KADRI THE HERO AS LEAFS PREVAIL IN OT
After letting a 4-1 lead slip away, home side rallies to defeat Anaheim in OT
Hosts rally to force overtime in wild, feisty game against Ducks at ACC,
There was a lot on the line at the Air Canada Centre Thursday night.
Anaheim needed a point to clinch a playoff spot. The young, learning Maple Leafs needed to prove they could play against a bigger, tougher and savvier opponent.
Mission accomplished for both teams.
Nazem Kadri’s second goal of the game gave Toronto a 6-5 overtime win over the Ducks. But who saw this coming? A goal-filled, penalty-filled contest that saw Connor Brown score his first career NHL goal, Frankie Corrado score his first as a Leaf and Tyler Bozak return triumphantly from concussion.
GOOD KARMA
The win was the Leafs’ third in a row and sixth in their last eight. If the winning continues, the Leafs will climb out of the basement — they’ve been there since Feb. 27 — and reduce their odds of winning the draft lottery for the first overall pick.
Leafs coach Mike Babcock sounded torn.
“I’d like to pick first,” said Babcock. “All 30 teams would like to pick first. But I like to win every night. I’m a big believer in if you do good things, good things happen. If you cheat the system, it cheats you. So do what you’re supposed to do.”
BOZAK’S RETURN
The Leafs centre returned after a 21-game layoff and didn’t look out of place, generating offence and working well with Brown and Josh Leivo and helping a power play that scored three times against the best penalty killers in the game. Bozak had two goals. “I missed a couple of open nets, so that didn’t feel good,” said Bozak.
“It was fun. Really enjoyed playing with those two guys. They get a lot of loose pucks and get in the corners for you. My timing was off a bit here and there, obviously on a couple of open nets and a couple of other things, but overall I felt good.”
BROWNIE POINTS
The Leafs had a 4-1 lead after Corrado got his first goal in a Toronto jersey. His smiling face filled the overice jumbo screen to a huge ovation. “It’s a treat,” said Corrado. “There was no reason to hold back the smile. You can show a little emotion. We’re all human.”
And humans make mistakes. The Leafs’ mistake was to let Anaheim get back in the game. The Ducks scored the next four. It was Brown — with a memorable first goal, a backhander — that forced overtime.
“It’s something I’ll remember the rest of my life,” said Brown. “My first point was an empty-net assist. It’s nice to have my first goal be a real hockey goal that meant something big.”
THE TAKEAWAY
The Leafs had a lead, let it get away, and got it back on Kadri’s second goal of the game, the overtime winner.
“We’re a resilient team,” said Kadri, who had a career-high four points. “That’s what’s getting better, responding to adversity. Giving up those goals was a bit of a collapse. It would have been easy to throw in the towel. We came back, we fought to the last minute and we got the two points.”
QUOTABLE
“I’m sure Babcock isn’t a huge fan of these ones but as players they’re fun to play in. I’m sure there are going to afew defensive-zone clips tomorrow. Like I said, just to be able to stay with a team like Anaheim. They’re a great team and they’re in contention this year, so just to be able to not give up and stay on top of them, and come out with a win.”
— Nazem Kadri
“Nazem is playing better all the time. It hasn’t gone in for him. He found a way to play head-to-head against the other guy all the time. For him to get rewarded with points, you feel like he should be getting points. When he doesn’t it doesn’t necessarily bother the coach but it bothers you (the media). I’m glad to see him get some tonight.”
— Babcock, on Kadri’s four-point night
“He’s an easy guy to play with. He’s always in the right spots. He talks all over the ice. He makes it easy.”
— Brown, on playing with Bozak
“To be able to get down and tie it and win in overtime shows a lot about our group. It was a good lesson for us. Hopefully we won’t let leads like that go away again.”
— Bozak