BLACKHAWKS 5, MAPLE LEAFS 4
Andersen gets hook, but rally falls short from five-goal hole
Is it a blip or is it a trend?
The Maple Leafs lost their second in a row on Wednesday night, 5-4 to the Chicago Blackhawks at Scotiabank Arena.
This started off just as embarrassing as Monday’s 6-2 loss to Tampa, with Frederik Andersen pulled from both games. The Blackhawks scored the first five goals — four in the first period.
“Just a blip,” said Leafs centre Auston Matthews, who had a goal and an assist. “We hold each other accountable. We have to step it up. We can’t be doing that, these important points on the line. We’re fighting for home ice … It starts with the first period. We’ve got to be ready from the get-go.”
But unlike Monday, when the Leafs called it a night early and Matthews said the team “quit,” they rallied. Matthews, Andreas Johnsson and Morgan Rielly each had a goal and an assist, and John Tavares scored with the extra attacker, but the comeback fell short.
“That’s the way we need to play from the first — we were on top of them all third,” said Matthews. “Getting the puck back. Taking care of it. Not turning it over. We’re fast. Play in their end. Create havoc. Two games starting like that. We have to turn the page.” á Opportunity lost: The Leafs’ mini-skid coincides with a similar one by the Boston Bruins, who’ve also lost two in a row but remain four points ahead of Toronto for the second seed in the Atlantic Division — and home-ice advantage for what appears to be an inevitable Toronto-Boston first-round showdown. Troubling for the Leafs are the back-to-back poor efforts. This time, at least, they didn’t deflate. The second and third periods were entertaining.
á The downside: The Leafs are at their best with blazing offence backed by stellar goaltending. They got neither. No question Andersen has been off his game. The first two Chicago goals were quite stoppable. Duncan Keith’s shot from the point went between Andersen’s legs, and a shot from well out by Brendan Perlini beat him glove side. Andersen allowed four goals on 14 shots and was replaced by Garret Sparks to start the second period.
á For Toronto: Chicago was up 5-0 by the time Johnsson got the Leafs on the board with a deflection of a Rielly shot at 18:27 of the second period. Until then, the story had been big saves by Chicago’s Corey Crawford, with a bit of help from the crossbar and posts. Crawford was pulled due to illness, though, and Collin Delia started the third. Matthews scored at 7:57. Rielly scored on a power play shortly after that, at 10:55, and brought the crowd to life with the gap narrowed to 5-3. Johnsson’s goal was his 20th goal of the season. The rookie trails only Tavares (38), Matthews (32) and Mitch Marner (24) in that regard.
á For Chicago: Dominik Kahun, Brandon Saad and Alex DeBrincat also scored for Chicago, which was dead last on Dec. 11, but is on a 15-6-0 run and back in the playoff hunt.
á Roster notes: Forward Zach Hyman was a late scratch with the flu ... Defenceman Travis Dermott (shoulder) took part in the morning skate ... Jake Gardiner (back) remains out.
á Up next: James van Riemsdyk and the Philadelphia Flyers are in town for a rare Friday home game, 7 p.m. start.