Leafs stay the course, get big win over Tampa
TORONTO The Toronto Maple Leafs didn’t let a late Tampa Bay rally affect their game plan Monday night. Instead they refocused to show they could compete with the top team in the Eastern Conference.
William Nylander scored twice and added an assist and James van Riemsdyk scored the go-ahead goal in the third period to lead Toronto to a 4-3 win over the Lightning.
“Everybody kind of just took a deep breath and went back to playing how we did in the first two periods,” said Auston Matthews, who picked up three assists. “(We) took care of the puck a little more, (we) just got in deep and obviously a big goal by James there.”
“We’ve found a rhythm and this is what we want to stick to,” Nylander added.
Jake Gardiner also scored for the Leafs (34-19-5), who won their fifth consecutive home game and eight of their last nine games overall. Toronto gained two points on Tampa Bay and trail the Lightning by six points for top spot in the Atlantic Division.
Frederik Andersen made 28 saves to collect his 28th win of the season.
Alex Killorn, Nikita Kucherov, and Yanni Gourde scored goals for Tampa Bay (38-15-3). Andrei Vasilevskiy made 19 saves in defeat.
The game was seen as a potential playoff preview with both teams showcasing offensive talent up front, tight defence, and solid goaltending.
1 COYOTES 6 BLACKHAWKS
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Max Domi, Clayton Keller, Alex Goligoski and Tobias Rieder each had a goal and an assist, and the Arizona Coyotes pounded the slumping Chicago Blackhawks 6-1 on Monday night.
The Coyotes ended a nine-game losing streak to the Blackhawks and sent Chicago to its season-high sixth straight loss.
Antti Raanta had 37 saves for Arizona. The Coyotes’ six goals were their highest total of the season.
Domi put Arizona ahead to stay just 92 seconds into the game. Zac Rinaldo provided a screen in front of Blackhawks goalie Anton Forsberg, and Domi’s shot went in for his fourth goal of the season.
The 22-year-old Domi stopped a 21-game drought with his first goal since Dec. 16.
PANTHERS 7 OILERS 5
EDMONTON — Vincent Trocheck had three goals and Evgenii Dadonov added two as the Florida Panthers emerged with a 7-5 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday.
Aaron Ekblad and Denis Malgin also scored for the Panthers (24-23-6), who have won five of their last six games.
Patrick Maroon, Leon Draisaitl, Drake Caggiula, Anton Slepyshev and Connor McDavid replied for the Oilers (23-28-4), who have lost four in a row.
The Oilers surged back ahead midway through the third when Caggiula tipped in a Kris Russell point shot. But the Panthers replied just 23 seconds later on a goal from the slot by Dadonov.
Florida got another powerplay goal 18 seconds into the third as Trocheck went in alone and beat Talbot.
Trocheck then scored his second of the game on yet another Florida man advantage six minutes into the third. He rounded out the hat trick with an empty netter.