Blue Jackets come to town

The Columbus Blue Jackets hope to play themselves out of a rut when they visit the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday.

The Blue Jackets are coming off consecutive 3-2 overtime losses -- Friday against the Chicago Blackhawks on the road and Saturday against the New York Islanders at home.

"(We) really should've won both these games," Blue Jackets defenseman Seth Jones said. "They just made the plays in overtime to win. That's all that mattered, that's all it comes down to."

The Maple Leafs are coming off a 4-3 overtime victory Saturday over the visiting Boston Bruins in their first game without team captain John Tavares, who will be out at least two weeks with a broken finger.

Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly, whose two goals Saturday included the game-winner, said pulling out the win under the circumstances was big.

"A team within the division, not having (Tavares), just kind of a point in our year where we want to get going, and I think we answered the bell," Rielly said. "Not as clean as we wanted to win, but we got it done anyways, so we'll take it."

Columbus isn't always getting it done, but it is consistently competitive. The Blue Jackets have played in six straight one-goal games, winning three and losing three.

On Saturday, Columbus gave up the overtime goal when Cam Atkinson left the defensive zone anticipating a breakout pass.

"We can't have a guy leaving the zone before we have control of the puck tonight, and it ends up in the back of the net," Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella said after the game. "It's frustrating for me when we play the absolute right way all night long here being above the puck and then we end up with a blown coverage and some cheating and it ends up in the back of our net.

"It's a huge point that goes by the boards again."

The Maple Leafs, who defeated the Blue Jackets 4-1 in Columbus on Oct. 4, have won three of their past four games after losing three in a row.

"We want to start stringing some wins together," said Toronto goaltender Frederik Andersen, who made 43 saves on Saturday. "We know we haven't been as consistent as we'd like, but this was a good test for us, and hopefully we can build on this."

With Tavares out, Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock moved right winger Mitchell Marner onto a line with center Auston Matthews, which creates a potent combination. Babcock said the two likely will be on the same line on Monday.

"We haven't played with each other much, but I think every time we get paired up together, we get pretty excited out there," Matthews said.

Toronto had one reported injury Saturday, with Andreas Johnsson missing the third period after blocking a shot with his leg in the second. X-rays were negative, but he did not practice Sunday.

"I think he's going to be fine," Babcock said.

As for the win over Boston, Babcock said: "I don't know if it's a statement game, but what I'd say to you is that it was more important for our team than their team. It was important because (Tavares) was out, to find a way to win it, and it was probably even more important when we lost (Johnsson) that we got it done."

Grasping at straws

Jeff Petry was chatting with teammates about penalty shots Saturday morning.
Hours later, he found himself in just that scenario — and under strange circumstances.
The veteran defenceman tied the game on a penalty shot after Toronto winger Kasperi Kapanen threw his broken stick at Petry, then Paul Byron buried the only goal of the shootout as the Montreal Canadiens fought back from 4-1 down to beat the Maple Leafs 6-5 for their first win of the season.

Carey Price made 32 saves, including a couple huge ones in overtime and the shootout, to secure the victory.

Montreal trailed 4-1 just over five minutes into the third period, but scored twice in quick succession to set up Petry's penalty shot. With the Canadiens on a power play, Petry saw his slapshot blocked by Kapanen, who broke his stick on the play and inexplicably threw it at the blue-liner.

"I've seen guys throw a stick at the puck, but never at somebody," Petry said. "No one knew the ruling on it. I saw the ref's arm go up. They originally said anybody can take it, and then they changed it and said anybody on the ice.

"And then they said it had to be me, so it was a weird way it played out."
Petry, who had never taken a penalty shot in the NHL and failed to score on his only shootout attempt, beat Leafs goalie Michael Hutchinson low to the glove side for his first of the season to make it 4-4.

Montreal winger Brendan Gallagher said he'd seen his teammate take a couple of penalty shots in practice and was confident he'd deliver.
"That was pretty silly," he said of the stick throw. "Petey made him pay."
Kapanen said fatigue played a factor in his brain cramp.
"I guess you get a penalty shot for that," he said. "I take full responsibility."
"I've never seen that play by anybody ever," Toronto head coach Mike Babcock said. "We've all got to learn from it."

