PHILADELPHIA — The misbehavin’ Maple Leafs shot their way out of prison.
But it was a narrow escape here Saturday, with their six minor penalties — one in overtime — covered by Frederik Andersen’s 37 saves, then 10 more during the team’s longest shootout since the tiebreaker was introduced 14 years ago.
Toronto emerged with a 4-3 win over the Flyers on Andreas Johnsson’s goal in the 11th round.
The win was badly needed to get the Leafs on the right path in November after inconsistent efforts from their top guns during the season’s first month in the wake of injuries.
Toronto has been short-handed 13 times the past two games and hovering close to the bottom five in the NHL on the penalty-kill.
“It’s something we talk a lot about,” agreed Mitch Marner, who emerged from the shadows with the tying goal in the third period. “We just have to keep our stick away from skates and hands. Those are getting called a lot. No one is trying to take them, we’re just getting sticks in the wrong areas.”
Marner, Morgan Rielly and Cody Ceci joined Andersen to foil the Flyers after an accidental trip was called on Kasperi Kapanen in OT. Instead of it costing the Leafs, as it did in the Washington loss Wednesday, the game went to a shootout.
After a string of stops by Andersen and Flyers’ Brian Elliott, Travis Konecny scored, only to have Jason Spezza cap his big night by pushing the night further.
Just when it seemed the clubs would need the extra hour of daylight savings time, Johnsson ended it with his first NHL shootout strike. Ten rounds was Toronto’s previous mark six years ago against Winnipeg.
“I think I had a pretty good percentage in Sweden if you search,” said a jubilant Johnsson. “It felt good, to clear out the overtime penalty, to get this win away from home and when Freddy has been good.”
The Leafs were getting thin on experienced shooters after Spezza, with Dmytro Timashov and Ilya Mikheyev getting their first chances and flubbing.
“Some of the guys were getting nervous on the bench,” laughed Kapanen, who also missed, but had a goal and assist early in the game. “I looked at the Goat (Frederik Gauthier) and he wasn’t smiling any more. And Justin Holl wasn’t looking too excited, either.”
GAME ON
With two-thirds of a top line injured — John Tavares and maybe Zach Hyman hope to be back Tuesday against Los Angeles along with former King Jake Muzzin — the Leafs need more from their big guns in such matches.
Auston Matthews was blanked, but when Marner had his big chance, he buried it, seizing a neutral zone turnover and going around a defenceman for a wraparound.
But Kapanen was their best offensive player and Spezza was given a lot of ice, winding up on the game sheet six times with a goal, assist, and the shootout marker, but also serving a bench minor and taking two others himself.
Toronto had a three-day respite from its own draining series of back-to-backs in October and got to face a Flyers team that went the distance Friday during a road game in Jersey.
The Leafs couldn’t have asked for a better start, keeping the pressure on Philly and peppering Elliott.
The crowd grew restless after Kapanen got up a head of steam, left defenceman Travis Sanheim in a twisted heap and scored after a three-game points drought.
But with Philly managing just two harmless shots on Andersen, the Leafs took a clumsy too-many-men call and gave up their momentum. The Flyers connected, although Ivan Provorov needed a double deflection off Marner and Rielly for it to elude Andersen.
On the second Philly power-play goal, captain Claude Giroux answered coach Alain Vigneault’s questions about the leadership group’s role during the team’s slow start with a nice goal. He spun away from Marner and as he feigned to go behind the net or centre the puck to ex-Leaf James van Riemsdyk, but instead stuffed it short side under Andersen.
Kapanen started the second Leafs tying goal with a nice rush and retrieval and helped Spezza and Ilya Mikheyev work it in front to a scramble, the goal credited to Spezza, his first as a Leaf at last after the long road back to his hometown team.
“The first is one you never forget,” said Spezza, whose first in the NHL, for Ottawa in 2002-03, was also at Wells Fargo Center.
RETURN ON HOLD
Tavares came a long way just for a cheese steak and a press box seat watch a game.
The captain was held out of Saturday’s game, no doubt upsetting head coach Mike Babcock who had pencilled the captain in to return from a broken finger he suffered more than two weeks ago.
“What are we going to do (except) coach the guys who are ready to go,” Babcock said with more than a hint of Saturday-morning frustration. “We’re doing everything we can to get (Tavares) ready, (but) that’s why (coaches) don’t make those medical decisions. Obviously, he’d have been in a week ago if I was in charge of that department.”
