This article was last updated on April 16, 2022
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ON THE SCORESHEET
– Mitch Marner opened the scoring at 1:04 of the first period for the Maple Leafs. His goal is the fastest scored by the Maple Leafs to open a game in 2016-17. The previous fastest goal was scored by Zach Hyman (1:22 – Nov. 12 at Pittsburgh).
– James van Riemsdyk extended the Maple Leafs lead to 2-0 with a goal at 14:04 of the first period. The goal gave van Riemsdyk his 59th career NHL multi-point game.
– At 7:52 of the second period, James van Riemsdyk added his second goal of the game. Tonight was his 16th career NHL multi-goal game.
– James van Riemsdyk completed his second career hat trick at 13:38 of the third period. His last hat trick came on March 26, 2011 against the New York Islanders while playing as a member of the Philadelphia Flyers.
– With four points tonight, James van Riemsdyk established a new career NHL single-game high for points in a game.
– Leo Komarov made it 4-2 for the Maple Leafs in the third period with his second goal in his last three games and first this season at even-strength.
– William Nylander scored his fifth goal of the season at 15:23 of the third period.
– Tyler Bozak registered an assist on Marner’s goal in the first period. The Maple Leafs are now 5-0-0 this season in games when Bozak has an assist.
– With an assist on van Riemsdyk’s first period goal, Tyler Bozak secured his 22nd career multi-assist game and 58th career multi-point game.
– Tyler Bozak picked up his third assist of the game in the second period to tie a career NHL single-game high. He now has two three-point games in 2016-17.
– Matt Hunwick registered his third assist of the season in the second period. He has assists (0-2-2) in consecutive games.
– Mitch Marner picked up an assist on van Riemsdyk’s first period goal. He has five multi-point games this season, which leads the Maple Leafs.
– Martin Marincin registered an assist on Leo Komarov’s third period goal. Marincin now has points (1-2-3) in three consecutive games.
– Connor Brown earned his second assist of the season on Komarov’s goal. The Maple Leafs are 3-0-0 when Brown records a point.
– Mitch Marner picked up his second assist of the game on van Riemsdyk’s third goal. It’s Marner’s second multi-assist game of the season.
SHOTS FIRED
– The Maple Leafs were outshot by the Predators, 34-32.
– Toronto was out-attempted 68-57 by Nashville.
– Auston Matthews led the Maple Leafs in shots (5) and shot attempts (9).
HOME SWEET HOME
– The Maple Leafs are now 6-2-0 at home and 4-1-0 at home in the month of November.
– Toronto’s record is 8-10-1-1 in 20 games against the Predators and 5-7-1-0 in 13 games played in Toronto against Nashville.
– Tonight’s attendance was 19,342.
OF NOTE…
– Toronto went 1-for-1 on the penalty kill and 0-for-1 on the power play.
– The Maple Leafs are now 6-1-3 when leading after two periods (4-0-0 at home).
– Toronto is 6-2-2 when scoring first (5-0-0 at home).
– The Maple Leafs have scored the first goal in 3 consecutive games and in 6 of their last 7 games.
– Frederik Andersen made 32 saves in the win.
– Tyler Bozak led Toronto in faceoff wins (9) and won 3 of his 4 defensive zone faceoffs.
– Leo Komarov led the Maple Leafs in hits (5).
– Mitch Marner had a team-high 3 takeaways.
– Roman Polak led the Maple Leafs in blocked shots (3).
– Morgan Rielly recorded a team-high in TOI (22:56).
– Ben Smith won 58 percent of his faceoffs (7 won, 5 lost).
– Nikita Zaitsev led the Maple Leafs in shifts (32).
UPCOMING GAMES:
– Thursday, Nov. 17 vs. Florida Panthers, 7:30 p.m. (TSN 4, FAN 590)
– Saturday, Nov. 19 at Montreal Canadiens, 7:00 p.m. (Hockey Night in Canada, TSN 1050)
– Tuesday, Nov. 22 vs. Carolina Hurricanes, 7:00 p.m. (TSN 4, FAN 590)
– Wednesday, Nov. 23 at New Jersey Devils, 7:00 p.m. (Sportsnet, TSN 1050)
– Saturday, Nov. 26 vs. Washington Capitals, 7:00 p.m. (Hockey Night in Canada, FAN 590)
POSTGAME QUOTES
MIKE BABCOCK POSTGAME: NOVEMBER 15, 2016
On James van Riemsdyk’s hat trick performance:
I saw him work real hard in practice yesterday. I saw him skate, he’s been skating better. He wasn’t skating as good as he could at the start of the year. Obviously with that kind of confidence, good for him. Marner’s a real good player who makes plays and [Bozak] passed the puck.
On if the Bozak-van Riemsdyk-Marner line has surpassed his expectations:
I don’t know. You put them together and you hope things are going to work out. Marner’s a special player. If you go to the net with your stick on the ice and compete, get the puck back, he’s going to make lots of plays. He does that each night. [Bozak] is a real good faceoff guy. So that’s a good line for us tonight. They played against Fisher who I think, on their team, is their most competitive centre. Now, Fish was out for the whole second, so that took away from them. Then obviously Pekka Rinne wasn’t in net, which is what you normally expect. So, that makes a huge difference to the other team.
