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A clean sweep in Cali, Leafs lead NHL after OT win in Anaheim; Great Scott

November 17, 2018, 12:35 PM ET [300 Comments]
Mike Augello
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The Toronto Maple Leafs continued their success on the road on Friday, as Morgan Rielly’s overtime goal gave them a 2-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks, a clean sweep of their three-game swing through California and sole possession of the top spot in the Atlantic Division and the NHL standings with 28 points.

Patrick Marleau and Pontus Aberg exchanged goals in a game dominated by the goaltending if John Gibson and Garret Sparks. Gibson made 33 stops on the night against a Leafs club playing their third game in four nights, while Sparks bounced back from a subpar outing in Boston last week with 38 saves for his third win of the season.



“I thought our guys stayed with it here tonight. I didn't think our energy was like it's been, but I thought we found a way to win the game and it was good for Sparks too.” Leafs coach Mike Babcock said after the game. “Now he can relax and earn some confidence and feel good about himself and play well in the National League.”

Toronto has gone 6-3-0 since Auston Matthews shoulder injury on October 27, due to great goaltending from Frederik Andersen (5-2-0, 1.44 GAA and .956 save %) and more contributions from depth players like Par Lindholm, Andreas Johnsson, Tyler Ennis and Josh Leivo in recent games, but mostly because the core group has been able to step up their production and compensate for Matthews absence.

In nine games, Morgan Rielly (5 goals, 6 assists) and Mitch Marner (2 goals, 9 assists) lead the club with 11 points, John Tavares (5 goals, 5 assists) has 10, Nazem Kadri (5 goals, 3 assists) has eight and Marleau (3 goals, 4 assists) has seven points.



The core group were responsible for both goals against the Ducks, as Kadri and Marleau combined on the Leafs opening goal and Marner set up Rielly for his career-high tying ninth goal in just 20 games.

The club will have a day off on Saturday and practice at MasterCard Centre on Sunday in preparation for hosting the Columbus Blue Jackets at Scotiabank Arena on Monday.

Matthews traveled with the club on the road this week and has been slowly ramping up his on ice work, to the point that it is possible that he will participate fully in practices for the first time in three weeks. The prognosis for his shoulder injury was a minimum of four weeks (which would potentially put him back in the lineup against Philadelphia next Saturday), but with the Leafs having success without him in the lineup, they will not rush him back and make sure that his shoulder is fully healed.



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Leafs goaltending prospect Ian Scott is having a remarkable season with the Prince Albert Raiders of the WHL. The 2017 fourth round pick was part of the taxi squad for the Toronto Marlies during their Calder Cup run last season and that has had a beneficial impact on the 19-year-old, who leads the WHL with a 16-1-0 record, 1.47 GAA and three shutouts this season.




Scott represented the WHL in the recent Canada - Russia series and according to TSN’s Bob McKenzie will be one of four goaltenders invited to Team Canada’s camp for the upcoming World Junior Championships in Vancouver and Victoria, BC next month.

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