Maple Leafs Top Six Can't Find Chemistry, Spoils Sergei Bobrovsky's Big Performance In Loss To Golden Knights

LAS VEGAS — Sergei Bobrovsky did the job a team asks of its starting goalie on a night the scoreboard got away. He stopped 40 of 43 shots, held a three-goal lead that had already evaporated, and got the Toronto Maple Leafs to overtime and a shootout. Trevor Connelly finished it anyway. The rookie beat Bobrovsky with a backhand in the fifth round, and the Vegas Golden Knights completed a comeback from 3-0 for a 4-3 shootout win Thursday at T-Mobile Arena.

Toronto leaves with a point and a 2-2-1 record. Vegas is 4-1-0. The Leafs were outshot 43-24, including 21-8 in the second period, and at five-on-five controlled only 42.7 percent of the shot attempts and 29.8 percent of the expected goals, 1.33 to 3.14, according to NaturalStatTrick.com. High-danger chances were 12-5 Vegas. 

"It turned on Stone's goal late in the first," the Leafs head coach said. "We're in an offensive-zone faceoff. We're up 3-0. It's a tight game, playing pretty well to that point. And then we make a couple mistakes, and they score. And then we take a penalty, and all of a sudden the momentum shifts a little bit."

The lead had come in a rush. Jack Roslovic opened the scoring 34 seconds in, on his 600th career game and for his 300th career point, beating Adin Hill from the goal line with Auston Matthews and Kirill Marchenko assisting. Easton Cowan made it 2-0 at 3:20 on a breakaway set up by Chris Tanev. Nick Paul scored at 8:37, from Darren Raddysh and Gavin McKenna, and Toronto had three before the period was half over. Hill faced nine shots in the first and stopped six.

Mark Stone's slap shot at 17:36, from Jack Eichel and Ivan Barbashev, started the climb back. Brett Howden cut it to 3-2 at 1:12 of the second, deflecting a Mitch Marner pass. Eichel tied it at 3:58 on a penalty shot after Morgan Rielly was called for tripping on a breakaway. Vegas did not score again until the shootout. It spent most of the middle 20 minutes looking as if it would.

"We just stopped playing direct, turned some pucks over coming out of our end in the neutral and sort of fed their transition game," Tanev said. "They're in Game 7 of the Cup Final last year for a reason. They're very well structured. It's amazing how players' cycles can take over a game, and he had the puck a lot, especially in the second period. Great start. Third was better for us. But sort of the last five, seven minutes of the first and the second period, we need to be better and help out Bob."

The penalty count made the territorial problem worse. Toronto took four minors, Gavin McKenna for hooking late in the first, Oliver Ekman-Larsson twice in the second, Bo Groulx for holding in the third, plus Rielly's penalty shot. Vegas had one, Mark Stone for slashing McKenna late in the second. The Leafs killed all four power plays. They did not look comfortable doing it.

"They have a good power play. We had a tough time," Hiller said. "We were desperate. We did a good job with it, but a tough time clearing it down the ice and getting fresh guys out there. So that was a tough second period, no matter how you slice it. But I give the guys credit. After two, in fact, we survived, in large part due to Bob. I thought we came back out in the third and actually played pretty well."

Tanev saw the same sequence from the kill.

"Good for the most part. We had that one really long shift. Bob made an amazing save and bailed us out," he said. "For the most part good. We still have some areas where we want to work on, but against a really good power play, so we'll take that." 

He also tied the special-teams load to the momentum Stone's goal had already started. 

"When we take five penalties and they maybe have one, their skilled guys start to feel the puck. They get energized and sort of get them into the game as well."

The third period was quieter. Toronto was outshot 11-4, then 4-3 in overtime, and neither team scored. Faceoffs were a rare edge all night, 37-for-62, with Matthews at 71.4 percent. Hits went 27-13 to Vegas. Hill finished with 21 saves. Bobrovsky's .930 was the reason 3-3 still existed at the end of 65 minutes.

"He got us a point, for the most part. He gave us a chance to win, and ultimately, in the end, he probably got us a point, right? That's what great goalies do," Hiller said. "The nights when you're off a little bit, like we were in the second particularly, he was able to hold it for us. You need those saves, and you don't get them. They could have got three or four, and the game's over."

Cowan, who was on the ice for long stretches against Eichel's line, landed in the same place. "He kept us in the game for sure, especially that second period. So he was great all night." Tanev wanted the win that those saves had made available. "Huge saves, and he gave us a chance to win in overtime and the shootout. Obviously, we want to get a win for him badly."

The top six never settled into that kind of stability. The groups drawn up before the game were Marchenko with Matthews and Roslovic, and Cowan with John Tavares and William Nylander. Shift data told a different story. McKenna, Paul and Colton Sissons were the only forward trio used as a unit for a long stretch, about 8:12. Matthews spent 7:43 with Nylander and Roslovic and 6:42 with Marchenko and Roslovic. Cowan split time between Marchenko and Tavares (4:25) and Nylander and Tavares (3:50). The Matthews-Nylander-Roslovic look was out-attempted 13-7. The original first line was even at 7-7 and produced Roslovic's goal.

Hiller did not pretend the shuffling was a finished plan, as he’s still trying to find out what his top-six should look like.

"I would say, yeah, consistency across three players," he said, asked what he is still looking for in the top six. "Some players have been pretty consistent night after night, but as three at the same time, we're still looking for that."

Moving Nylander up was a spark attempt, that wasn’t exclusive to this game, but it clearly didn’t work.

"Just wasn't going very well at that point. So just something different. Try to change the vibe a little bit at different times,” Hiller said. 

Cowan felt the churn from the other side of it. 

"I felt okay. First, not that good, and second, obviously there's a lot of penalties and stuff, so hard to get into it. That's how you get it. Sometimes you've got to learn to adjust and play. I thought the third was a bit better, but I would like to capitalize on some chances." 

McKenna's night was the assist, a hooking minor, and a shootout miss on Toronto’s fourth attempt. Hiller said the attempt had been scheduled, not a low-pressure afterthought. 

"He's good at shootouts, so didn't get it tonight, but he'll score plenty in his career." 

McKenna has yet to be called on for 3-on-3 duty in Toronto’s two overtime games this season, but Hiller said it’s coming.

"He was up a couple different times, and situations kind of change themselves. He'll get out there sooner or later. If you ask him, I've probably called him three different times. But for whatever reasons, he hasn't been able to get out there."

Oliver Ekman-Larsson did not finish the night after a hit from Vegas’ Jeremy Lauzon, late in the third period. 

"I think he's okay. I don't have an update on him. I've just heard a little bit, so I can't give you much on that." 

He was clearer on the hit that took the defenceman out.

"I think there could have been a call." No explanation followed on the ice. 

The Maple Leafs picked up a point in the standings but Bobrovsky is still searching for his first win for Toronto. 

See more of The Hockey News on Google — Save us as Preferred Source

For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.