Gallagher had a goal and two assists for Montreal (1-0-1), while Phillip Danault and Max Domi, with a goal and an assist each, and Jonathan Drouin also scored. Shea Weber added two assists.
Auston Matthews had two goals — his fourth and fifth of the season — while Alexander Kerfoot had a goal and two assists for his first three points with Toronto (2-0-1). Trevor Moore added a goal and an assist. William Nylander also scored for the Leafs, who got 37 saves from Hutchinson. Tyson Barrie had two assists.

After that wild third period that saw Toronto blow that 4-1 lead before tying the game 5-5 late, Price robbed Marner on a breakaway in overtime before the Canadiens came close at the other end on a scramble that resulted in a slashing penalty to John Tavares.
The Leafs managed to kill that one off and Tavares had a chance on another partial break coming out of the box, but Price snagged his effort.
Domi then hit the crossbar on a 2-on-1 rush and Price denied Tavares again late to cap a frantic extra session.
"He's unbelievable," Domi said. "He's the best goalie in the world for a reason."
Byron beat Hutchinson on the Canadiens' first shootout attempt, while Price denied Matthews and Marner before Tavares shot wide to end it.

"Things were looking a little bleak going into the second intermission, but we were able to stay positive, rally the troops and have a big third," Price said. "I think that was fun to watch."
Toronto appeared to have the game in hand when Nylander made it 4-1 at 5:16 of the third on a power play, but Montreal scored 11 seconds later when Drouin's pass in front went in off Leafs defenceman Morgan Rielly.
Gallagher then made it 4-3 at 6:29 after an icing, banging home a Weber rebound.
And after Petry's successful penalty shot, Danault put Montreal ahead by burying another rebound with 4:40 left as the Canadiens scored four times in less than 10 minutes.
But Matthews tied the game with 75 seconds remaining and Hutchinson on the bench to send Scotiabank Arena into a frenzy. The 22-year-old now has 12 goals in 12 career games against Montreal.

The Leafs came in off Friday's 4-1 road victory in Columbus over the Blue Jackets following their 5-3 defeat of the Ottawa Senators in Wednesday's curtain-raiser on the 2019-20 NHL campaign. The Canadiens dropped their season opener 4-3 to the Carolina Hurricanes in a shootout on Thursday.
Montreal got on the board just 68 seconds into the first when Domi took a feed from Artturi Lehkonen on a 2-on-1 and beat Hutchinson.
Toronto tied things up at 5:57 on sequence that started when Nylander created a turnover at the Canadiens' blue line. The puck eventually found its way to Matthews, who ripped his fourth on bullet a one-timer.

The home side grabbed the lead at 15:54 when Moore stripped Canadiens rookie winger Nick Suzuki behind Price's goal and fed Kerfoot, who snapped his first in blue and white after coming over with Barrie from the Colorado Avalanche in the Nazem Kadri trade this summer.
Moore scored his second at 1:29 of the middle period and Nylander got on the board himself on the power play early in the third before Montreal woke up to spur on the chaotic finish.
"After the first two periods we were an extremely frustrated team," Canadiens head coach Claude Julien said. "It was a matter of refocusing and trying to get our game back on track."

Let's get this season started

What me worry ?

 Well, it's another season opening night, so let's ask the Beaver what he thinks.

Munch ,munch, munch...well I guess this is a bad time , he's eating right now.  We will inquire later. Anyhow, the pomp and circumstance of the pre season is over and rosters have been settled, and we’re finally watching games that count. 

Obviously, you don’t want to read into openers, but it was encouraging to see a strong performance out of Edmonton.  Mike Smith had a good Oilers debut and Zack Kassian had a strong game.  We saw definitively last season that Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl simply can’t carry the Oilers on their own.  They can lead the charge, as they did tonight, but they still need support.  Tonight they got it.

The Maple Leafs also had an encouraging opener.  Only four of their forwards finished the game without a point, highlighting the depth up front that they enjoy.  In particular, Ilya Mikheyev got off to an encouraging start in his NHL debut.

