Beware of sharks

Kapanen pots two

To the Maple Leafs, Thursday night’s final horn felt like the end of a Jaws movie.

The John Williams theme had faded and those menacing fins have been out-witted.  That has not been the positive result Toronto has been fishing for at the SAP Center first Jan. 11, 2011. But Thursday night, with the Sharks in a bad mood and ready to bare their teeth, the Leafs did what they do best and countered strongly in a 5-3 win.

It puts Toronto in the rare position of being able to sweep a three-game California trip for the first time since December of 1995 – if it can beat Anaheim Friday.             

So many little things added up for Toronto; John Tavares’ opening goal at the end of a power play drawn by Nazem Kadri, two rush goals by Kasperi Kapanen, including the club’s first short-handed game-winner in nearly two seasons, the fourth line all in on a Josh Leivo goal, with Frederick Gauthier’s first point of the year and Frederik Andersen capping a season-high 42 saves with a long bomb assist on Mitch Marner’s clincher.

“Good discipline,” said coach Mike Babcock. “It’s always hard to win here, they have a good club and a really active back-end. But we had good goaltending, really good special teams and found a way to win.

“We started really good (in the first period) and stopped playing the last 10 minutes. We said (at intermission) instead of getting involved in all the crap, why don’t we just play? We’re quicker than them. In the end, we got re-focused.”

He was referring to the Sharks going on a feeding frenzy for Nazem Kadri, their first chance since January to make Kadri pay for yanking out a piece of Joe Thornton’s beard in a fight.

“I figured they’d turn the page eventually,” a surprised Kadri said. “But I was fine with it. They were a little too worried about the wrong thing and we took care of business.”

The Sharks might also be sick of hearing Cup contending comments about the Leafs from back East all summer or wanted to silence all the Toronto fans that crowded their house.  Whatever, the night was a crowd pleaser; an end-to-end, fast-paced hard checking encounter that Toronto answered with speed, coverage and special teams. In other words, another useful playoff-style primer.

Babcock looked beyond the big names’ game.

“Lindy’s line (centred by Par Lindholm with checking fiends Connor Brown and Andreas Johnsson) was the best they’ve been, but I thought The Goat’s line was effective as well. We had good depth and that’s important. You don’t want to over-play your guys.”

The Leafs finally beat Martin Jones on their ninth try. Patrick Marleau looked a lot more comfortable for the start of this second game at the rink he called home for nearly two decades. He took the ceremonial faceoff with Joe Pavelski as they honoured mutual teammate Evgeni Nabokov’s induction to the local Hall Of Fame.

Freddie and Morgan congratulate

But the niceties ended there. Barclay Goodrow was sent off for cuffing Kadri off the opening draw and Brent Burns swung a wild one-hander his way as they passed on the ensuing power play. More skullduggery ensued throughout the game.

Just as Goodrow returned to the ice, Tavares looped around Jones’ net and banked a shot in via defender Marc-Edouard Vlasic. That gave him goals in four straight games, after no Leaf went beyond three last season.

But one cheesie goal deserved another when an Erik Karlsson dump-in took a home ice hop and landed in the blue paint with Andersen’s back turned, a short putt for Kevin Labanc.

Kadri and Timo Meier were sitting out a slashing exchange when a Travis Dermott poke check sent Marleau and Kapanen away 2-on-1, Marleau assisting after getting blanked here with a minus 2 some 13 months ago.

Morgan Rielly, after assisting on Tavares’s goal to extend his lead among NHL defencemen with 24 points, was in the box when Joe Pavelski was unguarded on a door-step power play. Vlasic got a step on Ron Hainsey to bury a Pavelski pass and make it 3-2.

The Leafs were on their heels to start the second period before the fourth line produced. Tyler Ennis used his wheels to ignite a 2-on-1, feeding Leivo for his second of the year.

With one of their best penalty killers in the box, Zach Hyman getting too aggressive on a forecheck, Marner took a puck back at the Leaf blueline and flipped to a flying Kapanen, who went high glove. Marner then settled under a long bomb by Andersen.

Chicago Hopes

It was a strange night in the National Hockey League. After no shutouts in nine NHL games on Tuesday, and zero in the past 20 games over the past three days, we had a couple of goaltenders standing on their head posting a pair of shutouts in just four games on Wednesday. The cupboard was anything but bare for fantasy owners on Hump Day, however, as Mikko Rantanen, Mark Scheifele, Corey Crawford and Marc-Andre Fleury shined through to post big fantasy points on a day which didn't appears to offer much before the games took place. Let's get started!




