It was Toronto's 12th win in 14 games
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About that narrative that the Maple Leafs are having trouble scoring: Never mind.
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The Leafs opened their three-game swing through California with a resounding victory at the Staples Centre in Los Angeles on Wednesday night, routing the Kings 6-2.
The six goals represented a season-high for the Leafs, who have won five in a row on the road and 12 of 14 overall.
The victory was powered by a four-goal outburst in the second period, also a season-high for any period for the Leafs in 2021-22.
The lone negative was the status of third-line centre David Kampf, who was taken out for precautionary reasons after he awkwardly hit the ice before the game was two minutes old. Kampf was checked by Kings centre Rasmus Kupari and fell on his left side. Kupari was given a tripping minor on the play.
Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said Kampf would be reevaluated on Thursday. If Kampf is out, one of Kirill Semyonov or Kyle Clifford would draw in.
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With the offensive outburst, the Leafs, who are establishing themselves as one of the better defensive teams in the National Hockey League, moved into 21st overall with 2.71 goals a game. Expect them to keep moving up in that category. They’re at the top or near it in many offensive categories.
“I don’t know if it’s (anything more than) just a matter of some of the luck coming back our way,” Keefe said of filling the net. “I don’t know if we did anything a whole lot different than what we have been doing in other games. But it was certainly nice to see it go in.
“We’re very pleased. We have been playing good of late, but it has been a long time since we blew a game open like that. It’s great for the team and the camaraderie of the group.”
Several Leafs will be feeling good about themselves as the club takes its record of 14-6-1 into San Jose to face the Sharks on Friday night.
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With good pal Justin Bieber watching from a private box, Auston Matthews, feeling a bit of heat as he has not been able to score with consistency, got his third goal of the season at five on five.
Rasmus Sandin’s strong night on the blue line was highlighted by his first three-assist game in the NHL. It won’t be his last.
Pierre Engvall scored for the first time since the season opener, Wayne Simmonds continued to make an impact with two assists and Jason Spezza scored for the first time in 13 games.
“We worked on our offence (Tuesday) in practice,” Spezza said. “Keefer has done a good job of going over some of the habits he thinks he can improve on to help scoring. We got rewarded for it. When you get rewarded, it creates a belief for the team in what we have to do. We had volume at the net, layers.”
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GAME ON
Jack Campbell made 30 saves three nights after Joseph Woll stopped 20 shots in a shutout win against the New York Islanders to start the four-game trip … The game was the first in Los Angeles for Campbell and Toronto defenceman Jake Muzzin, who went north in separate trades — Muzzin in January 2019 and Campbell in February 2020. A few times, the “Souuuuuuup” chant that has become common at Scotiabank Arena could be heard … “It was a fun game,” Campbell said. “Great building. A lot of great memories. We’re just rolling. Working hard and having fun.” … The Leafs had a strong start and opened the scoring when Alex Kerfoot held off Kings captain Anze Kopitar, took great pass from Ondrej Kase and lifted a backhand over the left shoulder of goalie Jonathan Quick … At 1-0, Campbell had to make a tough save when he stopped Lias Andersson’s shot from the slot … Former Leafs prospect Sean Durzi, who went to L.A. in the Muzzin trade, made his NHL debut on the Kings blue line and assisted on Victor Arvidsson’s goal at 1:21 of the second. Arvidsson deflected Durzi’s shot, tying the game 1-1. In the third, Durzi, who was a second-round pick in 2018 by the Leafs out of Owen Sound of the Ontario Hockey League, snapped a shot for his first goal … Not that we’ve come to expect anything different from these Leafs in the past month, but they didn’t flinch when Arvidsson evened the score. Engvall scored less than two minutes later when he had a tap-in after a fine pass from Simmonds. And then it was 3-1 at 5:26 when John Tavares tipped a William Nylander shot … Simmonds had two assists for the first time since he had three in a game on Oct. 30, 2019, for New Jersey against Tampa Bay. Simmonds had two assists all of last season … On the Matthews goal that made it 4-1 at 13:16, he outworked Kopitar behind the Kings net on the forecheck, moved to the front and deposited a Tavares pass … Spezza often practises shots from tough angles, and there he was blasting a high shot past Quick on a Leafs power play at 15:36. Nick Ritchie provided an effective screen … TJ Brodie had two assists, his first two-point game with the Leafs, after registering two in his previous 20 games … Michael Bunting scored the Leafs’ sixth goal at 3:59 of the third when his shot went off the post, hit the skate of Kings centre Phillip Danault and went over the line … The only Leafs forwards without a point were Mitch Marner, Ritchie and Kampf.
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WAYNE TRAIN SPEEDS UP
If you think you have noticed a difference in Simmonds this season — a bit more of a burst in his step, for example, leading to more scoring chances — you’re on to something.
It’s a result of the work Simmonds put in during the off-season at the Leafs’ facility in Etobicoke.
“I skated a lot more with our development team, came in two or three times a week during the summer to work with Barb Underhill,” Simmonds said. “I think it helped me out a lot. I worked with (development staff) Denver Manderson and Nik Antropov.
“Those little skill things, protecting the puck, I think I got away from that with all the injuries I had because I spent a lot of time doing rehab. I was able to get right back to the ice and think it has worked out for me.
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“The game is changing. It’s extremely fast and you don’t have that much time. You have to figure out a way to buy yourself an extra second. I think I have figured that out again.”
Keefe, as one would expect, has witnessed the change.
“When you look at the type of scoring chances he has had and how he has done it, he is protecting the puck really well, his hands in general to be able to get out of tight spaces and be able to get to the middle of the ice, I see some real transfer from what he has worked on,” Keefe said. “He is in a lot of the early sessions we have before practices, we’re getting him involved in those consistently. I know when I talked to him last season about it, a lot of that stuff was new to him.
“If he can continue to get to those spots, it’s going to to fall. His role is reduced this season, but his chance generation has increased greatly. That’s a nice development.”
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2021-11-25 13:29:46Z
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