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The Toronto Maple Leafs recovered from a sluggish start against the Vegas Golden Knights, scoring twice in the second period and clinging to a one goal lead into the third, but Reilly Smith scored short-handed and in overtime to give the Golden Knights a 4-3 win over the Leafs at Scotiabank Arena on Tuesday.
Timothy Liljegren tallied twice and Mitch Marner scored his third of the season and Erik Kallgren made 16 saves in the loss, giving Toronto five of six points against their three games in four nights against tough opposition. Head coach Sheldon Keefe was not satisfied with the club’s careless giveaways, which were the difference in essentially an even contest.
“We got ahold of (the game) in the second period, and I thought we took over the game. We did a lot of really good things to put us in a really good spot to win.… Keefe said. “Obviously, we didn’t manage it well from there. Our power play lets us down. We let them get back into the game that way.…
Each of the Golden Knights goals in regulation were caused by a critical error. Nicolas Roy’s opener 45 seconds into the game resulted from Rasmus Sandin’s inability to keep the puck inside the blueline. Jack Eichel’s goal late in the first was the result of Liljegren’s outlet pass being intercepted by the former Sabres captain.
Smith’s tying marker was due to William Nylander losing an edge inside the Vegas zone, resulting in a short-handed two-on-one break.
“Every one of them, if you look at it, we had the puck, and it just happens. It is not even a defensive thing. You can’t defend when you give the other team the puck in bad spots and they can counter with a ton of speed. You don’t even get a chance to defend.… Keefe said. “They do it as good as anybody in the NHL. We saw that in Vegas, and we certainly played into it again here tonight. Whether it was whiffing on some pucks in the first period that gave them freebies, or in the second, it was harder to get through the neutral zone and they were coming quick.…
Toronto has two days off before playing back-to-back home games against Pittsburgh and Vancouver on Friday and Saturday. Goaltender Matt Murray practiced at Ford Performance Centre on Wednesday and indicated that he felt good afterward, which raises the possibility of playing in one of the games on the weekend.
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