Chicago Blackhawks 1, St. Louis Blues 0

Brent Seabrook broke through for a power-play goal at 4:05 of the second period to break the ice in Wednesday's game against the Blues. Unfortunately for fantasy owners of the offensive players for Chicago and St. Louis, that was the only marker on the evening. The goal on the man advantage was the only goal allowed by Jake Allen on 19 shots in a hard-luck loss, as he took the L despite the fact he tied a season best with just the one goal allowed. He let in just one goal on 23 shots in a road victory against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Oct. 20. There's something about facing the Blackhawks that seems to agree with Allen, as he is 1-1-2 with a 3.47 goals-against average in four appearances against Chicago this season.



The only goal of the game came off the stick of Brent Seabrook. Vladimir Tarasenko was whistled for a hooking infraction 3:30 into the second period and Seabrook cashed in just 35 seconds later with a power-play goal, the only marker of the matching. It was a far cry from the first three meetings which saw 8.7 goals per game. Corey Crawford stopped all 28 shots he faced for his 24th shutout of his career, helping new head coach Jeremy Colliton to his first-career victory as a bench boss. His last shutout came Nov. 4, 2017, when he blanked the Minnesota Wild. It was an impressive showing since he had allowed 21 goals over his past five starts.

The only goal of the game came off the stick of Brent Seabrook. Vladimir Tarasenko was whistled for a hooking infraction 3:30 into the second period and Seabrook cashed in just 35 seconds later with a power-play goal, the only marker of the matching. It was a far cry from the first three meetings which saw 8.7 goals per game. Corey Crawford stopped all 28 shots he faced for his 24th shutout of his career, helping new head coach Jeremy Colliton to his first-career victory as a bench boss. His last shutout came Nov. 4, 2017, when he blanked the Minnesota Wild. It was an impressive showing since he had allowed 21 goals over his past five starts.

Brandon Saad was back in action after missing two games due to a right arm issue, but he was scoreless like most everyone else. Brayden Schenn (upper-body) was sidelined for a fourth consecutive outing.

Winnipeg Jets 3, Washington Capitals 1

It was all about Connor Hellebuyck, as he allowed just one goal on 28 shots against the defending Stanley Cup champions. While he hasn't posted a shutout so far this season, he is enjoying his best run of the season. He has rattled off victories in three consecutive starts, a season-high win streak, while the Jets have posted 13 goals of support for him while he allowed just five during the run.

Kyle Connor has picked up the pace this season, emerging as a solid fantasy option. He posted a goal with an assist, a plus-1 rating and two shots on goal in 16:26 of ice time. The Michigan native is up to eight goals with 15 points and a plus-5 rating in 17 games, emerging as a solid fantasy option in most pools of 12 or more teams. Mark Scheifele notched a power-play goal, posting a goal for the third straight outings. He has four goals with three assists and a plus-6 rating, as the Jets continue to roll up big numbers on offense. Scheifele has posted four goals with seven points across the past three outings. That's nothing compared to Blake Wheeler, however, as he has managed at least one point over the past 11 outings. He has two goals and 18 assists during the outstanding run.

Colorado Avalanche 6, Boston Bruins 3

Semyon Varlamov coughed up just three goals on 23 shots in Wednesday's home win, as he could solve everyone except for for Jake DeBrusk. David Pastrnak scored a goal with an assist, as he too woke up feeling rather dangerous. But DeBrusk bagged a pair of goals on his only two shots with a blocked shot and a hit over 16:53 of ice time. The left winger has a pair of two-goal games over the past four outings, picking up five points with three power-play points over his past five outings. Speaking of Pastrnak, he has at least one goal in three straight outings, posting five goals with eight points during the three-point goal run. In addition, Pastrnak is working on a five-game run with a total of five power-play goals, as the man advantage is clicking in Beantown right now.

As far as the Avalanche was concerned, the cash line was making that money on Hump Day. Gabriel Landeskog opened the scoring with his 12th goal, Mikko Rantanen added a power-play goal midway through the second period and Nathan MacKinnon notched a goal midway through the third period. The trio combined for three goals and six points with a plus-3 rating and nine shots on goal as the Avs doubled up the B's. Alexander Kerfoot got into the act with a goal and assists, too, while Samuel Girard posted a multi-point game with a pair of assists, a plus-2 rating and four blocked shots. Girard is starting to be known for more than just hunting down Dr. Richard Kimble. Hopefully you get that reference - lol.

Tuukka Rask was serving as the backup to Jaroslav Halak after missing the past two outings due to personal issues.

Vegas Golden Knights 5, Anaheim Ducks

Marc-Andre Fleury turned aside all 29 shots he faced to nail down his third shutout of the season and career No. 412, pushing aside the Ducks. Vegas is starting to pull it together, particularly at home, posting two consecutive shutouts at home. Alex Tuch and Nick Holden stepped up to help their goaltender, posting a goal and an assist each. Max Pacioretty also picked up a pair of helpers with a plus-1 rating while adding a pair of minor penalties and a hit over his 18:14 of ice time.

