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TSN Toronto Maple Leafs Reporter

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TORONTO – As the overtime period came to a close Thursday night, Frederik Andersen and Henrik Lundqvist briefly crossed paths near centre ice as they changed ends for the shootout.

Neither goalie spoke as they exchanged a quick tap of the gloves, a signal of admiration for what had been a hard-fought 65 minutes between the Maple Leafs’ and New York Rangers’ netminders.

In the end only one could emerge victorious and it was Lundqvist and the Rangers who topped the Maple Leafs 2-1 off Mika Zibanejad's shootout winner.

“It’s a fun goalie battle. We have respect for each other,” Andersen said of the interaction. “It’s fun to be playing those kind of games, but obviously I’d rather be on the winning side.”

Lundqvist ultimately got the better of Andersen in a terrific 32-save performance, as the shootout continued to be mercilessly unkind to the Maple Leafs. They are 1-7 now on the season, the most losses by any NHL team. Auston Matthews was the lone scorer for Toronto in the shootout, while William Nylander and Nazem Kadri both missed.

It was a disappointing way for the game to end for Andersen, who was sensational for Toronto in one his finest performances to date as a Maple Leaf. From puck drop he was dialed in, making one tough save after another against a speedy Ranger team. His pad save on a Michael Grabner two-on-one had the crowd chanting his name, and he made great stops on Rick Nash and Oscar Lindberg on the breakaway. Andersen finished with 37 saves, and after a stretch since the all-star break that included just three wins in nine starts going into the game, it was a heralded return to form.  

“The best thing about tonight is Freddie was Freddie and we need him to be like that,” said Mike Babcock. “That was outstanding. I thought he was a star, [but] I don’t like to see him be as good as he had to be tonight.”

The Maple Leafs' offence wasn’t clicking for extended stretches against New York, and there were several egregious turnovers that easily could have turned into goals if not for Andersen. Connor Brown opened the scoring in the first period, and all 18 of Toronto’s skaters save for Tyler Bozak had at least one shot on goal, but as a whole that group was missing the explosive presence a guy like the injured Mitch Marner consistently brings.

“I thought it was really good until tonight,” Babcock said of his line chemistry. “I thought they were sailing along and then tonight none of them looked that great. I thought Nylander had a pretty good game, he skated pretty good, but we had a lot of guys not skate good enough.”

Toronto doesn’t often play in one-goal games, and it’s rare for them to carry a 1-0 lead into the third period. But that was the case until 10:50 of the final frame when J.T. Miller finally found the back of the net on the power play to tie the game. From there, the Maple Leafs couldn’t muster enough up front to get the two points, although Matthews and Leo Komarov both had great breakaway chances thwarted in overtime by Lundqvist.

“[Andersen] was unbelievable. He kept us in the game,” Matthews said. “We didn’t create enough offence, and they were good, and countering us in the neutral zone to turn the puck over and come the other way. They have a lot of speed. I don’t think tonight was particularly our best game.”

Offering a simple solution to their shootout woes (“Just scoring. You have to score”), Matthews and company pledge to keep plugging away. In the event the Maple Leafs don’t earn a playoff berth in a suffocating Eastern Conference playoff race, they may end up lamenting points lost to the shootout.

“We work on it a lot in practice. You have to keep sticking with it,” said Connor Brown. “It’s a process. Shootouts are obviously big to get the extra point but we also have to worry about the 65 minutes before that.”


Takeaways

Not bad, boys: While Babcock wasn’t pleased with the performance of his forwards, he “didn’t mind” what he saw from his defence, which had a new face. Alexey Marchenko slotted in for the injured Connor Carrick in his first action as a Maple Leaf, and had a solid debut. The blueliner finished plus-one, with one shot on goal and four blocked shots, plus he paced defenders with nearly 49 per cent possession. Citing his “smarts and skill,” Babcock was complimentary of Marchenko’s first outing, but it was his partner Jake Gardiner who Marchenko credited with helping him get his legs under him after being a scratch for the last 10 games. “I think Jake helped me, he got the puck a lot and moved it out of the zone so we weren’t in there for too long for the first half,” Marchenko said. “That was important as you’re getting used to the pace.”

Good, Goat: Two games into his third recall of the season from the Toronto Marlies, Frederik Gauthier is making a strong case to replace Ben Smith on a more permanent basis. He was one of the Maple Leafs’ best players against the Rangers, making his presence felt physically and showing off some impressive playmaking skills too. He came close to setting up the play of the game, taking off on an odd man rush and dishing the puck to Nikita Soshnikov in front of Lundqvist, but Soshnikov whiffed on the open net attempt. On another effort he got the inside track on Brady Skjei and muscled in on Lundqvist; he was called for goaltender interference, but overall the play was a sign of how Gauthier is continuing to grow offensively. The major blemish on an otherwise good night was going 1-for-6 in the faceoff circle, and the Maple Leafs went 0-for-3 on shorthanded draws.

No extra power: The power play was awful on both sides of the rink Thursday, with neither team generating much of note with the extra man. Toronto had back-to-back chances to end the second period and start the third and spent as much time in their own zone as the Rangers’. Their breakouts were mostly ineffective and New York generated quality shorthanded chances. Toronto was able to do their same on their penalty kill, stymieing a Rangers power play that has been brutal of late, going 2-for-12 in the five games leading up to Thursday. The Maple Leafs had two shots on goal on their three power plays, and gave up four shorthanded shots to the Rangers. Lundqvist joked after the game the penalty kill had better chances than the power plays, and he wasn’t far off.

Facing the music: The Maple Leafs had a terrible night in the faceoff dot, winning 33 per cent of draws overall, and, as Babcock pointed out, only 28 per cent after two periods, which “is not competitive enough.” No one who took more than one faceoff for Toronto was higher than 43 per cent in the dot, and those struggles led to a long night of chasing the puck. Toronto posted under 42 per cent possession on the night, with James van Riemsdyk posting the best total at 51.85. Kadri’s line with Komarov and Josh Leivo each posted less than 30 per cent. Credited with 20 giveaways total, the Maple Leafs had a tough time just holding onto the puck against New York.

Next game: Toronto welcomes in the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday for the final contest of their three-game home stand. The Maple Leafs are now just four points back of the Canadiens for first place in the Atlantic Division race.