Auston pots a pair

TORONTO 5 OTTAWA 3

Well, it was certainly eventful in Toronto, with John Tavavres emotional entrance as Leaf's captain.
And for the fourth straight time, Auston Matthews scored in the season opener.  He’s just the fourth player in NHL history to find the back of the net in his first four openers.  On Wednesday, he scored twice with his second goal being the game winner.
Ilya Mikheyev and registered an assist.  The 24-year-old was made his NHL debut after scoring 23 goals and 45 points in 62 KHL contests in 2018-19.
Brady Tkachuk scored the first goal of the NHL season.  The Senators sophomore found the back of the net just 25 seconds into the game.
Craig Anderson turned aside 37 of 42 Maple Leafs shots.  He had a 3.51 GAA and .903 save percentage in 50 games last season.
At the other end of the ice, Frederik Andersen saved 23 of 26 shots.  He allowed a single goal in each period.

All hail Captain John

WASHINGTON 3 ST. LOUIS 2 (OT)

Washington spolied the party, and

after raising the Stanley Cup banner, got off to a fast start with Sammy Blais and Alex Pietrangelo bringing the Blues up 2-0 by 7:55 of the first period.  Ryan O'Reilly assisted on both of the goals.
Alex Ovechkin scored a goal for the Capitals.  It was his 659th career goal, which puts him just nine away from the 12th place Luc Robitaille.
Jakub Vrana netted the overtime winner.  He had 24 goals and 47 points in 82 games last season.
Braden Holtby stopped 20 of 22 shots for Washington.  He didn’t face more than eight shots in any period.
Meanwhile, Jordan Binnington saved 31 of 34 shots.  He’s coming off a stunning rookie campaign where he posted a 24-5-1 record, 1.89 GAA, and .927 save percentage in 32 contests.

EDMONTON 3 VANCOUVER 2
Mike Smith won his first game in an Oilers’ uniform.  He stopped 31 of 33 Canucks shots.
Leon Draisaitl scored a goal and registered two assists.  He’s coming off career-highs of 50 goals and 105 points in 2018-19.
Zack Kassian chipped in a goal and an assist for Edmonton.  He finished last season with 15 goals and 26 points in 79 contests.

Tanner Pearson found the back of the net in the third period.  Defenseman Alexander Edler scored Vancouver’s other goal.
Jacob Markstrom kicked out 19 of 22 shots Wednesday night.  Vancouver had a 2-1 lead, but Markstrom was beaten twice in the final 9:08 minutes.

VEGAS 4 SAN JOSE 1
Marcus Sorensen scored the Sharks’ lone goal.  It was assisted by Logan Couture and Brent Burns.

Martin Jones kicked out 31 of 35 Golden Knight shots.  He surrendered two goals on 12 shots in the first period.
At the other end of the ice, Marc-Andre Fleury saved 21 of 22 shots.  It was Fleury’s 440th career win.  He’s five victories away from Terry Sawchuk and seventh place on the all-time list.

Reilly Smith scored twice for Vegas.  The second marker was scored shorthanded at 4:01 of the third period.
Vegas’ Cody Glass made his debut on Wednesday.  He logged 14:51 minutes of ice time and scored a goal.

Training Camp Stories

Brayden Point

Training camp is already well underway, but there still are some major players that are big question marks going into the season.  Of course, we’ve seen contract holdouts in the past before, but having this many high profile RFAs still unsigned is unusual and because of what Mitch Marner ended up getting, some of these contract negotiations could easily end up dragging into the regular season.

That could have a major impact on fantasy teams and it’s already influencing how people draft.  Keep in mind, that when players, especially young players, missing a good chunk or all of training camp, it tends to hinder their performance for a while afterwards, so with every day these players go unsigned, the risk of them underperforming in 2019-20 increases.

Meanwhile, there’s another major situation potentially playing out right now.  Dustin Byfuglien isn’t with the Winnipeg Jets right now for personal reasons and he’s reportedly considering retirement.  The Jets’ defense already took a hit over the summer and losing Byfuglien on top of that would be a major blow for them.  It might also lead to a major trade just before the start of the season.
With all these big moving parts right now, it seems like a good time to take stock of where we are by addressing what we know – or at least think we know – about each of these players’ situations at this time.

Brayden Point – Agent Gerry Johansson decided to publicly vent his frustrations on Thursday, saying that the Lightning and Point aren’t close to a contract.  If a recent report suggesting that the Lightning’s last offer to Point was a three-year contract with a cap hit of $5.7 million then it’s not hard to see why.  Point likely wants to use Marner’s six-year, $65,358,000 contract as his comparable, but in the case of Tampa Bay that might not be a realistic ask.

