Leafs lose to Panthers in shootout
SUNRISE, FLA. Leave to the Maple Leafs’ hottest player to get them one point at the BB&T Center on Wednesday night.
Nazem Kadri reached a careerhigh point streak when he scored at 13:58 of the third period, roofing a shot over Panthers goalie Roberto Luongo after a great feed from Connor Brown.
That tied the game 1-1, but the Leafs wound up losing 2-1 in a shootout to start a two-game trip.
Nick Bjugstad, the fourth Panthers shooter, scored the deciding goal when he deked to his forehand on Frederik Andersen.
Until the Kadri goal, the Leafs did not have a ton of life, and looked to be on their to way to being shut out for the first time in almost a year. The Leafs last were blanked on Nov. 30, 2016, at Calgary against the Flames.
Kadri has recorded a point in eight consecutive games for the first time in his National Hockey League career.
Kadri put his Leafs teammates in a tough spot when he took a retaliatory cross-checking minor with 22.2 seconds remaining in regulation while the Leafs were on a power play. Toronto managed to kill it off.
After the Kadri penalty, though, in the final seconds, Morgan Rielly hit the crossbar.
In a building half-empty on the eve of U.S. Thanksgiving, Leafs coach Mike Babcock started Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner on a line together for the first time, hoping the two could help lead the Leafs to victory after the club lost to Arizona on Monday to end a string of six consecutive wins.
Once Babcock had finished his line juggling, he had Matthews between Zach Hyman and Marner; Kadri centring Patrick Marleau and Brown; Tyler Bozak between James van Riemsdyk and William Nylander. Matt Martin, Nikita Soshnikov and Leo Komarov were sharing time on the bench in a tight third period.
Dominic Moore was a healthy scratch after playing in the previous seven games.
The Leafs certainly could use more from Nylander, who has one goal and four assists in his past 15 games.
Babcock was coy after the Leafs’ optional morning skate, saying there “could be” lineup changes.
“We just had a good run and now we have to get back on another one,” Babcock said, referring to the fact the Leafs’ six-gamer recently ended. Luongo has owned the Leafs in his career and had to be sharp at times on Wednesday.
Andersen provided the kind of netminding the Leafs required to have a chance to win, making 41 saves. Luongo made 42 saves.
In overtime, Luongo made the biggest save, getting a pad on a Jake Gardiner shot.
The Matthews line drew the Panthers’ top line of Aleksander Barkov between Jonathan Huberdeau and Evgenii Dadonov for the most part, and held the high-scoring trio in check.
The Panthers took a 1-0 lead at 15:16 of the second period on an ugly goal befitting the Leafs’ uninspired start.
Bjugstad was credited with his fifth goal of the season, scoring from behind the goal-line. After Bjugstad released the puck, it might have bounced off Leafs defenceman Connor Carrick and Andersen before disappearing into the Toronto net. Certainly, the puck doesn’t go in without hitting a Leaf first, and from the way the visitors were playing, the nature of the goal made plenty of sense.
Morgan Rielly had a chance to tie the game after he was fed by Matthews, but his shot hit the post behind Luongo.
Earlier, with zeros on the scoreboard, Nylander tried to set up van Riemsdyk on a two-on-one, but passed into his teammate’s skates as the Panthers’ Vincent Trocheck arrived on the scene at the crease. Rielly then had a great opportunity, but Luongo got his left arm on the attempt to send the puck wide.
The Leafs had a tough start, getting outshot 11-0 before the eightminute mark.
By the time the first period ended, Andersen made 15 saves, while Luongo had to stop seven shots by the Leafs, who were not much of a threat on a late power play. Florida had 23 attempts to the Leafs’ 14 and didn’t have a power play with which to work.
Dadonov had a terrific chance to put his team up 1-0 in the opening minutes, but missed the net from the slot following a Rielly turnover.