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The Toronto Maple Leafs put forth a better performance against the St. Louis Blues than in their loss to Montreal on Saturday, but the Stanley Cup champions overcame a second period rally, scoring in the final minute of the middle frame and midway through the third period to hand Toronto a 3-2 loss at Scotiabank Arena on Monday.
Frederik Gauthier and William Nylander scored 24 seconds apart for the Leafs after Oskar Sundqvist gave the Blues a first period lead, but Brayden Schenn tied it late in the second and Alex Pietrangelo scored the game-winner at 7:51 of the third period on a cross-ice pass from David Perron.
Toronto had numerous offensive chances but were stymied by Blues goalie Jordan Binnington, who made 32 saves for his second win of the season. Frederik Andersen made 27 saves in his first loss, but uncharacteristically gave up questionable goals to Sundqvist to give St. Louis an early lead and on Pietrangelo’s game-winner.
“(Pietrangelo) kind of snuck down pretty far out of my field of vision and obviously got a shot just over the pad that snuck underneath my arm. Unfortunately, that's it.… Andersen said after the game.
Toronto tied the game on a remarkable display of hand-eye coordination by fourth liner Jason Spezza, who batted the puck in midair twice to the front of the net where Gauthier fired the puck past Binnington for his second of the year.
The Leafs took the lead on speedy breakout that resulted in passes from Andreas Johnsson and Cody Ceci to set up Nylander for his second of the campaign.
“(St. Louis has) a real good team, I think we've got a good team. I thought there wasn't much to pick, I thought we had real good chances. In the end, though, good teams find a way to win.… Leafs coach Mike Babcock said. “The game is right there on the line going into the third period and they found a way to get one and we didn't. We had good chances but didn't. They made a play, they got a nice little pick there and then one seam where we had five guys inside, we should have had it sorted out, but we didn't. In the end, that's what good teams do.…
On the positive side, the Leafs fourth line played well but saw very limited ice time (Nic Petan – 5:41, Spezza – 8:41, Gauthier – 6:36), while 19-year-old Rasmus Sandin played a season-high 15:20 on the night and was unfazed by going up against the Cup champs.
“I liked [Sandin] tonight. That's the first time he's kind of – I don't know how many minutes he played, but I thought he was impressive.… Babcock said. “I didn't think he got rattled, I thought he was good, so that's positive.…
On the negative side, the Kasperi Kapanen – John Tavares – Mitch Marner line did not have a strong outing. Kapanen appears out of sorts playing on his off-wing and was slightly out of position on Pietrangelo’s goal, while the pairing of Tyson Barrie and Jake Muzzin was on the ice for two goals (including the game winner).
After four games in six nights, the Leafs will have a couple days of rest before facing the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday.
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