The three-game sweep of the NHL schedule from Thursday night starts in Toronto where the Arizona Coyotes used a shorthanded goal from Oliver Ekman-Larsson. At the five second mark of the third period to tie the score at one and force the Maple Leafs to fold their tents before going home in a 3-1 Arizona win.
Mike Smith picked up win in Toronto on 24 saves – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
“I saw we had about 23 seconds left on the penalty kill, and when I got the puck, I just shot it down the ice,” Ekman-Larsson said. “It’s hard for the goalie to save it.”
That wasn’t the only bad goal yielded by Jonathan Bernier who took the loss for the Leafs. A bad angle shot eluded him later in the period off the stick of Martin Hanzal and long shot from the blueline, this time at least inside the defensive zone, from Sam Gagner sealed the win for Arizona.
“I thought our guys were in a position to get over that hump and get it done, and obviously that is pretty hard to take,” Leafs coach Peter Horachek said. “The next goal was a little bewildering because both goals I think were bad goals, one from the goal line and one from their blue line.”
Bernier was soft on all of the Coyotes goals but one can hardly blame him for the complete lack of effort from the offensive corps of the Toronto bench.
The Leafs were outshot 45-25.
“[The Coyotes are] not the type of team that is going to go wide open, and they were here rested and waiting for us (to return from New Jersey),” Horachek said. “We knew it wasn’t going to be a wide-open situation. Even when they scored that second goal we had some great chances to tie it up again. We’ve got to find ways to get things done.”
Wide open or not, the Leafs were badly outshot and they show no sign of getting out their current skid that is now at eight games, 0-7-1.
In Calgary, Zach Parise scored at 8:59 of the first period and Devan Dubnyk made 30 saves to lift the Minnesota Wild to a 1-0 win over the Flames.
“I think we owe a lot to Dubnyk tonight,” Parise said. “He bailed us out on a lot of different breakdowns we had. He was really good. He really has been. Sometimes, a lot of times, you have breakdowns and you need to get bailed out and he’s done that for us. He’s made big saves. He’s made the saves he should make and some you don’t expect him to. We’re really happy so far with how he’s played.”
Dubnyk is 4-1-0 with the Wild since coming over from Arizona on January 14.
“It’s fun to play important games,” he said. “But at the same time, I was happy with the way my game was in Arizona so I wanted to really concentrate on sticking with the same things I was doing there that was helping me be successful there.
“Coming here, obviously the wins feel that much better when the games mean a lot.”
It was a tough loss for the Flames who hold the second wild card spot in the west and fear a revival of the LA Kings who are just at their heels.
“With the way things are in the standings right now, we need every point and tonight was a tough one to drop, especially with a team that’s not too far behind us,” Calgary forward Brandon Bollig said. “That one definitely stings. We had a lot of good spots in that game, and it’s tough we didn’t pop one, but we’re going to feel this one the next few games.”
On a night of skid extenders, the Buffalo Sabres suffered their 13th straight loss at the hands of the Edmonton Oilers, 3-2.
Anton Lander had a goal and three points to lead the Oilers to the win.
“Thank goodness Anton Lander had the game that he did tonight. He was exceptional, by far the best player on the ice,” Oilers coach Todd Nelson said. “I think he feels really comfortable and more confident when he looks behind and sees me. I’ve been working with him every year since he came over from Europe, so I think that helps.
“He’s really improved his game. He has earned the opportunity. I thought he was outstanding tonight.”
Matt Fraser and Oscar Klefbom added goals for Edmonton.
“It was fun to play and a big win for us,” said Lander, who had two goals in 104 NHL games before Thursday. “I think we played all right, but we can still get better. I feel good out there. You don’t have to play great all the time, but if you get a win, that’s the most important thing. It’s nice to get wins here the last couple of games. It’s a good thing we have going on now; we have to keep it going.”
Buffalo got goals from Tyler Myers and Rasmus Ristolainen.
“What can you do? The mental mistakes, the change that happened, the puck was going right to one of our forwards and he goes the opposite way,” Sabres coach Ted Nolan said. “Instead of going into the puck, he goes away from the puck, and our defense gets caught in a change. I thought we had good possession of the puck and we didn’t; those things are going to kill us all the time.
“We had our chances. With this team we need every one; we can’t afford two or three guys not playing well or not giving what they have to give.”
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