If you’re a longtime reader, you already know how obsessed I am with passes originating from behind the net. Research over the last decade has proven that these plays essentially double your expected shooting percentage, which helps explain why The Great One racked up so many assists from below the goal line.
Jordan Kyrou & Co. clearly took a page out of that book last night, beating Jack Campbell on multiple occasions by getting him to move the wrong way post-to-post and quickly convert on passes out front. The Leafs also generated most of their quality looks in that fashion, with Mitch Marner leading the way along with some surprising contributions from Pierre Engvall and Ilya Mikheyev.