Andersen saves the Leafs’ day
TORONTO There have been times this season when the Maple Leafs felt they deserved a better fate on home ice.
That wasn’t the case Tuesday.
Frederik Andersen was stellar in making 36 saves as Toronto survived a spirited Vegas onslaught to defeat the Golden Knights 3-1.
The visitors had 82 shot attempts compared to the Leafs’ 40, including a 40-13 edge in a second period where Toronto barely touched the puck.
“We didn’t get on the forecheck,” Leafs winger Mitch Marner said. “Freddie Andersen has been unbelievable for us every single game.
“He’s the reason we stole one tonight.”
Connor Brown, with a goal and an assist, Marner and Nazem Kadri, into an empty net, scored for Toronto (10-50), which came in just 3-5-0 at Scotiabank Arena compared to a perfect 6-0-0 on the road.
“We got fooling around with the puck and they showed us how fast they were,” said Toronto head coach Mike Babcock, whose team registered a season-low 21 shots. “We were lucky to get out of the second.
“When you look at this game, it’s kind of like when Pittsburgh (3-0 on Oct. 18) left here with the points or Dallas (2-1 on Thursday) left here with the points. You thought you had done enough to win and you didn’t.
“Tonight the shoe is on the other foot.”
Cody Eakin replied for Vegas (6-8-1), which got 18 stops from Marc-Andre Fleury.
“A lot was real good,” Knights head coach Gerard Gallant said. “I liked the way we came in here and played against a real good Toronto team.”
RED WINGS 3, CANUCKS 2
DETROIT — Dylan Larkin scored the only goal in a shootout to give the Detroit Red Wings a comeback win over the Vancouver Canucks.
BLUES 4, HURRICANES 1
ST. LOUIS — Ryan O’Reilly notched his first NHL hat trick and Robby Fabbri added his first goal in almost two years, lifting the St. Louis Blues to a victory over the Carolina
Hurricanes.
LIGHTNING 5, OILERS 2
TAMPA, Fla. — Nikita Kucherov had two goals and an assist, Andrei Vasilevskiy made 33 saves and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Edmonton Oilers.
Steven Stamkos had a goal and two assists, and Brayden Point and Yanni Gourde also scored for the Lightning.
Edmonton got goals from Ryan Strome and Leon Draisaitl, and Mikko Koskinen stopped 30 shots. Connor McDavid was kept off the scoresheet for just the second time this season as his eightgame point streak ended (six goals, five assists).
BLUE JACKETS 4, STARS 1
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Sergei Bobrovsky made 27 saves to lift the Columbus Blue Jackets over the Dallas Stars.
RANGERS 5, CANADIENS 3
NEW YORK — Neal Pionk scored the tiebreaking goal on a sensational, end-to-end rush late in the third period and the New York Rangers rallied to beat the Montreal Canadiens.