Leafs down Golden Knights
Kadri scores two, and Marner gets the shootout winner for Toronto
Auston Matthews started the day Monday with “a little soreness,” in the words of Toronto Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock.
You have to figure that Matthews was more than just a little happy by the end of the Leafs’ first home game after a four-game trip.
Matthews was in the lineup against the Vegas Golden Knights after departing the morning skate early, sending fear into Leafs Nation.
The sophomore had an assist, and that point helped the Leafs beat the Golden Knights 4-3 before a crowd of 19,398 at the Air Cnada Centre.
Mitch Marner scored the only goal of the shootout as the Leafs were able to exhale after losing six of their previous eight games.
In their first game against the expansion Golden Knights, the Leafs learned what other clubs in the National Hockey League have come to know in the first month: The team based in the Nevada desert plays hard every night and refuses to take no for an answer.
The Leafs will be sure to remember as much when the clubs meet on New Year’s Eve in Las Vegas in their only other meeting of the 2017-18 regular season.
Toronto had a 3-1 lead after the first period despite playing some average hockey, and the Golden Knights scored once in the second and early in the third period to tie the game.
It appeared on first glance that the Leafs took a 4-2 lead at 3:21 of the third when Tyler Bozak scored on a power play. But, James van Riemsdyk made contact with the puck with a high stick, and referee Kendrick Nicholson called it off immediately. The replay showed Nicholson’s call was correct.
The Golden Knights scored the tying goal less than three minutes later, when Deryk Engelland took a few strides over the Toronto blue line and ripped a shot over Frederik Andersen’s right shoulder at 6:16.
And not long after that, Vegas goalie Maxime Lagace got a piece of a Matthews shot and the puck glanced off the post to the right of the netminder.
You hear about players “being all over the ice,” a common description after a player mostly dominates.
Well, it fit Matthews to a T in the first period as the Leafs built a twogoal lead. Matthews forechecked with zeal and consistently was deep in the defensive zone, coming back all the way to get his skate in front of a Golden Knights shot before the puck went in the net.
Matthews set up the Leafs’ second goal, which came when van Riemsdyk put the puck between the legs of Lagace. Matthews dangled, making short work of Vegas defenceman Luca Sbisa, and brought the puck to the front of the net, where it went loose and van Riemsdyk banged it in.
Nazem Kadri scored a pair in one game for the second time this season, and is on pace for 41 goals. This after Kadri scored a careerhigh 32 in 2016-17.
Kadri opened the scoring at 4:14, his shot after Morgan Rielly fired the puck from the point hitting the post and bouncing over the goal line. Marner also assisted on the goal, which came on a power play.
As Kadri’s goal was being announced, James Neal tied the game at 4:52. An Erik Haula shot would have gone wide, but the puck deflected off Neal’s right skate and into the net past Andersen.
After van Riemsdyk’s goal, Kadri scored again at 15:03. Patrick Marleau made a heads-up play to keep the puck in along the boards on a Vegas clearing attempt, and whipped it over to Kadri. The Leafs centre spun on his backhand and got the puck past Lagace.
Vegas closed the lead to 3-2 Leafs at 18:50 of the second period when Reilly Smith one-timed the puck off the end boards during a Golden Knights power play. In the box was Matthews serving a tripping minor, his first penalty of the season.
Babcock has been publicly — and, we’re sure, behind closed doors — urging William Nylander to play with more of a competitive spirit.
Nylander has just three goals in 16 games, and nearly scored in the first period on a blast, but hit the side of the net. Nylander had the second assist on van Riemsdyk’s goal.
“One thing about Willy, if he competes, he’s going to have the puck a lot and be dangerous,” Babcock said after the morning skate. “He got off to a real good start and in this last segment, kind of like our team, he fit in good (in that he did not play well).
“Willy wants to be a star, he’s a good kid, he has a good ability to evaluate himself and his player, but we need him to be better. It’s time to dig in.”
The Leafs’ three-game home stand continues on Wednesday night when the Minnesota Wild visits the ACC.