Maple Leafs vs. Red Wings observations: Lineup changes, Ilya Samsonov’s promising return not enough

“Sammy” chants reigned down from Scotiabank Arena with two minutes left, but Andrew Copp spoiled the party by scoring the game-winner moments later.

Ilya Samsonov played fairly well after a two-week hiatus from the lineup, but the team in front of him failed to generate many high-danger chances against an opponent that arrived at the arena around 6 p.m. While the Leafs have picked up more than their fair share of “loser points” this season, there’s no denying that they left at least one point on the table in back-to-back nights.

This game featured new forward lines, including one that paired Pontus Holmberg with Auston Matthews and William Nylander. Holmberg scored, and Mitch Marner nabbed his 600th career point, but Sheldon Keefe won’t be thrilled with his team’s performance. Lucas Raymond’s empty-net goal sealed a 4-2 victory for the Red Wings.

Three stars1. Tyler Bertuzzi

Bertuzzi drew a penalty by winning a battle off a neutral zone faceoff, and had a decent scoring chance on the ensuing power play. He snapped a three-game pointless streak in the late second, giving the Leafs the lead by setting up his new linemate for a tap-in:

Bertuzzi played 1:21 in the third period against Colorado, so he definitely needed this performance to get back in Keefe’s good books. His minutes were still limited at 14:40, but that assist was spectacular.

2. Pontus Holmberg 

Holmberg has been excellent as of late, and Keefe decided to reward him with a spot on the top line. He threw a pretty big hit on Patrick Kane in the opening minutes, then quickly drew a penalty to give his team a power play. Holmberg’s second period got off to an even better start, as he opened the scoring with a deflection:

Scoring the goal wasn’t the only time that Holmberg was noticeable in the second, as he also created a zone entry and set up Nylander for a good chance toward the end of the period. While I don’t think he’ll be on the first line for long, he may have earned himself another game.

3. Ilya Samsonov

Samsonov had surrendered four or more goals in each of his last five games, and gave up six goals on just 21 shots in his last start. The bar for improvement was quite low, but he did look fairly steady for the most part. His .870 save percentage Sunday looks rather unimpressive, but there are at least some positives to build off of here. It looked like he earned the Leafs a point (and maybe two) with this save in the final minutes, but it wasn’t meant to be:

Perhaps I’m grading on a bit of a curve here, but there weren’t all that many stars to choose from.

Sheldon Keefe brings out his lineup blender

Keefe decided that Sunday was the night to experiment, and he did more than just slightly tweak his forward lines. Holmberg joined a top line featuring Matthews and Nylander, while Marner joined an “all-GTA” line with Bertuzzi and Domi. Knies was demoted to the fourth line, and Robertson returned to the lineup to play with John Tavares and Calle Järnkrok. The early returns were unspectacular, as while the Leafs were largely fine defensively in the first, they also failed to generate many chances themselves.

Fortunately, the Leafs looked far more dangerous to start the second, as Holmberg scored in the opening minute, and Domi had a breakaway moments later. Bertuzzi made an excellent pass to set up Marner for a goal at the end of the second, but the Leafs never exactly dominated. While it’s nice to reward players from time to time and experiment, I don’t think we’ll see this come playoff time:

Tavares’ line has been quiet as of late, but pairing him with one of Marner or Nylander has generally worked well. Domi is probably best in a bottom-six role where he can match up against opposing third pairings, and that line could use a shooter. I definitely don’t see Knies taking on a ton of defensive zone starts next to David Kämpf down the stretch.

Toronto’s next game is against the Edmonton Oilers, and Keefe typically tries to shelter both Tavares and Domi. While it’s easy to get one of the two players plenty of minutes, trying to evenly distribute time between them could be challenging. Is the top line with Holmberg getting the matchup against McDavid? I’m interested to see how long Keefe sticks with this, but based on Sunday’s performance, I think more changes are coming.

Ilya Samsonov looks playable

Despite the lineup shakeup, the main story of this game was always going to be Ilya Samsonov. The Leafs put Samsonov on waivers, and rather than seeing game action with the Marlies, he focused on resetting mentally and working with the coaching staff. While he wasn’t spectacular, it looked like the team’s plan at least somewhat worked.

The Leafs let him settle in early, surrendering just three shots in the opening 10 minutes, thanks in part to two Toronto power plays. He faced his first big test after Bertuzzi took a needless offensive-zone penalty eleven minutes in, but Joe Veleno missed the net on Detroit’s best chance. The Red Wings carried play for the remainder of the period, but Samsonov was up to the challenge, facing all 10 shots that he saw. This was his best:

The second period got off to a similar start, as the first half of the frame was spent largely in Detroit’s end. Once again, the Leafs took a penalty just past the halfway point, and once again, Samsonov was up to the challenge. He didn’t let in any goals until 16 minutes into the second, when Dylan Larkin beat him glove side:

J.T. Compher deked around him a minute later, but fortunately, Simon Benoit was there to save a goal:

Unfortunately, no one was there to bail him out in the third, as Daniel Sprong took advantage of a missed poke-check:

Game Score

Final grade: C-

I expected far more from the Leafs in the first. The Red Wings didn’t arrive at Scotiabank Arena until close to 6 p.m., but it was the Leafs who looked a little bit sloppy on two early power play chances. Detroit outshot Toronto 10-7 in the opening frame, and definitely carried the play in the second half of the period. The new forward lines just weren’t clicking yet.

The Leafs scored twice in the second and gave up one as well, but this was a rather low-event game. Some fatigue was expected given that the Leafs were playing in their third game in four nights, but there should be no excuse based on when the Red Wings arrived at the arena.

What’s next for the Leafs?

Heading to Edmonton to play Connor McDavid and the red-hot Oilers on Tuesday at 9 p.m. on TSN.

(Photo: Kevin Sousa / NHLI via Getty Images)