In his book The Game, Ken Dryden talks about Bob Gainey and what made him special.



“He is sensitive to the game’s tempos, to its moods, if it moves too fast or too slow, if we are in control, or they are, or no one is. And each time he goes on the ice, his role becomes the same. More than to score and to stop his man from scoring, it is one almost of stewardship. When he leaves the ice sixty seconds later, he wants the puck in his opponent’s zone, the tempo of the game to be right for the score and for the time of the game; he wants the game under control. Then, as the next line comes on to do what it does best, Gainey stays with the game, watching for the link between what he has done and what comes next, and if a goal is scored a minute or two minutes later, he will find satisfaction or despair that is more than just vicarious.”



Boy, does that sound like some old timey flowery nonsense.



But perhaps it’s not?



On Feb. 14, Nazem Kadri scored a goal against the New York Islanders. Watch Auston Matthews in this extended cut of the sequence leading up to the goal. In particular, note how he doesn’t let the Islanders escape their own end before changing.



Matthews doesn’t get a point or even a plus on the play. He just drove the play up the ice, kept it alive and went to the bench. Kadri gets a goal and a plus.



On March 9, Tyler Bozak scored a goal against the Philadelphia Flyers. Watch Matthews in the sequence leading up to the goal. He tracks back (even if that attempted hit at the blue line was ill-advised), picks up the puck, makes a play to send the Leafs up ice.



Again, no point or plus. Bozak gets a goal and a plus.



In this clip from Feb. 15 against Columbus, the Maple Leafs kind of half clear the puck down the ice. Watch Bozak, who is on the left wing as the play goes up ice and his halfhearted wave at the puck carrier as he goes for a change, leaving acres of open ice.



The Leafs fourth line all get tagged with minuses here, as they jumped on to the ice while the Blue Jackets were in the process of a counterattack that was made much easier because of Bozak’s wave at the puck.



This clip from March 1 begins with the Maple Leafs in the Sharks end of the ice. Tyler Bozak is pursuing the puck. When he coasts out past the blue line, he’s 40 seconds into his shift. Fortunately for him, he manages to get off the ice before the Sharks score the winning goal.



This wasn’t exactly glorious defence: The Maple Leafs somehow managed to concede despite being in a 1-on-3 situation to start. Bozak’s slow change as the puck came up ice didn’t really cause the goal although Matthews took the minus after being on the ice for a couple of seconds.



A hockey game’s like the bible. Whatever you happen to believe, you can usually find a video clip that supports you, which is why data is so helpful as a check on whatever your beliefs might be. As it so happens, the data suggests that there’s more here than just snapshots of moments that the TV guys can tut-tut about.



In the 10 seconds after Tyler Bozak left the ice at 5-on-5 last year, the Leafs were outscored 4-1. They were outshot 59-24 and put up a 37.9 per cent Corsi percentage. Nazem Kadri had a similar problem. In the 10 seconds after he changed on the fly, the Leafs were outscored 3-0. They were outshot 57-39 and put up a 40.9 per cent Corsi percentage.