As a follow up to our earlier Leafs killer article, below are the top five active skaters and top three goaltenders who can’t seem to get the bounces against the blue-and-white.
To review, the main stat under consideration here is the player’s career regular season point-per-game (ppg) average compared to their ppg average in regular season matches against Toronto. However, other factors such as number of games played, playoff production, multi-point games, and their team’s win-loss record against the Leafs are also considered.
You can view the full raw data here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8CZCFbv8cFBYkZSWUduZVJPTDQ/edit?usp=sharing
————————————————————————————-
SKATERS
1) Teemu Selanne (ANA)
The Finnish Flash has been absolutely snake bitten (by his standards) when the Leafs are involved, and has been since he broke into the league. Even in his 76 goal rookie campaign Selanne only put in 3 goals in 5 games, twice being shut out completely. Overall, he averages 0.25ppg lower than his sparkling career average of 1.01. Over 34 games with Winnipeg, Anaheim, San Jose, and Colorado, Teemu’s record is a dismal 9-20-5 against the blue and white. He has posted only 4 multi-point games, and even in those games his record is 1-2-1. Since rejoining the Ducks in 2008, Selanne has just 1 assist in 5 games verse Toronto.
————————————————————————————
2) Evander Kane (WIN)
The Jets’ star has only played 13 games in his young career against the Leafs, but they have not been his best work. The Vancouver native who has averaged 0.62ppg over his career (and rising), has put up only 4pts in those 13 games, 2 of them back when the Jets were still in Atlanta. He has been a plus player in only one of those games, sporting an ugly -7 overall rating verse Toronto. Kane picked up an assist in January of this year, so perhaps he is on his way to improving his ugly 0.31 points-per-game mark verse Toronto.
————————————————————————————
3) Travis Zajac (NJD)
Besides a 4 point night on January 29th, 2010, the normally productive Zajac has been dreadful against the Leafs, otherwise putting up just 4pts in 24 games. Travis averages 0.57ppg over his career, so his 0.29 number against the Leafs is pretty embarrassing. As a matter of fact, Zajac is in a devastating slump, and has not recorded a point in his last 10 games against the Leafs, dating back to March of 2010. Zajac has logged serious minutes in those games as well, always over 19 minutes per game, and aiding his Devils to a disappointing 2-5-3 record over that time. If that’s not enough, he has a career -5 rating against the blue-and-white.
—————————————————————————————
4) Ryan Callahan (TBL)
New scenery in Tampa will hopefully help Callahan get off the schneid against the Leafs as the American has just one assist in his last 8 outings against Toronto with the Rangers. The career 0.57ppg scorer is 27 percentage points below that versus the Leafs, against whom he also has a career -3 rating. Amazingly, Ryan has a 13-5-3 record in his 24 games against Toronto, though he has been a very small part of that success to say the least. If he gets to work with Stamkos in Tampa, those numbers may rebound.
—————————————————————————————
5) Zach Parise (MIN)
The long-time Devils forward did not enjoy most of his trips to the ACC while with New Jersey. Save for 3 multi goal games (including a 4pt night), Parise averages 0.48ppg against the Leafs, massively below his career pace of 0.81. Even with the good nights included, he comes up 8 points short of his career average. He has also been completely shut out in 12 of those games against the Leafs, and also found himself on the wrong end of five overtime losses. His luck may be changing in Minnesota where he scored a point in both meetings with the Leafs thus far, with the Wild posting a 1-1 record.
—————————————————————————————
GOALTENDERS
1) Jonas Hiller (ANA)
The Swiss backstop has had a tough time in his infrequent starts against Toronto, and it will be interesting to see if Bruce Boudreau gives him the start on Monday night. In 4 career starts against the Leafs, Hiller has allowed 6, 5, and 4 goals twice, leading to a putrid GAA of 4.84. The Ducks goaltender is one of the best statistical goaltenders in the league this season, and 4.84 is 2.34 points above his career average. Hiller lost all 4 of those games versus the buds, the earliest being in 2009 and the latest in October of this season. He also owns an embarrassing SV% of .849 against the Leafs, so he at least has a good chance of improving that if he starts Monday in Anaheim.
—————————————————————————————
2) Marc-Andre Fleury (PIT)
The goaltender who has been blessed to be a part of one of the most successful teams of the last decade has not felt that way in match-ups with the Leafs. Fleury possesses dreadful numbers against them (especially considering the team in front of him), including a GAA of 3.14 and SV% of .891, which are both far away from his career averages. Fortunately for him, his card-carrying Leaf killer teammates Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin have been able to salvage his win-loss record, as Fleury holds a 14-9-3 mark over 28 games. He has allowed 4+ goals 12 times and been pulled twice, but it is likely still not enough to convince Dan Bylsma to start Jeff Zatkoff or Tomas Vokoun when the Penguins next face the Leafs this year, which won’t happen unless the two meet in the playoffs.
——————————————————————————————
3) Brian Elliot (STL)
Elliot is probably glad to be far away from the Eastern Conference, as the current St. Louis backup used to take quite a beating from Leafs’ shooters between the pipes for the Ottawa Senators. In 9 games against the Leafs with the Sens, Elliot was pulled twice and had a SV% of less than .900 in 6 of the games. He did have one 29 save shutout, but ultimately possesses a poor 3-4-1 record. In 2 starts verse the buds since escaping the Canadian capital, Elliot allowed 3 goals or more and recorded a SV% below .875 both times. In all, his GAA of 3.06 is 56 points above his career average, so it is unlikely he’ll get the start when the Blues come to the ACC in late March, especially with Leaf killer Ryan Miller now ahead of him on the depth chart.
—————————————————————————————
The interesting case of Martin Brodeur (NJD)…
The NHL’s greatest goaltender (arguably) was considered for both this list and the Leaf Killer list because of his conflicting statistics against the Leafs. On one hand, his regular season statistics against the buds range from unimpressive to downright awful by his standards. Marty has an alright 22-20-3 record in 58 appearances against the Leafs, but since a lot of those starts occurred with the best defensive team in the league playing in front of him, those numbers start to look poor. His career GAA is 31 points below his Leafs average of 2.54, and his SV% of .903 is far below his career mark in that category.
However, his playoff performances beg to differ (Brodeur is now one of only two active goalies to have appeared in a playoff game against Toronto). The Montreal, Québec native played every minute of two six-game playoff series victories over the Leafs in 2000 and 2001. In those 12 games, Brodeur allowed more than 3 goals only once (a game the Devils won) and recorded two shutouts. Though a critic might point out he never faced over 30 shots in any of those games, including his infamous 6-save shutout in game six of the 2000 series, two playoff series wins are two playoff series wins. In summary, it seems fair to say that Brodeur is overall a bit below average against Toronto, but hot when it matters.
This concludes our two part series on players who have enjoyed success or experienced failure against the Leafs. Once again, the raw research can be seen in its entirety here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8CZCFbv8cFBYkZSWUduZVJPTDQ/edit?usp=sharing
—————————————————————————————–
Written By: Alex Bloomfield
Researched By: Alex Bloomfield and Logan Boyd
STATs Never Lie 