On if he’s surprised by any elements of Marner’s game:
He’s a really talented guy. When you look at all the kids in our lineup – Carrick and Zaitsev and Hyman and Brown and then the three guys who have the elite skill – he not only has the skill but he competes every day. He competes with and without the puck. That’s really positive. Obviously some of those other guys, they have to compete, that’s why we like them so much, but when you’ve got that much skill you can float around a little bit and still play in the League. You’re not going to be good, but you’re still going to be in the League. He’s that competitive, he’s on the puck, he’s smart, he’s easy to talk to, enjoys the game, wants to get better… I’ve never coached a kid that young, that good just because we’ve never been in that situation before. [Stanislav] Chistov, when I was in Anaheim, had an unbelievable first year playing with [Samuel] Pahlsson and [Steve] ‘Stumpy’ Thomas there. He was an unbelievable player for us in the playoffs, but he still wasn’t at this level.
On if he saw defensive progress tonight:
Yeah, for sure, I thought we did, but I didn’t think we were good on the rush tonight sorting out. They were very active, they play an open game and sorting it out on the rush, we weren’t as good. We were better in the D zone but not as good off the rush and we got some cycles because of that.
On if Komarov’s role has changed because of the influx of youth:
Not really, I just think last year he got off to a hot start and got believing. This year he was ordering new sticks. When you don’t score you do different things to try to — he’s probably eating at different restaurants. Just keep doing what you do. He’s a good player, he plays hard, he’s got two in three games or something like that, four games, or whatever. Suddenly he’ll get going. Hyman – he didn’t have any goals and suddenly you have two. Just relax, play, you’ll be fine.
On what he knew about van Riemsdyk when he arrived and what he has learned since:
A big, talented guy obviously. He played at the Olympics and had been a good player. James’ game is still, in my opinion, young. He can be a way better player than he is because he can add a cycle game, a heavier game to his — he’s always been a rush player, but he can be more than that because of his hands and his skillset. We work with him every day to try to evolve that part of his game. What I like about James the most is James wants to be great. He lives that way, thinks about hockey all the time, wants to be a hockey player first. I think it doesn’t matter how old you are. If you think like that, you can get a lot better.
TYLER BOZAK POSTGAME: NOVEMBER 15, 2016
On his line with van Riemsdyk and Marner:
I think we can still improve, but obviously it’s fun playing with those guys for me. They do a lot of work, I just try to complement them as much as I can and get to the right spots on the ice and distribute the puck to them as much as possible.
On his linemates’ similarity in thinking the game:
I think it’s huge. Whenever you can get a few guys who can think the game pretty well and know the spots to be. We’re kind of learning where a guy is going to be and where we should go when they have the puck and where they like to look. It helps a ton, yeah.
On Marner’s hockey IQ making up for his size:
Just watching him every day, the size means nothing. Maybe for someone who just turns on the TV and sees him beside [Zdeno] Chara or something might think it’s a big difference, but he knows how to use his size to his advantage and he plays so well with the size he is. I don’t think it’s a disadvantage to him at all.
On if the quick offensive chemistry has been a surprise:
We’ve had some terrible games too. We’ve got to try to be more consistent and try to contribute every night. We’ve done pretty good at home and have to try and transfer that to the road and then start producing there for the guys.
On van Riemsdyk’s hat trick:
It’s awesome. Obviously he’s a very talented player and he has scored a lot of goals. Whenever you can get a hat trick it’s a special moment so I’m glad we were able to be a part of that and get the win.
MITCH MARNER POSTGAME: NOVEMBER 15, 2016
On what he liked about the team’s play tonight:
We played the way we wanted to tonight. We played solid down low, especially on the cycle, we didn’t give up many turnovers in the neutral zone. That’s the way we’ve got to play.
On the chemistry of his line with Bozak and van Riemsdyk:
Our last couple of games we’ve really gotten together well. We’re eliminating turnovers down low and in the neutral zone, and we’re cycling the puck hard. That’s why we’re having the success.
On if things are coming easily to him:
We’re just trying to limit the turnovers like I said and we’re all playing heavy down low and creating chances that way. I think we’re just playing a solid game all around and making sure we’re not turning over pucks.
On van Riemsdyk:
Obviously he’s a big, heavy guy and he gets to the net and he can control the puck down low well. I know if I’m ever in trouble he’s going to be around that net or down low and you saw on the first one, he’s in the goalie’s eyes and their goalie can’t see it too well. I just know he’s always around the net to bang in a rebound or relieve pressure.
JAMES van RIEMSDYK POSTGAME: NOVEMBER 15, 2016
On his hat trick:
It felt pretty good. I thought the puck was following us around tonight as a line and I was obviously on the fortunate end of some of those bounces and was able to be opportunistic on the chances.
On what is making his line work:
I think just the way we read off each other has been coming every game. I think the three of us have pretty good hockey sense and the more we play together, the more the plays become second nature.
On facing a goaltender they haven’t seen much in the past:
I think it’s same as every goalie. We know every goalie is pretty much a big guy, moves really well and that sort of thing. We’re just trying to throw as many pucks as we can on net and we’ll go from there.
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