Golden Knights Drive Play, Maple Leafs Lean on Bobrovsky
Vegas had the better looks all night, and the gap was wider than the one-goal final. The Golden Knights piled up chances worth 4.66 expected goals — think of that as what their looks should have produced — while firing 43 shots and hemming Toronto in waves.
Toronto stayed in it because Sergei Bobrovsky was sharp. He stopped 40 of 43 and finished at +1.66 goals saved above expected — he erased chances Vegas usually buries and kept the game from getting out of hand.
At five-on-five, Vegas’ drivers showed up. Jack Eichel (goal, assist, 6 shots), Mark Stone (goal, 5 shots) and Mitch Marner (assist, 5 shots) pushed the attack, with support from Brett Howden and Ivan Barbashev. The Maple Leafs got finishing from Jack Roslovic, Nick Paul, and Easton Cowan (4 shots), while Kirill Marchenko added an assist.
Luck cut against Vegas too: four shots hit iron — Shea Theodore and Trevor Connelly for Vegas; Marchenko and Morgan Rielly for Toronto — the kind of bounces that mute a lopsided run of play.
Takeaway: this looked closer to a Vegas blowout under the hood, and Bobrovsky’s night papered over Toronto’s five-on-five leaks.
