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The Toronto Maple Leafs began the road-heavy month of December on a losing note, finishing up a three-game Western Canada road swing with a 2-1 loss to the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena on Saturday.
Jacob Markstrom made 35 saves for his seventh win of the season, holding off a late Toronto rally. James van Riemsdyk scored his 13th goal of the season, tying Auston Matthews and Nazem Kadri for the club lead and Frederik Andersen made 24 saves in the loss.
The Leafs struggled at the start of the game, as Vancouver pelted Andersen with 17 first period shots and took a 2-0 lead on goals from Markus Granlund and Alexander Edler.
“We were playing tonight, we didn't get ready and the first period cost us.… Leafs head coach Mike Babcock said following the game. “We spent the whole night playing catch up. We had lots of opportunity, their goaltender was good and they made some blocks and all that. In saying that, we weren't ready to go at the start and if you play catch up hockey, it's usually losing hockey.…
Toronto bounced back in the second and third, outshooting the Canucks 25-9, but could not get the puck past Markstrom until less than three minutes remained.
Morgan Rielly recovered quickly after missing a one-timer late in regulation, firing a wrist shot that was deflected by van Riemsdyk to get the Leafs on the board, but Toronto could not manage the equalizer even with Andersen pulled for an extra attacker.
The trip overall has to be considered a success, with a solid overall effort in a 4-1 victory over Calgary and the good fortune of a 6-4 win in Edmonton thanks to Kris Russell’s own goal with 65 seconds left, but the sluggish start on Saturday marks a return to what the Leafs did in a stretch of games before heading out on the road.
"Roof! Roof! Roof!"@DTimashov goes end to end, pulls it to the backhand and buries it to end this one in overtime.#MarliesLive pic.twitter.com/ui1RJKdKVX
— Toronto Marlies (@TorontoMarlies) December 2, 2017
Babcock has been trying to motivate his young squad to play more energetically to start games by giving them optional morning skates in they do so.
“It's one of those things, there was no morning skate or nothing (Saturday) morning and we've shown how we handle that. The bottom line is if you want to be a real good team you've got to play every day.… Babcock said. “You've got to start on time. You spend the whole night giving away two points because you didn't prepare.…
After a slow start in Vancouver and a mandatory day off on Sunday, it is likely that the Leafs head coach will work his squad hard in preparation for a rematch with Calgary at Air Canada Centre on Wednesday.
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