In Toronto, the Vancouver Canucks took a 2-0 lead in the first period on Saturday, over the Maple Leafs.
Not unlike so many other two-goal leads in the NHL, this one was snuffed out in the middle frame in a 3-2 win for Toronto.
Bo Horvat and J.T. Miller scored in the opening frame and then, nothing.
“We stopped playing (in the second period),” Vancouver coach Bruce Boudreau said. “It happens every game, there’s a 10-minute lull, a 10-minute something. The game before it was the first 10 minutes in Montreal, the game before it was in Ottawa but we recovered. Tonight the middle 10 minutes, I don’t know, they get the momentum and we sort of stop playing. That’s why I called the timeout. If we slowed it down a little bit, maybe we get our composure and I thought in the last eight minutes of the second period we gained our composure again but it’s too little, too late. I can sit here all day, it’s just not good enough.”
There’s a lot of that going around in the NHL this season. The Canucks do not have the corner on that market.
Miller scored off the power play.
Toronto improved to 8-5-3.
“Even in the warmup I didn’t really know, but it’s been my career to be ready when called upon, so I took advantage of it,” Benn said.
Erik Kallgren made 42 saves in the Male Leafs win.
“Better feeling today,” Kallgren said. “Obviously a big win. … That was a tough loss yesterday, so to get the chance to bounce back was nice. I felt fresh, so no problem there.”
Auston Matthews and Pierre Engvall scored in the second period to even the game, 2-2, for Toronto.
“That kind of stuff really hits you hard,” Matthews said. “For us to just see how a guy like Borje is embraced by the fans and just what he did for the organization in his time here and what he still means to the city, I think it puts a lot of things into perspective as players here.”
The Canucks dropped to 4-8-3.
Jordie Benn hit for the game-winner at the midway point of the middle frame.
“The puck just started coming up the wall and I saw ‘Mo’ start sliding, so I wanted to slide in,” said Benn, who scored his 26th goal in his 596th NHL game. “Just so happened I ended up in front of the net and popped it in.
“It doesn’t happen too often so I don’t really know what to do. Thank [goodness Auston Matthews] came so I was like, OK, here’s a hug.”
Spencer Martin made 32 saves in the Canucks loss.
“I thought we did a pretty good job except for that little flurry (in the second period),” Martin said. “They’re a really good team with a great crowd and can get a lot of momentum going. I wish I had that save and set my feet on Matthews, and that could have changed things.”
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