Robin Lehner must feel like he is back in Buffalo. On Sunday, he made 53 saves to help the Chicago Blackhawks to a 5-4 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
William Nylander struck twice in the loss.
“Well, we didn’t start very good obviously,” Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock said. “They shot it in our net. We thought we competed way earlier than the third, but in the end we didn’t compete good enough to win. We had a lot of chances. Their goalie was real solid, he made lots of saves. In saying that though, the first 10 minutes of the game wasn’t good enough, so you spend the whole night battling.”
Patrick Kane struck for two goals for Chicago, who improved to 6-7-4.
Kirby Dach, Jonathan Toews and Brandon Saad also scored for the Hawks.
“It was good,” Dach said. “Obviously, I had chances in a couple of games to put some pucks in the back of the net and was fighting it a little bit, but it was nice to find the back of the net.”
John Tavares and Andreas Johnsson had single markers for the Leafs.
“It’s really frustrating. I think everyone in the locker room is frustrated,” Auston Matthews (four assists) said. “I think it’s just the mindset coming in, that first period we’ve got to be ready to play, it’s got to come within each other, within the guys that lead this group and wear letters. We’ve got to be ready to go from puck drop.”
[WATCH: All Maple Leafs vs. Blackhawks highlights]
Michael Hutchinson made 29 saves in the loss.
“It’s not good enough,” Tavares said. “It starts with myself, leaving our goalie out to dry, one of the best players in the League coming down the slot, uncovered, untouched. We made it too easy for them and then the rest of the game we played hard, we competed, structure was much better and we gave ourselves a great opportunity. We just can’t start like we did and, again, it starts with me.”
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