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Michael Amadio: B
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Amadio hit a cross bar in the first period and later pulled off a nasty backhand toe drag for a scoring chance. He had a couple good steals and was strong on the forecheck.
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Ridly Greig: B+
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Greig was up to his old tricks in the third, crashing the net after a good shot on net, and making goaltender Anthony Stolarz and the five Maple Leafs skaters on the ice collectively lose their minds. Greig could’ve benefited from some more selfish plays on Saturday — he passed up some scoring chances while looking for the perfect pass — but it was a second straight strong game from No. 71 coming off the Olympic break.
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Stephen Halliday: C
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Halliday’s night started off poorly, lacking awareness as the puck carrier in the D zone and easily being knocked off of it behind the net. He managed two shots in 12:06, but didn’t play many minutes when the game was still being decided.
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Nick Cousins: B
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Cousins was much more noticeable on Saturday, once stealing a puck in the neutral zone and sending it up to Pinto for a rush. Cousins fought former teammate Scott Laughton after Greig caused chaos.
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Lars Eller: C+
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Eller and Tyler Kleven lost a puck battle in the corner right before Rielly’s 1-0 goal. Eller handled the Leafs’ dangerous forwards well, once pressuring William Nylander right out of the Sens’ zone.
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Defencemen
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Jake Sanderson: A-
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Sanderson had a really solid performance in a must-win game, but the most important moment of his night came when he broke away from a scrum with Simon Benoit to defend Nick Jensen, who was being mauled by a furious Max Domi.
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Artem Zub: A-
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Zub’s elite defensive stick deflected a shot from Domi early on that looked destined to tickle twine. He played Nylander particularly hard all night. And, offensively, Saturday was a perfect example of how Zub, who is not the most skilled with the puck, can be so effective in the opponents’ end. He knows his bounds, and instead of trying to do too much, he’ll often opt for a perfectly placed shot for a rebound or complete a sneaky exchange with a forward who is ramping up speed around the perimeter.
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Thomas Chabot: A
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Ahead of his 1-1 goal, Chab
