Toronto Maple Leafs Easily Beat Vegas Golden Knights 3-1

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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GAME SUMMARY         |           EVENT SUMMARY        |           FACEOFF SUMMARY

ON THE SCORESHEET

–       Connor Brown put the Maple Leafs on the board at 5:30 of the first period. Four of Brown’s five points (2 goals, 2 assists) have come at even-strength this season.

–       Mitch Marner scored Toronto’s second goal of the night at 0:09 of the second period. Marner’s goal is the fastest by a Maple Leaf to start a period this season (Previous: Morgan Rielly, 0:29; 2nd, Oct. 6 vs. Ottawa). He has points (1 goal, 2 assists) in two consecutive games.

–       Nazem Kadri scored the third Maple Leafs goal of the night at 19:26 of the third period. Kadri has points (1-1-2) in two consecutive games and four points (3 goals, 1 assist) over his last five games.

–       John Tavares picked up the primary assist on Marner’s second period goal. Tavares has points (1-3-4) in three consecutive games.

–       Zach Hyman had the secondary assist on Marner’s second period goal. Hyman has points (1-1-2) in two consecutive games.

–       Frederik Andersen stopped 36 shots to earn the victory. He has made at least 30 saves in six of his eight victories this season.

SHOTS FIRED

–       The Golden Knights had a 37-21 lead in shots on goal in all situations and a 30-18 edge in shots on goal at 5-on-5.

–       Vegas had an 82-40 lead in shot attempts in all situations and a 68-35 lead in shot attempts at 5-on-5.

–       Mitch Marner had a team-high four shots on goal and six shot attempts.

SHOTS ON GOAL

SHOT ATTEMPTS

NO PLACE LIKE HOME

–       The Maple Leafs are 4-5-0 at home this season.

–       Toronto’s all-time record is 2-1-0-0 in three games against the Golden Knights and 2-0-0-0 in two games played in Toronto.

–       Toronto is 6-3-0 against the Western Conference this season and 2-1-0 against the Pacific Division.

–       Tonight’s attendance is 19,045.

MAPLE LEAFS LEADERS

RECORD WHEN…

–          The Maple Leafs were 3-for-3 on the penalty kill and 0-for-1 on the power play tonight. Toronto is 5-3-0 when not allowing a power play goal this season and 3-2-0 when not scoring a power play goal.

–          Toronto is 5-0-0 when scoring the first goal of the game.

–          The Maple Leafs are 5-0-0 when leading after one period and 7-0-0 when leading after two periods.

–          Toronto has a 5-2-0 record when outshot by their opponent.

–          The Maple Leafs are 2-0-0 in Tuesday games.

OF NOTE…

–          Frederik Andersen appeared in his 145th game in goal for the Maple Leafs, which ties Vesa Toskala for 17th on the Maple Leafs’ all-time games played by a goaltender register.

–          Par Lindholm won 82 percent (9 won, 2 lost) of his defensive zone faceoffs.

–          John Tavares won 80 percent of his offensive zone faceoffs (4 won, 1 lost).

UPCOMING GAMES:

–       Friday, November 9, 7:00 p.m., vs. New Jersey Devils (TSN4, TSN 1050)

–       Saturday, November 10, 7:00 p.m., at Boston Bruins (Hockey Night in Canada, TSN 1050)

–       Tuesday, November 13, 10:30 p.m., at Los Angeles Kings (Sportsnet Ontario, FAN 590)

–       Thursday, November 15, 10:30 p.m., at San Jose Sharks (Sportsnet Ontario, FAN 590)

–       Friday, November 16, 10:00 p.m., at Anaheim Ducks (TSN4, TSN 1050)

POSTGAME QUOTES:

HEAD COACH MIKE BABCOCK

On tonight’s game:

I thought we started real good the first 10 minutes and then I thought we got fooling around with the puck and they showed us how fast they were. I thought they really dominated the second period. We were lucky to get out of the second. I didn’t mind our third. In the end, when you look at this game, it’s kind of like when Pittsburgh left here with the points or Dallas left here with the points. You thought you had done enough to win and you didn’t. Tonight, the shoe is on the other foot and we’ll take ‘er and maybe we can loosen up at home a little bit and play.

