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The Toronto Maple Leafs followed a similar script in the second of their six-game road swing against the Vegas Golden Knights, squandering a two-goal third period lead and relying heavily on goalie Jack Campbell to earn valuable points in the standings, as William Nylander scored once in regulation and the only goal in the shootout in a 4-3 Toronto win over the Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena on Tuesday.
Auston Matthews and Ilya Mikheyev also scored for the Leafs, but it was Campbell who kept Toronto in the game with 31 saves and three stops in the shootout. The Leafs had a strong opening period, but were outshot 28-9 the rest of the game and did not register a shot on goal in the final nine minutes of regulation.
“(We)gave (Vegas) the game back and opened it up, and it led to one of those stretches – a three, four-minute stretch – where we really couldn’t get the puck, couldn’t get anything going.… Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said after the game. “To look at it here, we’ve played two very elite teams here in the West and got three out of four points, so we feel good about that but if we want to be a serious hockey team we need to be better in third periods and find ways to control the game.…
Florida and Tampa Bay, who had victories over Vancouver and Buffalo on Tuesday, are atop the NHL standings with 53 points, while Toronto’s win moves them to 49 points with four games in hand on the Lightning and two on the Panthers. The Leafs will use one of those games up on Wednesday, as they play in the second of back-to-back games against the Arizona Coyotes at the Gila River Arena in Glendale.
Petr Mrazek is expected to make his first start since December 11 and the game marks a return home for Matthews and the first time Michael Bunting will play against his former club. Keefe offered no update on the status on Mitch Marner and Pierre Engvall on Tuesday, which means the pair will likely be unavailable against the Coyotes, but could be ready for their next game against St. Louis on Saturday.
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Lot’s of â¤ï¸ for the 💙ðŸ¤
— Norman James (@IamNormanJames) April 26, 2021
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