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The Toronto Maple Leafs continued their impressive play after the All-Star break, jumping on the New York Rangers and chasing goaltender Henrik Lundqvist in 4-0 victory at Madison Square Garden on Thursday.
Justin Holl, James van Riemsdyk, Patrick Marleau and Zach Hyman scored for Toronto and backup Curtis McElhinney made 25 saves for his second shutout of the season and second straight for the club.
The Leafs have not surrendered a goal since the second period of the 4-1 win in Dallas on January 25th, giving them a shutout streak of 142:17.
As in their win over the Islanders on Wednesday, Toronto was the quicker of the two clubs and took advantage of their early opportunities.
Holl, who was promoted on emergency recall after Roman Polak and Ron Hainsey fell ill on Wednesday, opened the scoring midway through the first on a point shot that rang off the post past Lundqvist.
It was the 26-year-old’s second goal in consecutive games (making him the only defenseman in Leafs history to accomplish such a feat) and a highlight for Holl’s father, who missed his first NHL goal on Wednesday but got to New York City to join the other player’s dads on their annual Father’s Trip.
“He wasn’t at the Leafs game yesterday, so it’s really nice to have him here.… Holl said after the game. “I’m sure he’s having a lot of fun with the dads up in the box, so it was nice to get him out here and it’ll be good to see him right now.…
After van Riemsdyk extended the lead to 2-0 on a set up from Connor Brown later in the first, the Leafs delivered the coup de grace early in the middle frame.
Marleau scored his 17th of the season on a one-timer coming off a blocked Nazem Kadri shot. Hyman made it 4-0 just 2:13 later and that was it for Lundqvist, who was pulled after allowing four goals on 13 shots and for the second time against Toronto this season.
After struggling and playing .500 hockey in December and January, the Leafs have won four straight games and earned points in five straight on the road. Head coach Mike Babcock is pleased with his young club’s progress, but still sees room for growth.
“We think we're getting better, we think we have a chance to be quite a bit better. We're just a work in progress.… Babcock said after the game. “I think early (in the season) we were exciting and we scored like crazy, but we didn't know how to play without [the puck]. Then (t)here was a while where we struggled and everyone thought we weren't very good – I actually thought we were pretty good – we didn't give up much, but we couldn't score. Now we're scoring again and guys are getting their feel back.… The Leafs finish up the Father’s Trip in Boston on Saturday, playing their third game in four nights against the division-rival Bruins.
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Prior to the game on Thursday, the Leafs announced that forward Nikita Soshnikov would be sent to the Toronto Marlies for a conditioning stint. Soshnikov played three games for Toronto after being recalled from their AHL affiliate in mid-November and has been out with since November 24th with an unspecified lower body injury.
The 24-year-old winger will get three or four games to get back into game shape and will be placed back on the NHL roster, which then gives Leafs GM Lou Lamoriello a dilemma.
Both Soshnikov and Josh Leivo require waivers to be sent down to the AHL and with the trade deadline approaching, a number of teams would gladly opt for the option of acquiring a young forward for free instead of trading an asset. Rookie Kasperi Kapanen does not require waivers, but has played well in two stints with the Leafs.
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