The Lightning have $67,391,666 committed to 13 players for the 2020-21 campaign even without Point or upcoming RFA Mikhail Sergachev, so they simply aren’t in a position to offer Point a massive payday unless they make a trade.  The Lightning’s cap situation also leaves them rather vulnerable to an offer sheet.  If another team were to offer Point, for example, a five-year, $50 million contract, then the Lightning would have an extremely tough time matching it and even if they did, it would cause significant problems for them down the road.  Johansson did say that his client isn’t pursuing offer sheets, but if this continues to drag on then perhaps that will change.  It’s also worth noting that if this drags into the season, then the situation becomes a bigger headache for Tampa Bay.  That’s because the first year of the contract will become prorated and consequently the first-year cap hit will become increasingly more extreme the later into the season this goes.  Given the Lightning’s cap situation for 2019-20, that will make it harder to fit Point’s contract in under the cap and make them even more vulnerable to an offer sheet.

Matthew Tkachuk – There’s been arguably less useable information regarding the Tkachuk negotiations than any of the other remaining RFAs, which is a bit of a shame because this situation is so interesting.  Tkachuk broke out last season with 34 goals and 77 points in 80 games and come with the added bonus of being a power forward.  What makes his position particularly interesting though is the Flames’ cap situation.
The Flames only have roughly $6.46 million in available cap space, per CapFriendly.  Keep in mind what I already mentioned with Point about how the first year of the contract will become prorated.  It’s already doubtful that the Flames will be able to fit Tkachuk under the cap without some maneuvering.  If this drags on too long, it could become a huge problem.  It’s likely that the Flames are going to have to make a trade, but the question is who.  TJ Brodie was a popular candidate during the summer and Michael Frolik might also make some sense.  Both are in the final season of their contract and come with cap hits in excess of $4 million, so trading either of them would leave Calgary with enough space to fit in Tkachuk.

As is the case with Point, the Flames are particularly vulnerable to an offer sheet.  They might be able to match whatever comes their way, but it would involve them scrambling to make a trade from a position of weakness given that the rest of the league would see them as a motivated seller.
Kyle Connor – Offer sheets have been a recurring theme and in the case of Kyle Connor, it’s a particularly popular topic.  Last week it was reported that three teams have been exploring the possibility of presenting Connor with an offer sheet.  I’m on the fence about whether Connor is a good target though.  Winnipeg has $15.45 million in cap space according to CapFriendly.  Sure, they also need to re-sign Patrik Laine too, which I’ll get to next, but the point remains that they have the ability to match an offer sheet here.

Plus, of all the players on this list, Connor should be the most affordable.  He had 31 goals and 57 points in 2017-18 and 34 goals and 66 points last season, so clearly he’s a great young player.  He’s just not quite the superstar like Marner, Point, and Rantanen nor does he have the elite potential of Laine.  Connor’s going to command a big payday, but he can’t hold up Marner as a comparable to the same extent the others might want to.  Of all the RFAs highlighted in this article, I think Connor will be the first to sign.

Patrik Laine – Laine had 36 goals and 64 points as a rookie and 44 goals and 70 points in his sophomore campaign.  If his third season had gone like that, he’d be among those pushing for Marner-like numbers, but instead the 2018-19 campaign was a shaky one for him.  At times, he was brilliant, but for long stretches of the season, he was ineffective.  He still averaged out to having value with 30 goals and 50 points in 82 games, but that’s a far cry from the extremely high expectations people had going into the 2018-19 campaign.
Unlike the rest of the remaining RFAs I’m talking about here, a long-term contract is likely off the table.  It just doesn’t make sense to do that when there’s so much uncertainty about his future.  Is he the second coming of Alex Ovechkin or should 2018-19 be taken as a big warning sign?  It’s better for both sides to settle on a bridge contract for now and see what he does over the next couple of seasons.

Clearly there is still some debate over what that bridge contract should look like though, otherwise he’d have already signed.  Brock Boeser recently signed a three-year contract with a $5.875 million cap hit which might now serve as a comparable.  Boeser has plenty of potential, but hasn’t fully lived up to it yet.  It would still make sense for Laine to command more than Boeser, but maybe $6-7 million annually over a three-year contract would be palatable for both sides?  We’ll find out.
I got to admit though, of all the players to try to hold out, Laine is the most vulnerable.  His 2018-19 campaign was already rough and now he’s disrupting his ability to properly get ready for 2019-20?  I realize this is his livelihood we’re talking about, but in the long run, a bad 2019-20 might cost him financially and having that kind of rough campaign is becoming increasingly possible as he misses more and more of camp.

