Takeaways - Leafs vs. Blues - 10/20/18

LEAFS HOLD BLUES SCORELESS THROUGH FIRST PERIOD, BUT SURRENDER THREE IN SECOND FRAME
Toronto was aiming to get back on track after losing 3-0 to the Pittsburgh Penguins Thursday, but on this Saturday night, they were taking on a St. Louis Blues squad that was on a three-game losing streak and looking for its second win in six games this season. So the Blues came out focused and determined to keep the Buds' skaters to the outside of goaltender Jake Allen, and for two periods, they did a solid job of it, limiting the Leafs to only eight shots on net and no goals through 40 minutes.

    Meanwhile, the Leafs did much of the same work at the other end of the ice, keeping the Blues' scoring opportunities to a minimum: they allowed St. Louis to get only 13 shots on goaltender Frederik Andersen in the first two periods and prevented the visitors from scoring in the first. But as the game went on, the Blues began to take control of the middle of the ice in front of Toronto's net, and when St. Louis scored at 4:45 of the second frame, the Leafs didn't respond with offence of their own.  

    That led to the Blues getting two more goals - one from Zach Sanford at 13:05 of the second; and the other from Ryan O'Reilly at 16:37 of the period - and taking a strong hold on the game heading into the second intermission.

RIELLY'S GOAL EARLY IN THIRD GIVES LEAFS LIFE, BUT BLUES CLAMP DOWN TO SECURE WIN

    The Leafs' thirst for a goal was readily apparent as the third period began, and their push to get in front of Allen led to defenceman Morgan Rielly scoring his fourth of the year at the 4:22 mark:

Rielly's goal wasn't a highlight-reel marker, but it gave his team an infusion of energy. And Toronto continued coming at Allen in the hope of getting within tying-goal range.
TORONTO CONTINUES ITS PUSH THROUGH THIRD, BUT CAN'T COME UP WITH MORE OFFENCE; BLUES SEAL WIN WITH EMPTY-NETTER
The Blues are a big, tough team that fights hard along the walls and makes the opposition pay for taking the puck into high-quality scoring opportunity parts of the ice. So although Toronto amped up its attempts to pull even, the Blues also clamped down.

    And despite the extra energy that forced St. Louis into taking a penalty with 3:05 left in regulation - and with Andersen pulled for the extra attacker - the Blues held the fort and got an empty-net goal with 1:43 remaining in regulation to seal the victory.  

    Toronto's next game comes Wednesday when they travel to Winnipeg to take on the talented Jets, and the Leafs' offence will need to improve if they're to snap their two-game losing streak. That's the bad news. The good news is the Buds' offence has all sorts of talent with which to do so.