Leafs extinguish Flames in shootout
TORONTO — Toronto Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock knows goaltender Frederik Andersen was the difference between two points or a home loss against the Calgary Flames.
Andersen stopped a seasonhigh 47 shots through regulation and overtime, and three more in the shootout as Toronto beat Calgary 2-1 on Wednesday for its second win over the Flames in eight days.
William Nylander scored the winner in the fourth round of the shootout, deking to the backhand to beat Mike Smith.
“I didn’t think we had very good legs. We looked like a team that came back from a road trip even though we had days to recover,” said Babcock, who watched him team get outplayed for large chunks of the night and outshot 48-29.
“I thought we’d get traction and take over but that didn’t happen... In the end our goalie was better.”
Both teams had scoring chances in the extra period, with 3-on-3 play opening the ice. But Andersen came up with some clutch stops at the right moment to give Nylander a chance to win in it the shootout.
“In particular in overtime we gave up some Grade-A chances,” said Babcock.
“I just want to take it one game at a time, real important to be able to flip the page,” said Andersen, who has a .954 save percentage in his last nine games.
Morgan Rielly scored for the Maple Leafs (18-10-1), who also downed Calgary 4-1 on Nov. 28.
Mark Giordano scored for the Flames (14-12-2), who have dropped three in a row. Smith stopped 28 shots in a losing cause.
“We did exactly what we wanted to do, played with energy, put pucks on the net,” said Giordano. “If we play like that we’ll get two points more often than not.”
Toronto centre Tyler Bozak was back in the lineup after missing two games and was placed on a line between James van Riemsdyk and Mitch Marner to start the game.
Calgary had control early in the contest when Toronto’s Matt Martin went to the box midway through the first period.
And Giordano made Martin pay for his hooking penalty when his wrist shot from the point went through traffic and beat Andersen for the game’s first goal at 10:37.
Later in the period, Martin checked Troy Brouwer into the boards between the benches, leading to a brief scrum. Flames forward Matthew Tkachuk appeared to spear Martin from the bench while the altercation ensued, but it went undetected by officials. Martin said post-game that he didn’t feel it and was told about the play by a staff.
“You can play with an edge for sure, I think he’s an effective player, good player,” said Martin. “Whether the league wants to look at it is up to them. I don’t think it’s a good hockey play but I’ll be all right.”
Flyers 4, Oilers 2
EDMONTON — Wayne Simmonds had a goal and an assist and Claude Giroux added a pair of helpers as the Philadelphia Flyers won their second game in a row, defeating the Edmonton Oilers 4-2 on Wednesday.
Jordan Weal, Dale Weise and Michael Raffl also scored for the Flyers (10-11-7), who have won consecutive games on the heels of a 10-game losing skid.
Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored for the Oilers (11-15-2), who have lost two of their last three.
Philadelphia outshot the Oilers 13-7 in the scoreless opening period.