Mikko Rantanen – This RFA situation might be particularly difficult to navigate.  Agent Mike Liut feels that Mitch Marner is a close comparable to Rantanen, but the Avalanche haven’t been swayed by the six-year, $65.358 million contract Marner ended up signing.  Instead, they’re trying to lock Rantanen up to a six-to-eight year contract with an annual cap hit of $8.4 million to $8.75 million.  That seems like something Rantanen isn’t likely to sign given that it’s not only well below what Marner’s getting, but also a worse contract than Sebastian Aho got when you factor in the length.
Maybe the solution is a bridge deal, but the problem there is that’s probably not palatable to the Avalanche.  Gabriel Landeskog and goaltender Philipp Grubauer only have two years left on their contracts.  Plus the Avalanche are looking ahead to Nathan MacKinnon, who has four years left on his team-friendly seven-year, $44.1 million contract and will command a huge payday after that deal is done, so locking Rantanen up now is in the Avalanche’s best interests.
It’s also worth noting that the Avalanche are currently swimming in cap space.  That affords them flexibility, but it also means that an offer sheet likely isn’t a way out of this situation.  Why would any other team bother trying when they know that Colorado would just match it?  Thus an offer sheet would serve little purpose beyond getting Rantanen to start playing for the Avalanche.  This is one situation I could see dragging on deep into the year if Colorado holds firm on their desire not to allow the Marner contract to dictate the market.

Dustin Byfuglien – Obviously this one is a very different situation.  Byfuglien isn’t a RFA or even unsigned.  However, as mentioned above, he is reportedly considering retirement.  Whether he’ll ultimately go that route is something I can’t speculate on.  That’s a very personal decision and ultimately I hope he does what he feels is best.  What I can do is talk about what might happen if he does retire.
First off, it’d be a big problem for the Jets.  He led Winnipeg in average ice time last season with 24:22 minutes and the Jets already traded away the defenseman that finished second in that category, Jacob Trouba and parted ways with two other prominent blueliners in Tyler Myers and Ben Chiarot.  In other words, the Jets’ defensive situation was already suspect and losing Byfuglien would throw gasoline on that fire.  On top of all that, the Jets still have two unsigned RFAs as we’ve discussed above, so there is a lot of major issues facing Winnipeg right now.

At this point, if Byfuglien were to retire the Jets would really need to decide what their course is.  Winnipeg was a major contender in 2017-18 and 2018-19, but after losing so much, are they still prepared to go all-in for 2019-20?  The Jets do have some relatively young core pieces to build around, including Laine and Connor, if they do decide shift their focus towards competing seriously again in a couple of years.  However, there are also some young defensemen potentially on the trade market who would allow them to avoid choosing between winning now and setting up for a future run.  Buffalo’s Rasmus Ristolainen would fit that bill.  He’s recorded over 40 points in four straight campaigns while logging over 24 minutes in each of those seasons and he’s only 24-years-old (25 in October).  To make things even better, he comes with a very reasonable $5.4 million cap hit for each of the next three years.

There was plenty of trade speculation about Ristolainen over the summer, but ultimately nothing came of that.  Still, if Byfuglien does retire then that might be all the motivation the Jets need to take the plunge.  Buffalo’s asking price is reportedly rather high though and the Sabres have every reason to keep it that way given that sticking with Ristolainen is a perfectly fine scenario for them.
Justin Faulk is also believed to be on the trade block, though he’s less ideal.  He’d be a fit right now, but he can become an unrestricted free agent this summer, so he might end up being more of a stopgap than the mid-term solution the Jets would be better off pursuing.
It’s still possible that Laine, Connor, and Byfuglien will all be in the lineup for the Jets when their season opens, but it also wouldn’t be surprising if the Jets take a big step back this season.

Leafs lose in Seventh Game, season over.

 It is over, again. Same script, same ending.

