THAT WAS FAST!
Nylander needs just six seconds of OT to get hacked on a breakaway, score on penalty shot
CHICAGO — And now for something completely different — a penalty shot walk-off win for the Maple Leafs.
Six seconds into the extra period here Wednesday, William Nylander was awarded the freebie for getting obstructed on a breakaway by Duncan Keith. He beat Jeff Glass and Toronto escaped with a 3-2 win over the Blackhawks.
It was the ninth straight game the Leafs played that was decided by one goal or an empty netter, during which their record is 4-2-3. Like their bench boss Mike Babcock says, it’s a tight, tight league and very unforgiving when the points are scrounged come April.
Auston Matthews was alone in the slot in the dying seconds of regulation, but shot high and wide, allowing Chicago a last rush that ended at the buzzer in Frederik Andersen’s glove.
Toronto went up 2-1 early in the third as Nazem Kadri potted a puck that James van Riemsdyk had hunted down, but Mitch Marner was in the box when Chicago tallied its second with the man advantage. Babcock challenged that Artem Anisimov was sitting on Andersen at the end, but not before Nick Schmaltz scored cleanly determined the referees.
For the second straight game, Toronto had its goal waved off for goalie interference, though van Riemsdyk’s shove of Jeff Glass was much more blatant than Matthews brushing Jonathan Bernier on Monday.
The Leafs headed straight to Dallas after the game for a Thursday night encounter with the Stars that will herald the all-star break, five days off before returning home to face the Islanders.
Inside of six minutes, the Hawks had just missed a couple of side door tap-ins, roared in on a 3-on-1 and gone to the power play. The last one proved fatal for the Leafs, as Brent Seabrook scored off Leo Komarov’s stick, ending Chicago’s 0-for16 skid with the man advantage.
True to the word of Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane after the morning skate, Chicago looked more like its old self and generated second and third shots when pressing the Leafs.
Monday had been ripe to turn things around against the Atlantic Division-leading Tampa Bay Lightning, but they were blanked 2-0.
“We’re looking for production, be it from 5-on-5 or power play,” coach Joel Quenneville said. “You score in this league through ugly goals and getting some shots on net.”
That turned out to be the Leafs modus operendi after being pinned in their zone and bumped off the puck most of the first period. Ron Hainsey broke his stick for the second time in the period on a slap shot that knuckleballed towards the goal. The defenceman sprinted to the bench for a new one,while Jake Gardiner ended up with the puck and fired it through traffic off Marner. As Hainsey reached the Leaf bench it erupted in cheers at the goal, Toronto very fortunate to escape the frame 1-1.
With a United Center crowd of 21,563 getting restless, the Hawks fumbled away a late second period power play and continued to struggle for offence. Leafs swept a couple of pucks to safety that fell behind Andersen, who is expected to be replaced by Curtis McElhinney on Thursday.
Quenneville and Babcock both changed forward lines, in the Leafs case getting both Marner and Connor Brown off the fourth line at Leo Komarov’s expense, Marner linking up with Kadri and Patrick Marleau. Kasperi Kapanen returned from the Marlies and will now have to work his own way off the fourth line, Babcock reminding him the Leafs are a tougher team to make since his first attempts to stick.
“Part of (developing a winner) is making sure your players are over-ripe when they arrive,” Babcock said before the game. “We want Kappy to play 20 minutes, not 10, put his time in and be way stronger than he has, become a better player and be hungry.”