In Toronto, John Tavares scored midway through extra time on Thursday night to help the Maple Leafs defeat the visiting Vegas Golden Knights, 2-1.
“We’ve been in a lot of these types of games this year, and it hasn’t always been as fluid and pretty as it can be with our skill and depth,” Tavares said, “but we have to continue to build our game and chip away, and I think we’re starting to see some really good signs and getting results.”
Frederik Andersen made 37 saves in the win.
“He’s (Andersen) been playing and getting better just like each year,” Leafs head coach Mike Babcock said . “He kind of gets through October each year and then seems to kick it into gear and gets feeling good. He’s an important player for us and a leader for us. We need him to make big saves like he’s been doing.”
Max Pacioretty scored for Vegas in regulation.
Auston Matthews had the regulation strike for the Maple Leafs.
“As we went along the first two periods on the power play we were a bit stagnant,” Matthews said, “so in the third we pretty much said ‘What do we have to lose? Let’s move around and get the penalty kill thinking more.’ It was different guys going to different guys and reacting off our instincts, not just drawing up plays but reacting off one another. It kind of spread them out a bit, and we were able to score.”
[WATCH: All Golden Knights vs. Maple Leafs highlights]
Malcolm Subban made 35 saves in the loss
“Subban is a huge reason why we got one point, he made some unbelievable saves,” Pacioretty said. “We’ve had points in a few straight here, but that said, we need to clean up our overtime. It feels like we’re not even getting chances really or even possession of the puck. We have to figure that out.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.