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UPDATE - Leafs make one further trade, shipping out winger Dryden Hunt to Calgary for center Radim Zohorna.
The Toronto Maple Leafs rebounded from a weak effort in Edmonton with a solid defensive performance against the Calgary Flames, as Calle Jarnkrok broke a 1-1 tie early in the third period to give the Leafs a 2-1 victory at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Thursday, less than 24 hours from the NHL Trade Deadline.
Mitch Marner also scored for Toronto and Joseph Woll made 25 saves for his second victory of the season, with Matt Murray expected to come off LTIR as soon as this weekend. The only blemish for the rookie goaltender came early in the first period on a Blake Coleman short-handed goal after new Leaf blueliner Erik Gustafsson failed to keep the puck in at the point on an early Toronto power-play.
Woll kept the game close in the middle frame, stopping 14 Calgary shots and allowing the Leafs to tie the game on Marner’s 22nd goal of the season.
“I thought (Woll) was excellent — poised, relaxed, and he got us through the tough times in the second period.… Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said after the game. “I thought the guys took care of him in the third, but he was excellent. He looked extremely confident in there.…
Toronto went with seven defensemen, giving Timothy Liljegren the night off after tumbling awkwardly into the boards in the third period on Wednesday. Gustafsson played just 9:52 in his Leafs debut. It was a much more positive outing for Schenn, who had four hits in just less than 11 minutes of ice time in his first game for Toronto in 11 years.
“I thought (Luke) was great. It is tough circumstances for both him and Gus coming in.… Keefe said.n “He is just so strong around our net pushing people around. I don’t know if there is any clearer example of how strong he is than seeing Lucic bounce off of him like that. Not many guys are doing that to a guy like Lucic. He is definitely a presence like that and just a terrific guy.…
The Leafs will finish off the Western Canada leg of their five-game road trip with their third game in four nights against the Canucks in Vancouver on Saturday, with the trade deadline looming at 3 pm Friday. GM Kyle Dubas and the club’s hierarchy have already made their big moves adding Ryan O’Reilly, Noel Acciari, Jake McCabe, Sam Lafferty, Schenn and Gustafsson earlier this week, but it is possible that Dubas will make another small move as prices decline before the Friday afternoon deadline.
The Leafs currently have nine defensemen on their NHL roster and veteran Jordie Benn assigned to the AHL Toronto Marlies. They may shop Gustafsson with a low salary ($800,000) to a team looking for an inexpensive power-play quarterback. TSN’s Chris Johnston in his Toronto Star column has blueliner Justin Holl on his trade board since he has an expiring contract, but the big righty is a favorite of Keefe, and would likely not yield more than a mid-round pick in return.
The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun indicated on TSN 1050’s Overdrive on Thursday that the chatter regarding Dubas adding a goalie is unlikely, and that the club is all-in on the tandem of Ilya Samsonov and Murray. Any external upgrade likely would not improve on the club’s depth option of Woll and Erik Kallgren.
Based on the club’s depth chart, the area where Dubas could make another add is up front, as the Leafs currently are carrying only 12 forwards on their NHL roster.
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