ANYONE FOR SMOKED DUCK?
The Leafs broke a scoreless tie in the second period with goals by John Tavares, Andreas Johnsson and Jake Muzzin to win their second straight game, 6-1 over Anaheim, and extend the misery of the Ducks, who have won just twice in their last 18 games.
Tavares’s goal seemed to open the floodgates against Anaheim’s John Gibson. The Leafs added three more in the third from Connor Brown; William Nylander, with his first goal in 12 games; and Johnsson again, completing a four-point night.
á Offensive stars: Muzzin had three points — a goal and two assists — for his first points as a Leaf. In a great 25-second stretch at the end of the second period, Muzzin checked Corey Perry into the Ducks’ bench at the blue line, had words with Anaheim’s Ryan Getzlaf, took a cross check from Nick Ritchie and scored on the ensuing power play, with two seconds left in period … Johnsson made the most of limited ice time, getting his first three points in six minutes and 30 seconds over the first two periods.
á Defensive stars: Leafs goaltender Frederik Andersen wasn’t overly busy, but he made several great stops in the second period when his team was hanging on to one- and two-goal leads … The Leafs had a strong neutral-zone checking game going in the second, when they controlled over 70 per cent of the puck possession.
á Takeaways: The Carolina Hurricanes had three scouts at the game Monday night. The Rangers, Blue Jackets and Panthers had two each. Montreal GM Marc Bergevin was also in attendance and has been following the Ducks lately … Tavares’s goal was his 24th while playing five-on-five hockey. That is the highest total in the NHL, two better than Alex Ovechkin … The Leafs have played well in the past couple, but their power play is still not producing enough. They went 1-4 Monday night and are 7for-55 over their last 22 games.
á They said it: “We play in a place where the fans love us. I saw that sign, it’s impressive to see how many kids battle cancer and smile right back. It’s important for us to give back … it’s a blessing to play here.” — Mitch Marner, to TSN’s Mark Masters, after giving a stick to a young fan in warm-ups. It was World Cancer Day and the youngster had a sign that read: “Mitch, I beat cancer.”
á Up next: The Leafs are back on home ice Wednesday against the Ottawa Senators. Puck drops at 7:30 p.m.