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TSN Toronto Maple Leafs Reporter

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TORONTO – On a night when a lot went wrong for the Toronto Maple Leafs, just enough went right – at the right time – to earn them a 6-5 shootout victory.

Taking on the Dallas Stars on Wednesday, the Leafs were already without top-line centre Auston Matthews (shoulder injury) for the seventh straight game, and by midway through the second period starting goaltender Frederik Andersen pulled himself from the game with what later would be revealed as an upper-body injury.

Andersen seemed fine prior to abruptly exiting the ice during a TV timeout, forcing backup Curtis McElhinney to take over. But before the Leafs had even lost Andersen, they’d already coughed up their two-goal first period lead, with Dallas pocketing four unanswered goals by the start of the third period. A 3-2 deficit wasn’t easy for McElhinney to step into, but he helped the Leafs claw back on the strength of a James van Riemsdyk hat trick and a game-tying goal by Patrick Marleau with 15.3 seconds left in the third period.

Tyler Bozak scored the shootout winner as the Leafs (41-22-7) won their franchise-record 11th straight game on home ice.

“There was no heads-up, really. It’s just one of those things,” said McElhinney. “I’m sitting there [charting] my faceoffs and next thing you know they’re handing my gloves to me. It was a strange game, a little bit back and forth with some good opportunities. Nice way to come back and pull it out at the end.”

The only obvious collision Andersen was involved in during the game’s first half happened at the 14:24 mark of the opening period when Stars winger Alex Radulov went careening into Andersen’s net and landed on top of him.

Leafs head coach Mike Babcock said after the game he believed Andersen was rattled on the play, and he didn’t have any further update on his status. But Babcock added that he didn’t think the injury was serious as Andersen continued to play after he was hurt.

But a source told TSN.ca Wednesday night that the team is recalling Garret Sparks from the AHL Toronto Marlies to be McElhinney’s backup in Buffalo on Thursday.

Coming in cold off the bench, McElhinney ended up being the difference for Toronto Wednesday. He not only earned them at least a point with a solid effort in the third period, he was also terrific in overtime when the Leafs had to kill off a minor penalty and were outshot 7-3. It was the second time this season McElhinney has replaced Andersen mid-game, and marked his eighth win in 13 appearances this season.

“The heart-rate spikes [in that situation]. I think it would be interesting to see what that looks like on a heart rate monitor,” McElhinney said. “But it certainly goes up and the adrenaline starts pumping and when the first shots are taken there you start to settle in.

“I feel very comfortable out there right now and, obviously, we’ve gotten the goal support which goes a long way.”

Andersen didn’t get quite the same support McElhinney received over the first period and a half, with the Leafs’ early 2-0 lead aided by some lucky bounces. Nazem Kadri got Toronto on the board by capitalizing on a wandering Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen, who tried to play the puck outside his net but it bounced right to Kadri with a gaping net to score on. Just 25 seconds later, van Riemsdyk banged in an easy rebound off Lehtonen’s pad.

But Dallas (38-26-7) responded with two goals of their own in just 1:32, courtesy of captain Jamie Benn and centre Radek Faksa, to tie things up before the end of the frame.

While the first period ended on a low note for Toronto, the second frame was one of the worst periods of hockey the Leafs have played all season. They managed just three shots on net (compared to Dallas’ 14), had one horrendous turnover and ineffective stretch passes earned the Leafs just 30.56 per cent possession. The Stars, meanwhile, kept their offensive momentum going with Tyler Seguin and Remi Elie extending Dallas’ lead to 4-2 after 40 minutes.

“They played right and we didn’t. They were better than us,” said Babcock. “They played hard. We didn’t handle their forecheck, we didn’t execute, we didn’t make any plays, we didn’t play heavy, but I thought we came out in the third period and we dug in. We just talked about, ‘Let’s just get one and they’ll tighten up a bit and we’ll crawl our way back in the game,’ and so, in the end, that’s what happened.” 

