The Canadian Press
John Chidley-Hill
TORONTO–Mitch Marner looked at two things as he took his turn in the shootout.
First, he had to get the puck under control as it skidded and bounced on the choppy Air Canada Centre ice.
Then he peered into the face of Golden Knights’ goalie Maxime Lagace.
Marner skated out wide before cutting in toward the net, getting Lagace to commit with a deke before tucking the puck into the net to lead the Maple Leafs in a 4-3 victory over Vegas last night after Toronto blew a two-goal lead.
“Just trying to take a look at the puck and calm it down, then look at the goalie to go eye-to-eye and see what he’s going to react to,” Marner said of his shootout approach.
“It stayed on my stick fortunately and didn’t bounce away.”
Nazem Kadri had a pair of goals in regulation time for Toronto (9-7-0) while James van Riemsdyk also scored as the Leafs built a 3-1 lead by the first intermission.
Kadri has confidence in Marner’s shootout abilities, but also noticed the ice had been chewed up from the third period and the back-and-forth of 3-on-3 overtime.
“He’s pretty money,” Kadri said. “He’s got great hands, he can score, skill player, so he’s kinda made for that.
“I saw the puck rolling on him a little bit to begin with and I got a little nervous for him, but he stayed pretty composed and he made it look effortless.”
Frederik Andersen made 22 saves for the win, redeeming himself after allowing a disappointing goal to Deryk Engelland in the third period.
James Neal and Reilly Smith also scored for Vegas (9-4-1) while Lagace turned aside 25 shots.
The win was a much-needed boost for a Leafs’ team that had dropped five of its past six games, including three losses on a four-game road trip, after starting the season with a 7-1 record.
“Obviously, [giving up a lead] is not something we want to do later down the road, but right now it’s a character win to come back and do that,” noted Marner, who also noted Andersen stopped all three skaters he faced in the shootout.
“We’re happy about this win, and now it’s time to build and get ready for the next one.”
Kadri opened scoring early in the first on a power play, snapping in a rebound from the slot.
But Vegas replied less than a minute later with a fluky goal. A long shot in deflected off Neal’s skate as he tussled with a Leafs’ defender and bounced in past Andersen.
Van Riemsdyk restored Toronto’s lead on the power play near the midway point of the first, but Auston Matthews did all the heavy lifting on the play.
Carrying the puck down the right wing, Matthews spun around Vegas defenceman Luca Sbisa and drove to the net, getting a shot on Lagace.
The rebound came to van Riemsdyk’s stick and he made it 2-1.
Matthews had left the morning skate early and was a game-time decision with what Leafs’ head coach Mike Babcock described as “soreness.”
“I knew in the morning that I’d play,” said Matthews. “I just wanted to get out there and see how I felt.
“I felt fine, felt good enough to play.”
Kadri scored his second of the night with 4:57 left in the first.
Although the Leafs kept the Golden Knights scoreless for a lengthy two-man advantage in the second, they couldn’t hold them off later in the period with Matthews off for tripping.
Smith cut into Toronto’s lead with just over a minute to go in the middle period, rifling in a rebound on the power play.
Engelland tied it at 6:16 into the third period, wiring a wrist shot into the far corner of the net over Andersen’s shoulder to force the extra period.
Elsewhere, Winnipeg beat Dallas 4-1, Detroit edged Vancouver 3-2, Boston downed Minnesota 5-3, Washington nipped Arizona 3-2 (OT), and the N.Y. Rangers upended Columbus 5-3.