Cody Eakin managed to light the lamp for his sixth and seven goals of the season, posting a plus-2 rating on three shots with a blocked shot over 19:22 of ice time. He is now on pace to score 38 goals, which would be double his career best of 19 goals. He didn't notch his seventh goal of the season until Feb. 21 last year.

The Ducks were playing without Cam Fowler, as he remains sidelined due to a facial fracture. He was hit in the grille Monday night against the Nashville Predators, suffering an orbital bone, cheekbone and upper jaw bone fracture.

Surpassing a Legend

Henrik Lundqvist

As I will mention in the column, Henrik Lundqvist tied Jacques Plante for seventh all-time in wins at 437 on Monday night. His next level is only eight away as Terry Sawchuk is at 445.



He is so well known for being the first goalie in the modern era to wear a face mask. It happened in 1959 and before he retired, every goaltender was wearing one.

It is quite the accomplishment for Lundqvist to be tied with such a star, but Lundqvist is too and should be a shoo-in for the Hall of Fame once he has retired.

Jacques Plante

NEW YORK RANGERS 2 VANCOUVER 1

Henrik Lundqvist won his 437^th career game to tie him for seventh all-time with Jacques Plante as he stopped 25-of-26 shots to lead the Rangers to a 2-1 win over the Canucks.

Lundqvist was sharp all game and allowed only a second period goal by Nikolay Goldobin to beat him.

After a scoreless first period, the Rangers went on the power play when Goldobin took a minor for hooking Lias Andersson. New York was unable to score and when the penalty ended, Goldobin came out of the box, grabbed the puck in the neutral zone, came in and beat Lundqvist.

The Rangers tied it as they finally scored on the power play when Filip Chytil scored his first of the season. He was the Rangers second first round pick in 2017 as he went 21^st overall after New York selected Andersson at seven.

The score remained even heading into the third and New York won it when Brett Howden scored his fourth of the season at the 11:19 mark of the third as he beat Jacob Markstrom. Howden was part of the Ryan McDonagh-J.T. Miller trade near the trade deadline last season.

Markstrom was stellar in the Vancouver cage as he also made 25 saves.

Darren Archibald and Cody McLeod fought each other and each picked up five for fighting. McLeod and Michael Del Zotto had seven hits apiece.

CAROLINA 3 CHICAGO 2 (Overtime)

Sebastian Aho’s overtime goal capped a great Carolina comeback as the Hurricanes spoiled the return of Cam Ward and beat the Blackhawks 3-2.

It was Ward’s first game back in Carolina after a lengthy 13-year career as a member of the Hurricanes. Ward left as a UFA at the end of last season. He made 37 saves but it was not enough for the victory. Ward led the Hurricanes to the Stanley Cup in his rookie season but Carolina made the playoffs only one more time in his career.

The Blackhawks got off to a 1-0 lead in the first as Jonathan Toews scored his ninth of the season. They made it 2-0 in the second when Alex DeBrincat also scored his ninth but that was all she wrote for the Blackhawks as far as the scoresheet went.

Teuvo Teravainen cut the lead in half as he scored on the power play with Aho garnering his 17^th assist of the season. Just 1:06 later, Micheal Ferland scored on the power play to tie the game up. It was his ninth of the season.

There was no scoring in the third and Aho won it with his fifth of the season as well as his 22^nd point.

Scott Darling won his second straight game to give him a 2-2-1 mark with a 2.79 GAA and a .913 save percentage.

Andrei Svechnikov had two assists.

COLUMBUS 2 DALLAS 1

Pierre-Luc Dubois scored his eighth goal of the season in the third period and it held up as the game winner as the Columbus Blue Jackets went into Dallas and emerged victorious in a 2-1 win over the Stars.

Sergei Bobrovsky continued his stellar play of late as he turned aside 26-of-27 shots for his third straight win as he evened his record at 6-6-0. Bobrovsky has given up only one goal in five of his last six games and has made 168 saves on 177 shots.

Cam Atkinson, who also had an assist on the game winner, opened the scoring at the 1:29 mark of the second as he scored on the power play.

The Stars tied it up with only 1:40 left in the second as Alexander Radulov, who returned to action on Monday after missing 10 of the Stars previous 11 games, scored his sixth of the season. He has 12 points in eight games this season.

Jamie Benn and Josh Anderson renewed hostilities as the two fought at 7:13 of the first. It was a doozy of a fight between the two heavyweights with the decision going to Anderson.

Anton Khudobin picked up the start for Dallas and played a strong game as he made 26 saves but took the loss.

Devin Shore suffered a lower-body injury in the first period and did not return.

ANAHEIM 2 NASHVILLE 1 (Shootout)

Rickard Rakell scored the winner in the shootout as the Anaheim Ducks picked up their seventh win of the season in a 2-1 win over Nashville.

