Leafs’ six-game win streak ends in 4-1 loss to Coyotes
TORONTO — Antti Raanta made 26 saves as the Arizona Coyotes halted the Toronto Maple Leafs’ National Hockey League win streak at six games with a 4-1 victory on Monday.
Brendan Perlini, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Max Domi and Tobias Rieder scored for the Coyotes (5-15-3), who have won three in a row for the first time this season. James van Riemsdyk scored for the Maple Leafs (14-8-0).
Frederik Andersen had his shutout streak snapped at 1:41:28 with a first-period goal against after blanking the opponent in backto-back games. He finished the game with 28 saves.
Auston Matthews, playing in his 100th career game, looked to have tied the game 2-2 with 3:50 to play only for the goal to be overturned upon review for goalie interference on Zach Hyman.
It took the Leafs almost eight minutes for their first shot on net and they were being outshot 10-1 at the midway mark of the first.
Perlini put the Coyotes ahead 1-0 at 9:53 while on the power play, taking a cross-crease feed from Derek Stepan and wristing it over a sprawled-out Andersen.
Hyman had a good chance from in close to tie the game late in the period but was turned away by Raanta, who had the paddle of his stick down to close the bottom of the net.
Toronto started to take control of the game as the first wore on and earned a power-play chance of its own that carried over with 1:53 of 5-on-4 time to start the second.
The Leafs made use of that man advantage just 33 seconds into the period when van Riemsdyk put home a rebound for his team-leading fifth power-play goal, 11th overall, of the season.
Andersen made a big glove save on Christian Dvorak midway through the period to keep it tied, but Toronto ran into penalty trouble leading to Arizona’s second goal. And it only took Ekman-Larsson five seconds on a power play to beat Andersen with a point shot through traffic with 1:43 to go in the period as the Coyotes took a 2-1 lead into the third.
Shots were 17-16 Arizona after 40 minutes.
Leafs coach Mike Babcock shuffled his lines midway through the third and Toronto came up with a waved-off goal and two posts but no equalizer before Domi and Rieder scored empty netters.