Oct 23, 2017
Maple Leafs hand Kings first regulation loss of season
Frederik Andersen made 36 saves as the Toronto Maple Leafs handed the Los Angeles Kings their first regulation-time loss of the season with a 3-2 victory on Monday. Matt Martin, Tyler Bozak and Patrick Marleau scored for the Maple Leafs (7-2-0).
TORONTO – The Maple Leafs needed a big win. Mitch Marner needed a big win. By the end of play Monday night, both goals had been achieved.
Coming off a bad loss to the Ottawa Senators on Saturday, Toronto rebounded with a 3-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings, and Marner’s line with Dominic Moore and Matt Martin was a major factor in the victory. Marner had gone four games without a point while relegated to the fourth line for the last three tilts, but for the first time in a week, the sophomore looked like his old self in a two-point performance.
“I think I just calmed down, realized I was throwing away the puck,” Marner said. “We got back to the way we wanted to play I think. We played a solid defensive game. I think that’s what we have to be happy with that, we scored the goals but Freddie [Andersen] played big for us again and we tried to play big for him outside of that.”
Toronto moves to 7-2-0 on the season with the win, their fourth in five games.
The Kings were the last team in the NHL to have zero losses in regulation going into Monday’s game. Up over the Kings 2-1 after two periods, the Leafs maintained their perfect record (now 3-0-0) when leading after 40 minutes.
A shorthanded goal by Kings forward Trevor Lewis late in the third period brought Los Angeles within one, but the Leafs kept their composure and held the visitors at bay.
“I just think that it's important to win some big games,” said Mike Babcock. “When you drop the ball like we did the other night in Ottawa...you want to be able to respond. I thought we responded tonight. [Los Angeles] hadn't lost and they're playing well and [Anze] Kopitar is playing real good. I thought it was a good matchup for us tonight, I thought it was an important game to find a way to play right in.”
For Marner, Monday’s game was a turning point away from a difficult stretch to start the season. After his line with James van Riemsdyk and Tyler Bozak were on the ice for seven of the Leafs’ first 12 even-strength goals allowed, Marner was demoted to the fourth line and struggled to regain his scoring touch. On Monday he was a player possessed alongside Martin.
As a whole, Toronto gave up a lot of open ice to the Kings in the game’s early minutes, but the Leafs still managed to score first. Roman Polak sent a blistering point shot towards Jonathan Quick and Martin had set up shop in the crease to deflect it in. The play resulted not just in Martin’s first score of the season but in Marner’s first assist since Oct. 11. He would tally another on Bozak’s second period power play goal, making Monday the first multi-point game Marner has recorded since the Leafs’ season opener on Oct. 4. Marner and Martin also posted the Leafs’ best puck possession totals of the night among forwards, at 55.56 per cent and 62.5 per cent, respectively.
Marner would have had a goal as well, his first since the season-opener, but the score was waved off due to goalie interference by Martin against Quick. It was one of three challenges on the night, two for interference and one for high-sticking, but Marner’s was the only goal disallowed.
“I think letting Marty just be himself...we talked about it before the game that I was going to let him be the animal he is in deep and it worked out,” Marner said. “He made some great plays out there to get me the puck and it went our way. I think I have to realize you have to stay calm out there and have fun and try to control the puck more and try to do more things with it.”
While the start of his season didn’t play out the way Marner had hoped, his teammates and coach credit him with keeping a good attitude and not sulking around the dressing room. It took him and Martin some time to translate the chemistry born from their off-ice relationship into a game, but they picked the right moment to finally gel.
“I thought Mitch was really good. I thought he had real good jump and [that line was] a real factor for us,” Babcock said. “We need him to be a star, we think he's a star. I thought he was excellent tonight, I thought that line was good, I thought Matt Martin was a good player for us.”
Martin not only recorded his first goal of the season but also notched a fight, against Christian Folin in the second period after he hit a stick-less Marner and fell on top of him. He was one assist away from the first Gordie Howe Hat Trick of his career (had Marner’s goal been allowed he would have earned the helper) but Martin was happy to settle for a win when Toronto was in desperate need of getting back on the right track.
“We had a pretty good game, obviously Mitchy was Mitchy and creating so many chances through the neutral zone and carrying the puck,” Martin said. “I just wanted to get it to him as much as possible and let him work. It was a good bounce-back game for us against a really good team.”
Takeaways
Return of the Roman Empire
Polak made his regular season return to the Leafs on Monday after signing a one-year contract on Sunday. He slotted in for Connor Carrick beside Andreas Borgman and the two settled into a nice rhythm early. It had been more than six months since Polak had played in a real game and Monday was as much about getting him back in a groove as anything. He finished with 12:13 in ice time and no shorthanded minutes, but Babcock thought it was Borgman’s best game of the season, showing how a veteran presence like Polak’s can pay dividends in more places than the scoresheet. Babcock noted one shift where they were out against the Kings’ top line and felt they handled it fine, showing he can trust that pairing in different situations.
(Another) piece of history
Just two games removed from the 1,500th of his career, Patrick Marleau reached another seminal moment on Monday. His game-winning third period goal was the 99th of his career, pushing him past Bobby Hull and Guy Lafleur for eighth on the NHL’s all-time list. That marker was also the 540th of his career, tying him for 40th all-time in the NHL with Gilbert Perreault. At age 38, Marleau seems destined to continue hitting milestones as this season progresses, especially considering the firepower around him. He’s currently tied for fourth on the Leafs in points (four goals, two assists).
Missed opportunities
Toronto didn’t use their man advantage chances as well as they could, going 1-for-6 on the power play. Against a team as stingy as Los Angeles that allows the fewest goals in the league, not capitalizing when they had the chance could have come back to haunt Toronto in the third period. When Lewis scored shorthanded and the Leafs were briefly back on their heels trying to prevent a comeback, their lack of execution with the extra man suddenly loomed large. Toronto still generated 11 shots on the power play, but would like to have seen more success from that unit.
Goalie highs, goalie lows
Aside from last season’s blowout 7-0 loss to the Kings in Toronto, Frederik Andersen has been good against Los Angeles in his career dating back to his time with the Anaheim Ducks. Andersen was 5-1-2 all time in the regular season going into Monday’s game and made a couple Grade-A saves against the Kings, including one each against L.A. snipers Tyler Toffoli and Tanner Pearson. The big blemish on his night was a soft goal given up to Adrian Kempe, who smacked a slapshot far post to get the Kings on the board in the second period. His 36-save performance was the seventh time in eight starts that he has faced 30 or more shots. On the other side, Quick was so frustrated by the end of the third period he shoved his blocker into Leo Komarov’s face. The ensuing roughing penalty in the waning minutes of the period with his team down by one eliminated any hopes of a comeback. Quick made 30 saves on 33 shots.
Next game
The Leafs continue their homestand against the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday.