McElhinney helps deliver payback
Backup goalie steps up as Leafs return to form, while avenging blowout in Florida
On a night when Auston Matthews eclipsed a Maple Leafs legend, it was Curtis McElhinney who subtly stole the show.
As much joy as there is around the Maple Leafs with the impressive rookie brigade — led by Matthews, who now holds the team’s single season rookie scoring record at 35 — there was angst around the recent goaltending situation.
The biggest question: How would the Leafs do without Frederik Andersen, pulled from Saturday’s game and working out feverishly to recover from his undisclosed upper body injury?
Turns out, quite all right.
McElhinney, largely a career backup, doesn’t have much of a history in playoff races. Still, McElhinney was impressive in Toronto’s 3-2 win over the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night, as the team rebounded from a disappointing performance Saturday in Buffalo.
He was perhaps most impressive when Florida stopping Jonathan Huberdeau and Thomas Vanek midway through the third period when the Leafs ran into penalty trouble, although he couldn’t stop Jaromir Jagr with 56 seconds to go, the Florida net empty and the Panthers on a power play.
Matthews eclipsed Wendel Clark’s team single-season rookie record of 34 goals.
“He had a great start to the year, and it’s awesome he was able to get there,” Clark said in the first intermission.
Zach Hyman scored his fourth short-handed goal of the season, another Leafs record. William Nylander extended his Leafs rookie record with points in 12 straight games.
Leo Komarov also scored for the Leafs.
The Panthers may have changed everything for the Leafs with a 7-2 spanking of Toronto earlier this month in Florida. It was widely viewed as a measurement of whether the Leafs had what it takes to stay in a playoff race.
The Leafs’ response: a 7-1-1 run through their next nine games.
That was followed by a 5-2 loss to Buffalo, another embarrassing performance, but the Leafs bounced back again Tuesday.
“Sometimes it’s better to get smacked,” Leafs coach Mike Bab- cock said before the game. “When you get smacked, you got usually about two periods to watch the clock, and it hardly moves.
“You sit there, and you take your punishment, and you get slapped and you get ready for the next game. It’s a good reset. You all need to get slapped once in a while. That’s why most of us got wives.”
The Leafs started strongly, leaping out to a 2-0 lead.
Matthews scored the game’s first goal — something he’s done 14 times to lead the NHL in that regard — with a quick shot that eluded James Reimer.
Komarov scored his 13th of the season at14:43, set up by Connor Brown.
The Leafs outshot Florida 13-3 in the first but, as is often the case, they started to take the team they were dominating lightly, taking their foot off the gas, making lazy plays that turned into giveaways.