In Toronto Monday night, the Maple Leafs might have been forgiven for looking past the Arizona Coyotes.
They shouldn’t have.
Arizona’s Antti Raanta made 26 saves to back stop a 4-1 win over the Leafs.
“Get ready for the game you’re playing today. That’s what a good pro does, that’s what you do each and every day,” Leafs head coach Mike Babcock said. “A lot of the guys that are driving us, like the young skill guys, not today. They weren’t here today.”
Brendan Perlini, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Max Domi and Tobias Rieder struck for goals as the Coyotes have won three straight.
“They’re a good hockey team. They’d won six in a row; I think they’re one of the better teams in the League,” Coyotes head coach Rick Tocchet said. “It was one of those games where we knew we had to play a certain way if we wanted to beat them.”
James van Riemsdyk scored the lone Leafs goal.
“Last seven, eight games has been really good. Now everybody knows what they’re doing, everybody trusts the system, everybody’s working hard and learning all the time, so now when you get a couple wins, you get your confidence going and it’s so much easier to work hard when you have good confidence,” Raanta said of the Coyotes recent string of games.
[WATCH: All Coyotes vs. Maple Leafs highlights]
Frederik Andersen made 28 saves in taking the loss.
“They’ve been playing well as of late, and I think they’ve had some injuries. Now they’re getting some guys back in the lineup. They have a lot of skill and talent up front, and their D corps is pretty strong as well. They’re a team that’s definitely going to get better as the year goes on,” van Riemsdyk aid after the loss.
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