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The Toronto Maple Leafs put forth a more complete effort in a 4-1 victory over the Calgary Flames at the ScotiaBank Saddledome on Tuesday than their previous road victory in Carolina on Friday.
The Leafs once again received a strong effort from goaltender Frederik Andersen, but unlike the contest in Raleigh last week, they were able to shut down the Flames after establishing a comfortable 3-0 lead in the third period.
As with their loss to Washington on Saturday, Toronto received a sizable offensive contribution from their blueline, as Roman Polak scored on a deflection off of Calgary defenseman Travis Hamonic near the end of the first, and Nikita Zaitsev’s third goal of the year in the middle frame.
“If you look around the league, everybody's ‘D’ is active, everyone's ‘D’ can really shoot the puck and the better D have the more time you spend in the offensive zone.… Leafs head coach Mike Babcock said after the game. “I thought our guys did a nice job of that here tonight. I think when you're playing as a five-man unit it's a lot easier.…
“It was a lucky shot, I broke a stick on that shot and it was a rolling puck. Polak said. It actually hit one of their ‘D’ and went in, so it was a lucky shot.…
Andersen, who faced a season-high 47 shots against the Hurricanes on Friday, had to make only 19 saves against the Flames, but made a big right pad save on Matthew Tkachuk to preserve a 1-0 lead in the second period.
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Mitch Marner’s scoring struggles continued against the Flames. The Leafs winger has only one goal since the season opener and was stymied by Calgary goalie Mike Smith stymied on three occasions on Tuesday.
In spite of the victory and his club’s steady overall performance, Babcock continued to shuffle his lines at practice in Edmonton on Wednesday, placing Marner back with Zach Hyman and Auston Matthews.
James van Riemsdyk skated alongside Nazem Kadri and Leo Komarov, while Tyler Bozak lined up with Connor Brown and Patrick Marleau. “We haven’t found a level that you want to find every day yet. “Babcock said after practice. “A lot of young teams do it, it takes some time. We are working at it, we’re getting better at it and there is good progress in that area.
The Leafs play the Edmonton Oilers for the first time on Thursday, who may be without starting goalie Cam Talbot, as the veteran was absent from practice with an upper body injury.
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