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The Toronto Maple Leafs followed their familiar formula in the annual Hall of Fame game against the Calgary Flames, surrendering a 4-1 lead, but eventually prevailing in a 5-4 shootout victory at Scotiabank Arena on Friday.
William Nylander tallied twice, Calle Jarnkrok and John Tavares scored for Toronto, giving them a three-goal lead early in the second period, but the Leafs continue to show an inability to lock things down and play competent defensive hockey, as Calgary narrowed the lead to 4-3 before the end of the middle frame and tied the game early in the third on a goal by Martin Pospisil.
After a scoreless overtime, Mitch Marner and Yegor Sharangovich exchanged goals in the shootout, but Joseph Woll stopped the next three Flames shooters and Max Domi beat Daniel Vladar to give the Leafs their seventh victory of the season.
Woll made 24 saves in regulation and four of five in the shootout for his fifth win of the season, but after the game, head coach Sheldon Keefe tried to look at the positive side at how the club played at 4-4.
“I liked that we didn’t get rattled. We didn’t give the game away. After they made it 4-4, it might have been the best we played all game.” Keefe said. “The third period was our best period. Sometimes things don’t go your way or whatever, but again tonight, it was a good game. There were a lot of good things from us. It was the fewest scoring chances we have given up all season at five-on-five.”
It was not a strong night for the top line of Matthew Knies, Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner, who were on the ice for two of the three Calgary comeback goals, but once again Keefe had to shorten his bench to 11 forwards after Ryan Reaves and the fourth line were caught on the ice for a pair of goals. Reaves played just seven shifts and 4:32 on the night.
“(It was a) coach’s decision. He is having some bad luck right now.” Keefe said. “I needed to be able to use more guys. The pace of the game was high today, especially through two periods. It was up and down the ice. I needed to use more guys. I just made the decision to use 11.”
Keefe provided cover for the veteran enforcer, saying that not all of the goals scored when he was on the ice were his fault, but even if that were the case, the fact that the puck ended up in the back of the net when he plays is excuse enough to sit him for a bit. To that end, the Leafs recalled Bobby McMann from the AHL Marlies on Saturday and demoted Pontus Holmberg.
McMann will draw in for the second of back-to-back home games against the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday since there is enough evidence that Reaves is a liability that the Leafs cannot afford to play right now.
Ilya Samsonov will make the start for Toronto, and Thatcher Demko (7-2-0, 1.61 GAA, .948 save percentage) is the likely starter for Vancouver.
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There have been constant whispers that the Leafs might have interest in Calgary pending free agent defenseman Nikita Zadorov, who scored a goal and laid out a big hit on Tyler Bertuzzi on Friday night. Those whispers got a bit louder after the game, as both Kevin Weekes of ESPN reported that Zadorov has requested a trade, and The Athletic’s Chris Johnston reported that he would welcome joining his old GM Brad Treliving in Toronto.
The 28-year-old Russian blueliner has played for Buffalo, Colorado, Chicago, and Calgary, and is known for his physicality, which would make him a good fit for what the Leafs are looking for, but his $3.75 million cap hit will be a difficult fit for the Leafs to accommodate.
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