The Maple Leafs have had moments this season when they felt they deserved better results at home. Tuesday night, however, they were grateful for their goaltender’s heroics.
Frederik Andersen made 36 saves to help the Toronto Maple Leafs defeat the Vegas Golden Knights 3-1.
Despite Vegas dominating the offensive play with 82 shot attempts compared to Toronto’s 40, including a 40-13 advantage in a second period where the Leafs struggled to control the puck, Andersen’s brilliance secured the win.
“We didn’t get on the forecheck,” Leafs forward Mitch Marner said. “Freddie Andersen has been unbelievable for us every single game. … He’s the reason we stole one tonight.”
Connor Brown, Mitch Marner, and Nazem Kadri scored for Toronto (10-5-0), which had struggled at home with a 3-5-0 record at Scotiabank Arena, despite being perfect on the road (6-0-0).
“We got fooling around with the puck, and they showed us how fast they were,” Toronto coach Mike Babcock said. “We were lucky to get out of the second period.”
Cody Eakin scored the lone goal for Vegas (6-8-1), while Marc-Andre Fleury made 18 saves for the visitors.
“A lot was real good,” Vegas head coach Gerard Gallant said. “I liked the way we came in here and played against a real good Toronto team.”
Even with the overwhelming number of shot attempts, Andersen credited his teammates for keeping many of the chances outside of the high-danger areas, giving him clearer looks at the puck.
“We’re keeping (shots) a little bit more to the outside,” Andersen said. “That makes my job easier.”
Vegas had several chances to equalize in the third period, down 2-1, but Andersen remained solid in goal.
Patrick Marleau nearly extended Toronto’s lead after a pass from Kasperi Kapanen on a 2-on-1 break, but he missed the net. The Golden Knights saw the return of Max Pacioretty from an upper-body injury, but were still missing Paul Stastny. They suffered another blow when forward Erik Haula was stretchered off five minutes into the third period after a collision with Marleau along the boards.
Vegas, which ranked 28th on the power play, had a chance with under nine minutes left when Toronto’s Jake Gardiner was called for slashing, but they couldn’t convert. Fleury made key stops on Marner and John Tavares before Andersen thwarted Reilly Smith’s effort from the goal line with 2:33 left to play.
The Golden Knights pressed with Fleury pulled for the extra attacker but couldn’t generate sustained pressure. Kadri sealed the win with an empty-net goal, his fourth, with 34.1 seconds remaining.
“It’s very frustrating,” Vegas defenseman Shea Theodore said. “We’re starting to play more of our style and a better game, but we’re not capitalizing on our chances.”
Game Notes:
Connor Brown’s other goal this season was also an empty-netter. Paul Stastny is expected to be out for another month due to a lower-body injury.
Up Next:
- Golden Knights: Pacioretty returns to Montreal for the first time Saturday night.
- Maple Leafs: Toronto visits Ottawa on Thursday night.