Tyler Bozak won the first-period draw cleanly, Mitch Marner jumped into the circle to feed it back to Jake Gardiner and — just like they draw it up in practice — his one-timer was soon in the net.
“It’s not going to happen like that the majority of games, but in the offensive zone it’s nice to win those faceoffs and create scoring chances,” said Bozak.
The Leafs did it again in the second period of Tuesday’s 3-1 win over the Dallas Stars: Auston Matthews won the draw cleanly back to Gardiner and skated toward the net. Gardiner let a wrist shot go. Matthews deflected it — 2-0 Leafs.
“It’s something (coach Mike) Babcock stresses,” said Matthews. “If you win faceoffs, you start with the puck. We scored two off faceoffs, so it’s really important.”
There’s a belief among the analytics crowd — especially those for whom possession numbers matter the most — that winning faceoffs doesn’t necessarily lead to more possession time.
But faceoff wins can make a difference.
According to research by Andrew Bailey of Primary Data, 423 goals have been scored within 10 seconds of a faceoff this season — or 9.7 per cent of all goals (4,363) after Tuesday’s games. That’s up slightly from 9.2 per cent last year.
It’s usually the team that wins the faceoff that scores (333 of 423), but 90 times the faceoff loser’s team has found the net — showing how important it is when wingers fight for a puck that might have been lost by their centre.
“We always think it’s important,” said Bozak. “If you win the faceoff, you’re playing offence instead of chasing the puck around.”
Bozak happens to be among the best, 11th in the league with a 56.4 per cent win percentage. A faceoff he’s won has led to a Leaf goal within 10 seconds seven times this season. Only Derek Stepan (10) of the New York Rangers and John Tavares (8) of the New York Islanders have more in that category.
“A big focal point for us is winning faceoffs and creating offence off that,” said Gardiner.
The NHL doesn’t track faceoff-to-goal conversion. But the league, and the Leafs, track faceoff wins by zone very closely — who is doing well and who is not.
As a team, the Leafs rank 21st with a 48.8 faceoff win percentage. They’re better in the offensive (49.5 per cent, 20th) than the defensive zone (46.7 per cent, 26th).
“If you look at us in the defensive zone, we’re among the lowest in the league,” said Babcock. “It’s an area of concern. Bozak (53.6 per cent in defensive zone) is solid. If Nazem (Kadri, 42.1 per cent) wants to get to be the type of player he wants to be, he’s got to get better in that area.
“It’s a priority for us. If you’re going to win games down the stretch and you have a one-goal lead, you can’t lose every faceoff. Lots of times what has been a problem for us is, we never have the puck. (Losing faceoffs) makes it a hard way to start.”
BY THE NUMBERS
423: NHL goals scored within 10 seconds of a faceoff this season.
333: Of those goals scored by the team that won the faceoff.
90: Scored by the team that lost the faceoff.
4,263: Total goals this season through Tuesday.
18: Goals off a faceoff by the San Jose Sharks, tops in the league.
14: Goals by the Leafs off a faceoff, tied for third.
6: Goals allowed by Tampa and Winnipeg after winning a faceoff, worst in the league.
2: Times Toronto has won a faceoff but allowed a quick goal, tied for 14th in that category.
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