John Gibson was outstanding in net as he stopped 34 shots as well as three-of-four in the shootout. He is 6-6-3 this season with a .931 save percentage.

There was no scoring in the first, and as a matter of fact, there was not a goal until 30 seconds were left in the second as Ryan Getzlaf scored his fourth of the season as he deflected a Rakell shot past  Gibson.

The Predators tied it up early in the third as Kevin Fiala put in his second of the season.

Pekka Rinne turned aside 29 shots but was beaten twice in the shootout on four attempts as Pontus Aberg also beat him.

Josh Manson and Zac Rinaldo each had a major for fighting.

Notes: The Senators recalled Drake Batherson from the minors. He had seven goals and 20 points in 14 AHL games this season. They stole him in the fourth round in 2017 and he starred for Team Canada at the World Juniors last season, picking up seven goals in seven games for the Gold Medalists…Pavel Buchnevich is out four-six weeks with a broken thumb…Shea Weber practiced with the Canadiens for the first time this season as he attempts to return from off-season knee surgery. He is expected to return to action around Christmas…Viktor Arvidsson is on the injured reserve list with an upper-body injury suffered Saturday…The Kings can’t get a break in net as far as meniscus tears are concerned. First Jonathan Quick goes down with the tear that required surgery on November 1 and now Jack Campbell has a torn meniscus and is expected to be out four-six weeks. Peter Budaj and Cal Petersen will be the Kings goaltending tandem for now but that was expected to be the combination for the Ontario Reign and not the Kings…David Pastrnak was the first star of the week while Blake Wheeler was the second and Claude Giroux the third.

Leafs give the Penguins a whitewash

JT opens the scoring

The Toronto Maple Leafs gave the Pittsburgh Penguins a fresh coat of whitewash last night. It was fitting that they were playing in the PPG arena, { Pittsburgh Paints }.

“We feel good about the road, but it’s time we assert ourselves in our own building,” declared defenceman Morgan Rielly, who scored twice. “It was a good road period to start tonight, we got a (John Tavares) goal off a good zone entry and built off it from there.”
The Leafs talked in the morning about striking first – after five straight home games without a goal through the first 40 minutes. They delivered and then started on an impressive five kills against Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Phil Kessel and the Pittsburgh power-play mafia. Frederik Andersen made 31 saves to become the 15th goalie in franchise history to get 10 shutouts and the first by a Leaf in Pittsburgh since Mikael Tellqvist 12 years ago at the Igloo.
Meanwhile, Rielly, Tavares, Kasperi Kapanen and Mitch Marner had multi-point games in Toronto’s first 60-minute win without the injured Auston Matthews.
“A textbook win on the road, nice to get that feeling back,” Tavares said. “We have to try and have a little bit of that mindset (at home), simplify things maybe, trust who we are as a team and individually.”
Tavares had put some onus on himself the day before with only one goal in his past nine games. He could’ve had a hat trick Saturday, teaming with Marner for 12 of Toronto 33 shots, 30 being the magic number in five of the six road victories. Kapanen helped set up goals by Patrick Marleau and Rielly, Marleau’s second goal in as many games ties him with Keith Tkachuk for 32nd in NHL history at 538.
The support staff of forwards didn’t score, but the likes of Frederick Gauthier, Par Lindholm and Andreas Johnsson contributed defensively, which Connor Brown stressed before the game should not be sacrificed in favour of offensive gambles to compensate for Matthews.

Freddy Andersen stones the Penguins

After playing Vegas and Jersey this week it’s off to Boston and then three on the West Coast.
The Leafs pounded their nemesis, Matt Murray, who came in with a record of 3-0-1 and a .960 save percentage against them. Malkin was looking to add to 62 points in 36 games versus Toronto, but the Leafs reversed the result of last month where he dominated the scoresheet in a 3-0 win at SBA.
Tavares tipped a Marner shot after the latter moved through the slot, among a couple of the slippery Marner’s machinations through the match at even strength and special teams.
Kapanen and Marleau also teamed for a beauty, the latter keeping pace down the middle on a rush. With little room to shimmy, Marleau took Kapanen’s pass, braked and tucked it past Murray before both tumbled in the net.
Murray left the game briefly for apparent equipment repairs, returning in time to have Rielly jump into the play for the first of two and six on the year. Rielly is now off to one of the best points’ surges by an NHL defenceman the past decade with 18 points in 14 games, tied with former Leaf Tomas Kaberle, one ahead of Nicklas Lidstrom.
But coach Mike Babcock liked Rielly’s defensive game just as much and found little to fault as the team headed for the airport. Even the unlucky Zach Hyman picked up his first goal, a late-game short-handed effort at that.
“Tavares’s line, Naz’s line dominated and we scored first so we weren’t chasing the game,” noted the coach.

Same old Leafs putting a beating on the helpless Penguins