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Midway through the third period, the Vancouver Canucks and Toronto Maple Leafs appeared to be playing a repeat of their game in Vancouver last month, where Toronto trailed by two goals for most of the game and were frustrated by Canucks goalie Jacob Markstrom.
The sequel at Air Canada Centre on Saturday had a different outcome, as the Leafs rallied with a pair of goals in the third and won 3-2 in a shootout. Auston Matthews and Tyler Bozak scored in regulation and converted in the shootout to give the Leafs their second win in a row and Frederik Andersen made 34 saves on the night, but the game was not exactly how head coach Mike Babcock drew things up.
“After (the first period), I thought (the Canucks) were better than us and really probably until the 30-minute mark, I thought they were better than us.… Babcock said after the game.
Its 2-1! #TMLtalk pic.twitter.com/KO1fHnBpwt
— david nestico (@davidnestico200) January 7, 2018
Toronto fell behind due to some sloppy defensive play from the Bozak line and Jake Gardiner – Connor Carrick pairing, as Brock Boeser knocked a clearing attempt out of mid-air and converted for his 22nd of the year less than three minutes into the first.
The Canucks took advantage of some questionable penalty calls on Matt Martin and Roman Polak in the third, as Sam Gagner scored on a two-man advantage to make it 2-0, before the Leafs began their comeback with Matthews 19th goal of the season.
Rookie defenseman Travis Dermott had an auspicious NHL debut. Paired for most of the game with veteran Roman Polak, the 21-year-old settled in after a few shifts and began to display his skating and puck handling ability on a few offensive rushes and also showed a physical side, taking forward Nic Dowd out with a check along the boards and knocking down Markus Granlund in front of the net.
“(Dermott) looks like he's got good hockey sense. It looked like the situation didn't intimidate him at all. I thought he was good.… Babcock said after the game. “D.J. [Smith] is running the back end there and it's what he feels is right. He must have been comfortable (with putting Dermott with Rielly) or he wouldn't have gone out there.…
Trailing in the third, the Leafs coaching staff showed some confidence in the rookie, pairing him up with Morgan Rielly, which led to Bozak’s tying goal.
“I think I was on the bench to be honest. I probably had at least one foot in there when I saw (Rielly) turn around to go back to the pile and I was like I might as well get my plus.… Dermott said. “It was kind of a broken play by me at the blue(line) and they ended up helping me out and getting me an (assist) there.…
With the victory, the Leafs move to 52 points maintain pace with Boston and have opened up an 11-point lead over Detroit for third place in the Atlantic.
Toronto will enjoy a day of rest on Sunday before hosting the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday.
Matthews in the shootout, too easy. pic.twitter.com/GFfBbkNhp2
— Flintor (@TheFlintor) January 7, 2018
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