 Tuukka Rask made 32 saves, and the Boston Bruins advanced to the Eastern Conference Second Round with a 5-1 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 7 of the first round at TD Garden on Tuesday. Sean Kuraly and Joakim Nordstrom each had a goal and an assist for the Bruins, who won the final two games of the series and will host the Columbus Blue Jackets in Game 1 of the second round Thursday.
"Well I think we've been there before," Bruins center Patrice Bergeron said. "I think a lot of guys, we try to rely on our experiences, try to share that with other guys. Most of the young guys were with us last year and lived it also. So I think it's definitely a great character win for us tonight against a really good team."

Frederik Andersen made 27 saves for the Maple Leafs, who have not won a playoff series since 2004 and were eliminated by Boston in Game 7 of the first round for the second straight season.
"I thought we played real good and carried lots of the play and executed and played the way we wanted to play," Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said. "So it's disappointing. I thought our series this year compared to last year, we were a way better hockey club. In the end, we weren't rewarded."
Nordstrom scored from along the goal line on a shot that got through Andersen's pads short side to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead at 14:29 of the first period. It was a very weak goal to surrender.


"We were talking before the game that we wanted to have a shot-first mentality," Nordstrom said. "I was just trying to get a rebound, Kuraly was crashing the net. It ended up going in, so we'll take it."
Marcus Johansson made it 2-0 at 17:46, getting the puck behind the net following a turnover by Maple Leafs defenseman Jake Gardiner and skating into the left circle before scoring on a wrist shot off the far post.  Another Gardiner giveaway.


John Tavares cut it to 2-1 at 3:54 of the second period after Tyler Ennis forced a turnover along the right wall and poked the puck over to him.
"We have to find ways to get better," Tavares said. "We have a quality team, we have a lot of talent, we have a lot of youth, a lot of growth still ahead of us. ... (You) really realize you have to make the most of every chance you get. It's just difficult right now."
Kuraly scored on a wrist shot from the top of the left face-off circle at 2:40 of the third period for a 3-1 lead.

Charlie Coyle (17:26) and Bergeron (19:59) each scored into an empty net for the 5-1 final.
"Well, I personally felt good from the start of the series," Rask said. "I felt good pretty much all year. You know, obviously the workload hasn't been too much, so I feel fresh. It's all about feeling confident and preparing yourself the right way, trusting your teammates. I thought we battled hard for each other all year, and you know, I think it showed again today."


"We've got to push through this because you can't be talking after a playoff series that you're going home. That's the bottom line. We've improved our team drastically, you've witnessed it. This series we were a way better team than we were a year ago, but we're at the same point with the same result here today, and so that part is disappointing." --Mike Babcock, Maple Leafs Coach.
"It was amazing. The fans were obviously very excited, very loud, gave us extra energy, and we were obviously feeding off that. So thanks to everyone who came and cheered us on and everyone who was watching at home."  
 
Toronto is 12-12 in Game 7, including 5-11 on the road, where it has lost its past six. … Boston is 15-12 in Game 7, including 14-8 at home. The Bruins have the most Game 7 wins in NHL history, passing the Montreal Canadiens (14-9) and Detroit Red Wings (14-11). … Chara tied the NHL record by playing in his 13th Game 7, joining Patrick Roy and Scott Stevens. … Bruins center Kreczi has five points (two goals, three assists) in a five-game point streak. … Boston had a power-play percentage of 43.8 percent (7-for-16), its second highest in a Stanley Cup Playoff series (44.4 percent, 1978 quarterfinals against the Chicago Blackhawks). Bruins face the Blue Jackets next.

Marner the Magnificent

Mitch Marner is wasting no time in demonstrating his value to the Maple Leafs early on in the playoffs. 


After scoring Toronto's first goal in Thursday's Game 1 against Boston, the 21-year-old Toronto forward made Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask look absolutely silly by scoring a spectacular goal on the penalty shot in the second period.

Marner was hauled down by Jake DeBrusk on a short-handed breakaway and made no mistake to pull his team ahead 2-1. It was just the second short-handed goal of his career and is the first short-handed goal on a penalty shot in franchise playoff history.

Toronto went on to a 4-1 victory, taking a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. 


It's been nearly 20 years since a Leafs player has scored on a penalty shot in the playoffs. Former Toronto captain Mats Sundin scored one against Buffalo on May 29, 1999 in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference final. The Sabres won the series 4-1.


