2. Toronto surrenders three goals to Jets in middle period, including two in 70 seconds midway through frame. The previous time these two teams met this season was their first game of the year, and Toronto dominated Winnipeg 7-2 in that Oct. 4 showdown. And after Marleau's goal, the Jets looked like a squad intent on gaining revenge, striking three times in the second period - including twice in a 70-second span midway through the middle frame - and doing all the damage they'd need to pull out the win.
The visitors tied the game at 8:30 of the second when blueliner Josh Morrissey's shot from the blueline beat Toronto netminder Curtis McElhinney for his sixth goal of the season. At 9:40, D-man Dustin Byfuglien netted the game-winner on a shot from the point on the power play, and with 2:36 left before the second intermission, centre Andrew Copp registered his sixth goal of the year. The trio of goals also came in a period when the Leafs had two of their four power plays on the night, and they failed to score on either of them. All things considered, the Jets won the game in the second, and leaned on their goaltending in the third period to preserve the lead.
3. Hellebuyck steps up with high-impact effort, especially in first and third periods.Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck had posted a sub-.890 save percentage in his previous three games, but the 24-year-old put in a strong showing against Toronto, turning aside 28 of 29 Leafs shots (including 20 combined in the first and third frames) to earn his 41st win of the year.
In his third NHL season, Hellebuyck has grown into a workhorse for the Jets, and is an integral part of Winnipeg's success, and he's also benefitted from his teammates' ability to put pucks in the net. To wit: in those three sub-.890 games, he won all three in either overtime or a shootout. And his .966 SP Saturday was an accurate indication of how often he thwarted Toronto's scoring chances; when he's focused and the Jets are getting more than two goals, they're a difficult team to beat.
4. Komarov sees all types of ice time in return to lineup. Veteran winger Leo Komarov was appearing in his first game since missing seven games with a lower-body injury suffered against Buffalo March 15th, and head coach Mike Babcock immediately put him into all types of situations, including 2:16 of power play time and 1:24 on the penalty kill. With the post-season mere days away, Babcock likely wanted to immerse Komarov into the thick of things as quickly as possible, and against a top-flight squad like Winnipeg, Komarov certainly got a taste of the highly-competitive tempo to come.
5. Leafs' offence suffers rare dry spell, can't come back in third to force extra time or win.The Leafs hadn't scored fewer than two goals since a Feb. 20th tilt against Florida - and Toronto won that game 1-0. But the Buds' offence couldn't crank out more than a single goal against Hellebuyck, and Toronto had their two-game win streak snapped with three games remaining in the regular season.
The Leafs held Winnipeg to seven shots in the final period, but Hellebuyck's consistency was too much for them on this occasion, and Toronto's record dropped to 47-25-7 on the year. The Buds wrap up the year by taking on Buffalo at Air Canada Centre Monday, visiting New Jersey Thursday, and hosting the Canadiens next Saturday, so they'll have time to rediscover their scoring prowess, but running into a great goaltending performance can befall even the best teams in the league at any time of year, so the Leafs can't dwell on this defeat.
