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The Toronto Maple Leafs enter the Christmas break on a decidedly upbeat note, as veteran Leo Komarov scored twice in a 4-1 victory over the Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena in Glendale on Friday.
The victory was the Leafs third win in a row on the road and their first in the second of back-to-back games this season. Komarov, Connor Brown and William Nylander had goals for Toronto and Frederik Andersen made 31 saves for his 14th victory of the year.
“I just think for a long time (our confidence on the road) has been (growing).… Leafs coach Mike Babcock said after the game. “We're playing better defensively and even our turnover at the end of the second, those are little things we've got to learn not to do. We're getting better and the wins happen when you do good things.…
The contest in Glendale was memorable for Leafs 2016 top pick Auston Matthews and one of his childhood idols; Coyotes team captain Shane Doan.
The Scottsdale, AZ native received a large round of applause prior to his first NHL game in his home state and registered an assist on Brown’s first period goal, while the 40-year-old Doan played in his 1500th game (all for the Jets/Coyotes) and registered his 400th NHL goal late in the second period.
Look at how Auston Matthews barely keeps this takeaway on-side. What a player. 26 points in 33 games now for the 19-year-old. pic.twitter.com/LfdPnSI91M
— Jeff Veillette (@JeffVeillette) December 24, 2016
“I saw (Doan) come up, it happened pretty quick. It's kind of that part of the game that makes it pretty special.… Matthews said. “Obviously he got his 400th goal tonight playing in his 1,500th game. That's a pretty unbelievable accomplishment for him. I'm happy for him, but I'm happy that we got the win as well.…
Nylander and Komarov each broke lengthy droughts on Friday. The 20-year-old rookie played mostly on the fourth line with Byron Froese and Matt Martin and scored his seventh of the season on a third-period breakaway, ending a 13-game goalless streak.
Komarov (who had a career-high 19 goals last season) had not scored in 15 games, but found the net on a tip-in of a Jake Gardiner point shot on the power-play in the first and slipped a backhander between the pads on Coyotes goalie Mike Smith in the third.
Toronto is off until December 28, when they will travel to Florida for back-to-back games against the Panthers and Lightning.
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Four Maple Leafs prospects have made the rosters for the upcoming 2017 IIHF World Junior in Toronto and Montreal.
Forwards Jeremy Bracco(USA - 2nd – 2015), Carl Grundstrom (SWE – 2nd – 2016) and Martins Dzierkals (LAT - 3rd – 2015) and goaltender Joseph Woll (3rd – 2016) survived the finals cuts of their respective countries.
Bracco is expected to have a key offensive role for the Americans, who have only two players returning from last year’s squad. Grundstrom is tied for second in SHL scoring with 11 goals and was named an alternate captain for Team Sweden. Dzierkals was a key contributor to Latvia qualifying for this year’s tournament last December, but has not played for Rouyn-Noranda since November 25th because of a lower body injury.
The 18-year-old Woll, who is 10-6-1 in his freshman season at Boston College, registered a shutout in a 4-0 pre-tournament victory over the Czechs on Friday. The US kept three goalies in Tyler Parsons, Jake Oettinger and Woll on their roster.
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Toronto has sent goalie Antoine Bibeau, centers Frederik Gauthier and Byron Froese to the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League and recalled goalie Jhonas Enroth.
The Marlies play St. Johns at Ricoh Coliseum on Boxing Day and the flip flop of goaltenders is likely being done for the same reason Enroth was recalled earlier in the month, to give Bibeau some game action in the AHL.
Froese and Gauthier were recalled due to injuries to Ben Smith and Tyler Bozak. Smith had surgery on his hand during the week and is expected to be out until January. Bozak may be back when the Leafs travel to Florida next week, which means that one of the two centers will be coming back.
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Listen to the Christmas edition of “Off the Post… with myself, Russ Cohen and Anthony Mingioni, as we discuss the latest in the NHL and our holiday gripes.
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