On Connor Brown getting on the scoresheet:

I thought that line was our best line at the start of the game. I thought it was our quickest, our most effective line. We were playing good, we were making plays and then suddenly in the second we never made one play and I don’t know how many times we iced the puck. We were just under siege. They were quicker, they were on top of us. I talked about that this morning, the speed through the middle of the rink on their team is really, really good. When we got on our heels and they got on top of us, they were quicker. I thought that line was real effective and, obviously, you need everybody involved in the offence so it’s great to see Brownie score.

On Andersen’s ability to guide the team to wins in recent games:

He didn’t against Pittsburgh, but he’s played real well in games, for sure. He does a good job for us all the time. We expect him, every once in a while, to win us a game. When we play real well and don’t give up anything and he gets the win and even the shutout sometimes, that’s a bonus for him. It goes both ways, we’re all in it together. I thought Freddie was really strong for us tonight.

On if he intentionally double-shifted Hainsey at the end of the game:

It probably just turned out that way, couldn’t get off the ice. Ron knows where to stand when the game is on the line so having a little knowledge and being a veteran and standing in the right spot never hurt anybody.

FREDERIK ANDERSEN (36 SAVES)

On what has allowed him to keep the goals against down in recent games:

I, personally, feel good. We’re keeping a little bit more to the outside, which is helping me out, seeing the puck better and clearing the shooting lanes. It’s not so many times I have to fight through traffic and, obviously, that makes my job easier.

On what has gone better for him early in the season so far:

I’ve talked a lot about it. I think the stuff I changed this summer – my focus and my work with my trainer out in California – has been huge. It’s definitely paying off.

CONNOR BROWN (1 GOAL)

On the importance of scoring the first goal of the game:

Yeah, you know odds are you’re going to win the game if you get out to a lead so it’s important to have a good start and I thought we had a good start. It kind of fell off from the way we wanted to play but it was nice to stick with it.

On if the team was happy with the effort on home ice tonight:  

I think that the last game we had at home might have been a little better game even though we didn’t get the result we wanted. Obviously, it’s nice to come away with two points but I think we see some things we want to improve on from tonight.

On being able to help balance the scoring for the team:

We’ve been talking about it recently. Our big guys have been scoring, but it’s important for us to take a bit of load off their back. It’s nice to contribute in that sense.

PATRICK MARLEAU (1 ASSIST)

On his hit on Erik Haula in the third period that resulted in injury:

Yeah, you don’t want to see that happen. Anytime you see that it’s not a good thing, hopefully he’s okay.

On what he saw on the play:

It just seemed like a normal hit. I was rubbing him out as he was dumping the puck in and I turned to start going to the bench and heard the whistle go after that. Turned around and he was on the ice. I just hope he’s okay.

MITCH MARNER (1 GOAL)

On the sequence that led to his goal at the beginning of the second period:

I’m not sure exactly what happened beforehand, but I knew it got up to [Hyman] or one of their guys. It kind of got deflected in the middle, got caught it someone’s skate. I was coming over to support [Hyman] and John [Tavares] pulled it out. I just tried to get away from him as quick as possible. He got it over to me and, lucky enough, it went in.

On the second period:

I think we stopped playing. We didn’t forecheck. We didn’t get on the forecheck at all. We didn’t help out our D. We weren’t slowing people down at all. They’re a fast team and I think when we do that it makes it hard on our D. Obviously, everyone sees every night, Freddie Andersen has been unbelievable for us every single game here and he’s the reason we stole one tonight.

On Andersen’s play this season:

It seems like he’s got no pressure on him. He just goes out there and has fun with it. He’s a pretty quiet guy but this year he’s opened up a lot. He jokes around a lot. He’s fun to be around. I think when he gets to the rink he’s a very serious guy. He really focuses and gets ready for the games. He’s a pro. He knows how to get it done right. He’s been unbelievable for the last two years for us here.