 As Maple Leafs faithful already know, Marner is in the final year of his entry-level contract and is in line for a big raise this summer. He's been making his case all season, reaching a career-high 94 points in the regular season. 

Toronto general manager Kyle Dubas is likely getting ready to back up that Brinks truck for Marner, but scoring such a timely goal against the team that's been such a playoff thorn in Toronto's side has to feel priceless.

Be Calm and be Leaf

The Toronto Maple Leafs scored three power-play goals in a span of 1:49 in the second period to hand the Colorado Avalanche their eighth straight loss, 5-2 at Pepsi Center on Tuesday.

"It was our power play," Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said. "For a while tonight it was going badly. We weren't doing good things. When you don't do good things, good things don't happen. But when you start to do good things, you get competitive.
"It was great to see our guys be rewarded. Gives them a bit of swagger back and their play was the difference in the game."

Kasperi Kapanen and Nazim Kadri each had two goals, Auston Matthews had a goal and two assists, and Freddie Andersen made 34 saves for the Maple Leafs (35-18-3), who are 6-1-1 in their past eight games.
Toronto went 3-for-6 on the power play after going 1-for-18 in the previous six games.

"Like I said earlier, all being on the same page," Kadri said. "That makes a big difference. Trying to make little adjustments, talking amongst the five of us and trying to draw up little plays that possibly could work. That was the difference. It was nice to get a couple tonight, for sure."
Alexander Kerfoot and Ryan Graves scored for the Avalanche (22-23-11), who are 0-5-3 in the past eight games, allowing at least four goals in seven of them. Semyon Varlamov gave up four goals on 17 shots before being pulled. Philipp Grubauer made 10 saves in relief.

"I thought Grubauer did a really nice job coming in cold," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. "I thought [Varlamov] was great. He was giving us a chance to win. What's he going to do on the power play? They're seam passes to quick spots on and off the guys' tapes. It's great execution by them and I don't think he has a chance.

"I pulled him simply because it's been a while since [Grubauer] got in the net and tried to spark our team. That was not a goalie pull, but he was great and [Varlamov] was pretty darned good too."
Toronto took a 1-0 lead at 3:17 of the first period on a breakaway by Kapanen off a lob pass from Matthews.

Colorado tied 1-1 at 15:16 when Graves scored through a screen from just inside the blue line.
The Maple Leafs went in front 2-1 on Matthews' power-play goal at 5:19 of the second period. John Tavares passed through the goalmouth to Matthews in the lower left circle for his 99th NHL goal.
The Maple Leafs stretched the lead to 3-1 at 6:46 on Kadri's power-play goal after Avalanche forward J.T. Compher was assessed a double-minor for high-sticking Travis Dermott. Kadri scored from the slot on a tic-tac-toe passing play from Tavares and Matthews.
"The story of the game for me was our penalty kill," Bednar said. "We take a double minor 200 feet away from our net. At this point, that's ridiculous. You can't do that, especially not against a team that definitely has one of the more dangerous power plays in the League."
Kapanen made it 4-1 with a power-play goal at 7:08, putting in a loose puck. Grubauer then replaced Varlamov.

"I haven't been put on too much power play," Kapanen said. "I'm grateful for the chance to get out there and then try to score goals. Lucky enough, I did today."
Kadri redirected William Nylander's pass to increase the lead to 5-1 at 5:42 of the third period.
The Avalanche pulled within 5-2 at 8:14 on Kerfoot's deflection of Samuel Girard's shot.
Colorado's line of Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen was held to two shots, both from MacKinnon.
"Just eliminating time and space for those guys," Andersen said. "Their top line is where they get most of their production. We wanted to eliminate that as much as possible."

AUSTON  MATTHEWS said it

"We'd like to be good home and away. It's tough, especially coming into a building like this where altitude obviously affects you. I thought the first 10 minutes we kind of weathered the storm. It was a big goal by [Kapanen] there and we just went from there. Power play came out big for us and the rest is history."

The Maple Leafs' three power-play goals in 1:49 tied for their fifth-fastest three in the regular season since 1933-34. The fastest was 1:16 against the Montreal Canadiens on Feb. 9, 1952 … Tavares has eight points (three goals, five assists) in his past five games … The Avalanche losing streak is their longest since nine straight (0-8-1) Jan. 12-Feb. 1, 2017. They have been outscored 35-16 in the streak.