After Babcock shortened his bench and started blending lines in the third, Toronto’s offence re-emerged. Van Riemsdyk knocked in another rebound off Lehtonen and completed his first hat trick of the season (the third of his career) on the power play five minutes later. Toronto’s power play has been red-hot of late, going 8-for-16 in its last seven games.

“I just try to get to the good spots on the ice where you can score goals and I’m playing with smart players who know how to get the puck to those areas,” said van Riemsdyk. “I got some good puck luck tonight and was able to capitalize on my chances.”

So did Marleau, when the Leafs were out against five exhausted Stars who couldn’t get a change late in the third period and he knocked in a goal to force overtime. That’s when it was McElhinney’s turn to shine. The goaltender stood on his head in the extra frame and the shootout, flashing the leather twice on Seguin and making a couple saves right off his mask. He finished the night with 13 saves on 15 shots.

“He gets ready for games in crazy ways, but that’s all goalies,” said Mitch Marner of McElhinney. “He gets his mind ready, and for moments like that he’s always ready to jump in. Everyone saw it tonight; coming in cold tonight against that team isn’t easy, especially in the shootout. He had a great night for us.”

McElhinney was already scheduled to start in Buffalo, but Babcock didn’t commit to whether Andersen will back him up.

But suffice it to say, no one among the Leafs is lacking for confidence in McElhinney if he’s the starter for a spell going forward.

“I mean, Mac’s been great all year, obviously,” said Babcock. “He was good in the shootout, gave us a chance and got us a big win. We’re trying to crawl our way into the playoffs and you need points and we don’t have enough so we got to find ways to win."

TAKEAWAYS

Giving their all

While the Leafs had a shocking number of passengers for too much of Wednesday’s game, Bozak and van Riemsdyk consistently stood out in a good way for continuing to press hard. Bozak started the night by assisting on van Riemsdyk’s goal and was flying all over the ice in the first period with good play through the neutral zone. He kept on sparking his line alongside van Riemsdyk and Connor Brown, and he got a couple great shifts off the rush going for his line – on one, van Riemsdyk tried feathering a pass to Brown on a two-on-one but the puck ricocheted off a sliding defenceman who cut off the lane, yet still almost wound its way through the air and in. When many of Bozak’s teammates started letting their games slip in the second period, Bozak was backchecking and playing hard down low to get some semblance of a cycle going for his line with a rotating crop of wingers. Eventually that line’s hard work paid off when Bozak set up van Riemsdyk’s third period score to give the Leafs some juice. Bozak also scored the Leafs’ shootout winner prior to Marner potting the final goal in the shootout. He finished the night with two points and was plus-3, with 59 per cent possession, while van Riemsdyk finished at 61 per cent possession.

Jonesing for Johnsson

It was a long road to his NHL debut for Andreas Johnsson. After being brought over to North America from the Swedish Hockey League in 2015, Johnsson took an elbow to the head in an AHL playoff game with the Marlies and missed the remainder of the postseason with a concussion. That injury affected him into the following year and slowed his progress towards an NHL opportunity. So when Johnsson finally got his shot on Wednesday, he was sure to make the most of it. He flew onto the ice for his first shift like a rocket, and put his first NHL shot on net on just his second shift. He didn’t shy away from using his body to get physical in the corner and win puck battles. Then suddenly, it felt like déjà vu all over again for Johnsson when Radulov caught him from behind and pancaked the rookie into the boards. Johnsson immediately went to the Leafs’ bench, and retired to the dressing room right after that. The 23-year-old was able to return for the start of the second period after a cut to his face was dressed. With the Leafs trailing early in the second period, he didn’t get as much ice time from there as Babcock might have liked, but Johnsson had good jump when he was on the ice and didn’t let the dustup with Radulov keep him from using his body effectively along the boards. Babcock said he wasn’t able to deploy Johnsson the way he wanted with the Leafs chasing the game, so he didn’t have a good scouting report on the winger’s debut. Johnsson finished at minus-1 with one shot on goal in 7:34 of ice time.

Next game

Toronto takes on the Sabres on Thursday.​