reilly finished off a rush as Marner is taken out of the play by a referee:
Ryan O'Reilly scores the GWG in OT and the St. Louis Blues have won ELEVEN STRAIGHT.
Who wore the Crown?
After every Leaf game, we’re recognizing one Leaf player who best exemplified what it means to play hockey the “Toronto Way”: with heart and soul, above all else. Who wore the Crown is brought to you by Crown Royal, passionate fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
This game was mostly dominated by the St. Louis Blues, but for the Leafs, the Crown-wearer should probably be Frederik Andersen. Despite giving up 3 goals total, he posted a 94.1% save percentage at even strength. This is certainly a solid performance for him.
Breaking News
- Instant Reaction: Maple Leafs add speed, upside on 2-year deal worth $1.55M for Emil Andrae
- Maple Leafs sign Emil Andrae to two-year contract reportedly worth $1.55M annually
- Leafs’ Nick Paul willing to do ‘whatever team needs’ heading into first season in Toronto
- Crease corrections, bottom six, and a Rielly landing spot: Leaflets
- Maple Leafs sign Gavin McKenna to 3-year, entry-level contract