Toronto Maple Leafs Lay A Beating On Los Angeles Kings 5-1

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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GAME SUMMARY         |           EVENT SUMMARY        |           FACEOFF SUMMARY

ON THE SCORESHEET

–       Nazem Kadri opened the scoring for the Maple Leafs on the power play at 2:42 of the first period before scoring Toronto’s fifth goal of the game on the power play 7:19 of the second period. Tonight’s game is Kadri’s 20th career multi-goal game and second career game with multiple power play goals in one game (March 29, 2016 at Florida).

–       John Tavares scored Toronto’s second goal of the night on the power play at 6:12 of the first period. He also recorded the secondary assist on Kadri’s first period goal and the primary assist on Morgan Rielly’s second period goal. Tonight’s game is Tavares’ second multi-assist and fifth multi-point game of the season. He has goals (3) in three consecutive games and points (4-5-9) in six consecutive games.

–       Morgan Rielly recorded the primary assist on Tavares’ first period goal before scoring the third Maple Leafs goal of the night at 1:15 of the second period. Tonight’s game is Rielly’s seventh multi-point game of the season. He has assists (3) and points (2-3-5) in three consecutive games.

–       Andreas Johnsson scored the fourth Toronto goal of the game at 4:33 of the second period goal. He has two goals over his last three games and has recorded multiple shots on goal in five of his last six games.

–       Mitch Marner registered the primary assist on Kadri’s first period goal and the secondary assist on Kadri’s second period goal. Marner has assists (3) in two consecutive games. Tonight’s game is his fifth multi-assist and seventh multi-point game of the season.

–       Travis Dermott recorded the primary assist on Johnsson’s second period goal. Dermott has two assists in 15 games played this season. He recorded 12 assists in 37 games with the Maple Leafs during the 2017-18 season.

–       Par Lindholm picked up the secondary assist on Johnsson’s second period goal. Lindholm has three assists over his last three games. The Maple Leafs are 5-0-0 when Lindholm records a point this season.

–       Patrick Marleau recorded the primary assist on Kadri’s second period goal. Marleau has recorded five points (2 goals, 3 assists) over his last six games. His assist is his 50th career assist against Los Angeles. Tonight’s game is Marleau’s 100th game as a Maple Leaf.

–       Frederik Andersen stopped 22 shots to earn the victory. He has won four consecutive starts while allowing one goal or fewer in each of those games.

SHOTS FIRED

–       The Maple Leafs had a 35-23 lead in shots on goal in all situations, while Los Angeles had an 18-17 edge in shots on goal at 5-on-5.

–       Toronto had a 65-50 lead in shot attempts in all situations. The Kings had a 44-39 lead in shot attempts at 5-on-5.

–       Andreas Johnsson, Nazem Kadri and John Tavares each registered four shots on goal.

–       Mitch Marner and John Tavares each had a team-high seven shot attempts. 

SHOTS ON GOAL

SHOT ATTEMPTS

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

–       The Maple Leafs are 7-1-0 on the road this season.

–       Toronto’s all-time record is 64-64-21-2 in 151 games against the Kings and 25-38-10-1 in 74 games played in Boston.

–       Toronto earned their first win over the Kings in Los Angeles since March 13, 2013 (Toronto 3, Los Angeles 2).

–       Toronto is 7-3-0 against the Western Conference this season and 3-1-0 against the Pacific Division.

MAPLE LEAFS LEADERS

RECORD WHEN…

–          The Maple Leafs were 2-for-2 on the penalty kill and 3-for-6 on the power play tonight. Toronto is 7-3-0 when not allowing a power play goal this season and 3-0-0 when scoring multiple power play goals.

–          Toronto is 7-0-0 when scoring the first goal of the game.

–          The Maple Leafs are 7-0-0 when leading after one period and 9-0-0 when leading after two periods.

–          Toronto has a 6-3-0 record when outshooting their opponent.

–          The Maple Leafs are 3-0-0 in Tuesday games.

OF NOTE…

–          The Maple Leafs scored three power play goals in a game for the first time since December 19, 2017 vs. Carolina (8-1 W).

–          Toronto’s line of Nazem Kadri, Kasperi Kapanen and Patrick Marleau started 20 percent of their 5-on-5 shifts in the offensive zone, which was the lowest mark among Toronto skaters.

–          Travis Dermott was on the ice for a team-high 17 Toronto shot attempts-for at 5-on-5. Dermott finished the game with a team-high 5-on-5 shot attempt percentage of 56.7 percent (17 for, 13 against).

–          John Tavares won 75 percent (6 won, 2 lost) of his faceoffs when matched up against Los Angeles centre Anze Kopitar.

UPCOMING GAMES:

–       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)

–       Monday, November 19, 7:00 p.m., vs. Columbus Blue Jackets (Sportsnet Ontario, TSN 1050)

–       Wednesday, November 21, 7:00 p.m., at Carolina Hurricanes (Sportsnet, FAN 590)

–       Friday, November 23, at Columbus Blue Jackets (TSN4, TSN 1050)

POSTGAME QUOTES:

HEAD COACH MIKE BABCOCK

On the importance of team speed in tonight’s game:

We talked about that, we wanted to play fast, obviously, here tonight. We wanted to get off to a good start on this trip. We didn’t play great in Boston so we wanted to respond. I thought we did that tonight. Good win for our team.

On speed leading to more penalties drawn tonight:

They called more penalties tonight. I think we play the same most times, but it is what it is. It was nice to get on the power play, it was nice for the power play to score and get that feeling back. We’ve had good chances and haven’t scored. That’s good for the power play.

On the importance of net-front players to offence:

I think they’re real important. Obviously, on our goals tonight I think [Johnsson] and [Hyman] on one and [Kadri] and Tavares on the other, right at the net. To me, that’s why you score, you need people at the net.

NAZEM KADRI (2 GOALS)

On scoring two goals tonight:

You just try to find those lanes and be ready to score when the puck comes out to you. With those guys on the flanks I’ve just got to try to open up as much space as possible and wait for my opportunity.

On what makes Marner dangerous on the power play:

It’s because he can score too. He’s got that offensive ability and he’s always got his head up. Like I said, when he gets the puck I’m never surprised, I’m always trying to find an opening for my stick to be on the ice. He sees it and he’ll make the right play.

On how the team drew so many penalties:

Just by being fast. I think that’s the identity of our team and we’ve got to play to our strengths. We knew L.A. was a big, heavy team and wanted to use our skating ability to our advantage and I think we capitalized on our chances.

MITCH MARNER (2 ASSISTS)

On the condition of his mouth after taking a high stick during the game:

It’s good. A couple stitches but it’s fine.

On tonight’s win:

We were moving our feet from the start. We drew penalties with our speed. That’s something I think we haven’t done a lot this year so I think we did a great job of that. On the power play, we were getting pucks to the net, we were being successful, which is nice, obviously. We went on little cold streak there so that was good. I think our whole team came out ready to play. We came out fast and we made sure we made it hard on their D.

MORGAN RIELLY (1 GOAL, 1 ASSIST)

On what led to the Maple Leafs success on the power play:

[Nazem] was great in the middle. He’s been good there now for a year and change. The past couple of nights, we haven’t been as good on the power play. We’ve been creating chances but it just hasn’t been going in so it’s good to get rolling a little bit, a few nice ones. I’m not sure if Nazem’s first one hit the back of the net or not but we’ll take it.

On the team’s success beginning with faceoff wins:

Yeah, we were talking that before the game. When you look at Johnny [Tavares] and what he’s able to do tonight, the way he wins those draws on the power play, you don’t have to worry about the breakout, you just go out and play. [Lindholm] has been great, I think he’s leading our team, and [Nazem] is always good. When we’re able to do that and keep possession of the puck, it makes the game a lot easier.

JOHN TAVARES (1 GOAL, 2 ASSISTS)

On tonight’s win:

It was a good start and I think a good sign tonight was just how many penalties we drew. I think that just shows how well we possessed the puck and how difficult we made it on them to defend us. Then we capitalized on those opportunities and obviously controlled a lot of the game because of that. Just from start to finish that was a pretty textbook road win.

On why the team hasn’t drawn many penalties this season:

I don’t think we go out there focused solely on drawing penalties but I think if we feel we’re playing our game and have the puck and we’re hard to defend, eventually you’re going to force the opponent to try to make up the ground they’re chasing. We were able to do that and capitalize on our chances too. All around, I think we just skated well, moved the puck — good puck support — and just were hard to defend. We protected it well and didn’t play much in our own zone today.