The Toronto Maple Leafs have been comfortable winning wide open contests with their offensive firepower, but have to get used to achieving victory in tight defensive affairs similar to how games are played in the postseason.
In the last few weeks, the Leafs have been successful winning low scoring games against Tampa Bay and in Philadelphia, and on Friday Toronto responded after falling behind in the third period in a 2-1 victory over the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Arena.
The game was a goaltender’s duel between Daniel Vladar of the Flames and Jack Campbell of the Leafs, as the two clubs combined for 68 shots on goal. Oliver Kylington gave Calgary a 1-0 lead early in the third period, but Toronto replied just under eight minutes as Ondrej Kase tipped a William Nylander one-timer past Vladar to tie the game.
“You kind of felt it going into the third period 0-0. We had some power plays, we had a number of chances … and nothing to show for it,” Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said after the game. “You felt like it was shaping up to be a perfect road game for Calgary, which is really what it was all the way through. You just felt like it was a break for them and we had to score quickly… I sort of liked the way we had to stick with it and we finally got one to go.”
In overtime, Campbell came to the rescue of the Leafs with saves on Andrew Mangiapane and Kylington to keep the game tied, allowing Auston Matthews to win the game moments later on his eighth shot of the game and sixth goal of the season.
“When (the Flames) scored, we didn’t get down and played pretty solid throughout the whole game.” Matthews said. “They’re a really good team, they play really well within their structure and make it hard to generate offense, especially on the inside so I thought we stuck with it, kept grinding out and obviously a big goal from Willy to tie it up and get us that extra point.”
The Leafs travel to Buffalo to take on the Sabres in their third back-to-back of the season at Key Bank Center on Saturday. Buffalo also played on Friday, snapping their five-game losing skid with a 3-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers.
Dylan Cozens scored a pair of goals and veteran Dustin Tokarski made 33 saves for the victory. With Craig Anderson day-to-day, it is possible that former Leaf Aaron Dell will make his Sabres debut against Toronto.
Keefe indicated that rookie Joseph Woll will make his NHL debut against the Sabres. The 23-year-old was 2-1-0 with the AHL Marlies (3.38 GAA, .895 save percentage) and has been backing up Campbell the last week.
"In an ideal world, you want him to really get rolling with the Marlies and really work to develop himself over the course of this season." Keefe said. "As it turns out, there's an opportunity here. He's played well through camp, he's worked extremely hard, he's coming off of an outstanding start with the Marlies in his last game action. He's had more than enough time to practice with us. I told him three or four days ago, that he was going to be getting to start tonight, so he’s had more enough opportunity to prepare. It's a big night for him, but I think the big thing is just our organization really believes in him and his talent."
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