Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Dion Phaneuf (3) ties up Vancouver Canucks forward Derek Dorsett (51) as Maple Leafs goalie Jonathan Bernier (45) watches the puck during third period NHL hockey action in Toronto on Saturday, December 6, 2014.Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press
This one was no Picasso.
But the Toronto Maple Leafs again found a way to win against a team ahead of them in the standings, holding on through a barrage of shots from the Vancouver Canucks to beat them 5-2 on Saturday.
This was really a tale of two games, as the Leafs rang up a 4-0 lead in the first 26 minutes to chase Canucks starter Ryan Miller from the game.
Leafs netminder Jonathan Bernier was then absolutely outstanding the rest of the way, facing 34 shots in the final two periods as his team got into a lot of penalty trouble.
"Bernier made big stops – two in particular in the early going – that really saved our butts," Leafs coach Randy Carlyle said afterward. "I think Bernie was the catalyst for sure."
"He's unbelievable," defenceman Stephane Robidas added.
Vancouver came into this game with one of the best five records in the league (18-7-1) and 6-1-1 in their last eight and perhaps were due for a loss as they wind their way through a tough seven-game road trip.
Still, it was surprising to see the Leafs jump ahead so quickly and convincingly, getting all four goals in a 10-minute span – from depth producers Jake Gardiner, Richard Panik, Peter Holland and Joffrey Lupul – to seemingly put it out of reach.
Holland's new-look third line with Lupul and David Clarkson did a lot of the damage there, but Carlyle praised both his fourth line (which produced one goal) and Nazem Kadri's trio for their work against the Sedin twins.
"I thought Nazzy was good defensively," Carlyle said, crediting the lower end of his forward lineup with winning the game. "I thought he was on top of the Sedins… they did a good job."
Despite the huge hole early, the Canucks put in an impressive push attempting a comeback.
Between the Leafs 4-0 goal and when Clarkson finally iced the game with an empty netter late, Vancouver outshot Toronto 30-13 and was ahead on shot attempts 51-19.
Some of that was all the power plays, but even at even strength it was lopsided: 20-11 on shots and 30-16 on attempts (65 per cent possession).
(One penalty in particular could get looked at by the NHL's player safety department, as Robidas got his elbow up into the chin of Shawn Matthias and he had to leave the game with a suspected concussion. Robidas said afterward he hadn't intended to make the play he did.)
Playing with a lead has been something the Leafs have been a lot better at overall this season than last year, but their game has slipped over this 5-1-1 stretch, with Carlyle unhappy about how they played in a win over Dallas on Tuesday and a loss against the Devils on Thursday.
Overall, though, these are two teams having seasons far better than anyone predicted.
With the win, the Leafs are on pace for 98 points in an Eastern Conference that has maybe four good teams and is pretty wide open beyond that. Some of what they've done of late is unsustainable, but they also have room to improve in areas like the net, where Bernier showed last year he can be better.
Vancouver, meanwhile, is on pace for 112 points after missing the playoffs a year ago, a nice credit to the new management (who were in the press box in Toronto watching intently on Saturday) and coach Willie Desjardins after the mess under the last regime.
The difference in the game overall wasn't large. It primarily came down to goaltending, however, and if Bernier gets on a roll, it's there the Leafs would have an advantage.
"I don't think we played a great defensive game," Bernier said. "But at the same time you've got to find ways and tonight we did against a really good team."
"Our PK did a heckuva job for us and our goalie was outstanding," Carlyle said. "Simple as that."