Babcock has sparred good-naturedly with the Leafs’ massive training staff the past few years whenever they’ve urged restraint with an injured player he wants back, but this development clearly surprised the coach.
Tavares seemed ready to return as of Friday and was bummed to have made the trip for nothing. But the decision to sit buys him another three days off.
“This morning, I consulted with the medical staff and after going through some testing, meeting with the doctor (Friday) and how I responded to practice yesterday, it was just felt to take advantage of the next three days (off) and see some more progress,” Tavares said. “It’s obviously disappointing travelling with the team and having the mindset to play. At the same time, you have to be safe.”
Tavares and Hyman spent much of Saturday morning practising and shooting. Tavares insisted this was not a setback, just that he can’t yet comfortably grip his stick for a quick release or lean into puck battles, a big part of his game.
“It sucks watching, but circumstances are what they are,” he said.
CALL IN ‘THE SPECIALIST’
With Muzzin missing the game with the charley horse injury suffered early in Tuesday’s loss to Washington, Martin Marincin was back in the lineup.
“We call him ‘The Specialist’,” revealed Kapanen. “He’s got that long stick and just does his job so well. It’s hard to play against him and that’s exactly what we need. (On the penalty-kill) it’s hard to get stuff by him, he takes up a lot of space as a big guy.”
The Survivor might be a better moniker for Marincin, who has often been on the fringe of the lineup and was a candidate for waivers before the Muzzin mishap.
“Jake’s been playing great for us,” said Rielly. “But we have lots of guys who can take more responsibility and play more minutes, take new roles.
THE HAK IS BACK
It was surely an emotional night for Leafs assistant coach Dave Hakstol, who was headmaster of the Flyers for three full years. Philly twice made the playoffs, but did not get past the first round before he was fired early last season. As Leafs assistant coaches are not allowed to talk to the media, Babcock spoke about Hakstol’s early influence on the team.
“He’s been a coach a long, long time, understands what it takes, how to talk to players and the defensive side of the game. You look at our D, other than Morgan, it’s all different and we’ve had injuries there. I believe he’s done a really good job and our (23rd ranked) penalty-killing is a lot better than the numbers show. The better measure for everyone here is the test of time.”
Added Rielly: “He came right in, enjoys his role. You work with him one-on-one, you realize that. He’s changed up a couple of things that he likes and is trying to teach the game a different way.”
STEAKS ARE HIGH
Babcock said his staff put Hakstol’s local culinary knowledge to good use Friday night when he took them to a fast food joint specializing in the city’s signature cheese steaks.
“Hak set a new precedent for pre-game meals,” Babcock claimed. “Oh my god, I can hear my daughter the nutritionist yapping in my ear. But the smell and the long lineup of people … that will get us over the (hunger) hump here.”
Kapanen also took teammates to one of his favourite cheese steak haunts. As a pre-teen living across the river in New Jersey when his father Sami was a Flyer, Kapanen’s choice didn’t disappoint, either.
Kapanen still knows many of the Wells Fargo Center rink staff.
FETCH, BOY, FETCH
Babcock was still trying to improve the Leafs in the retrieval department before Saturday’s game.
“In order to break other teams down, you have to shoot the puck,” he began. “But often you you shoot it and don’t believe you’re going to get it back. So then you make one more play, another play and back-check instead of shooting it and playing off the goalie. But to do that, you have to trust the guys on your line to get it back. That’s what Johnsson does, that’s what Hyman does, that’s what were trying to do.”
LOOSE LEAFS
Before the game, there was lots of local grumbling about the Flyers who were under .500 in October for the eighth straight season … Despite his two big goals on Friday in New Jersey, Sean Couturier of the Flyers did not take more than three draws, noted Babcock, removing one of the top faceoff men in the league. But Giroux is still hot and Konecny moved in Friday to win seven of nine as the Flyers remain one of the best teams in the dots. “We go with more guys (on faceoffs), they go with two guys,” Babcock said of what works for both teams … Leafs defenceman Tyson Barrie’s next game will be his 500th … Multiple point games from Timothy Liljegren and Jeremy Bracco and Pontus Aberg’s seventh goal were notable in the Marlies’ 6-5 shootout loss in Laval on Saturday afternoon. The Leafs farm team still hasn’t lost in regulation with a 7-0-3 record.
from Sports - Latest - Google News https://ift.tt/33iAVpG
via IFTTT
November 03, 2019 at 11:03AM
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar