The Toronto Maple Leafs finished off a decade mostly filled with pain, losses, and disappointment on a positive note, getting scoring from the top players, solid goaltending from Frederik Andersen and playing an effective road game in a 4-1 victory over the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center on Tuesday.
Alex Kerfoot, William Nylander, Auston Matthews, and John Tavares scored for Toronto, who earned points in their eighth straight game. Andersen was sharp after appearing sluggish in his last two starts, stopping 26 shots for his 20th victory of the season.
The Leafs were in control for most of the contest, taking the lead on Kerfoot’s seventh of the season less than six minutes into the game, extending the lead in the waning seconds of the first on Nylander’s 17th of the campaign, and extending the margin to three on Matthews’ club-leading 27th goal during a man advantage.
The Wild used their size and physicality to generate some energy to get back into the game, and Ryan Suter’s power play goal narrowed the lead, but Toronto was effective in possessing the puck and limiting Minnesota to six shots in the third period before Tavares scored into an empty net.
“I thought (the defensive effort) was good -- efficient is a good term to describe it.” Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said after the game. “I didn't think we gave up a lot defensively, for sure. We didn't give up many shots or chances, especially in that third period when we expected them to push. I thought we took care of it pretty well there.”
The game was littered with injury scares for the Leafs. John Tavares tweaked his knee during a defensive zone faceoff, but remained in the game. Pierre Engvall went to the locker room in the second period, but returned before the end of the period. Travis Dermott was hit along the boards by Marcus Foligno and collided with Jordan Greenway, which sent him to the dark room for concussion protocol after exiting the penalty box, but he returned for the third.
Jason Spezza took a deflected point shot off the back of the helmet, and Morgan Rielly left the ice after tweaking his ankle along the boards in the third, but both returned to action.
The key to the Leafs recent success is the steady and increased production of their core players, who are getting more ice time and responsibility under Keefe than they did under Mike Babcock. Matthews, Nylander, and Tavares each had two points (goal and assist) on the night and the combo change of Tavares-Nylander and Matthews-Marner continues to have positive effects.
“There (are) different dynamics at play there. I've liked (the Tavares – Nylander combo)iso far; the chemistry has been good. The nice thing I think that's come out with the fact that we've moved things around here, since I've been here, is it's giving me a pretty good taste of what different things look like.” Keefe said. “You never know what the season is going to bring and what each game is going to bring. It gives me a feel for different things. We've used a number of different combinations so far and we like this one and we like a lot of others that have worked too.”
The Leafs travel to Winnipeg for their first meeting with the Jets on Thursday, and will return home for the first of a three-game homestand against the New York Islanders on Saturday.
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