Ovechkin Scores Overtime Winner To Defeat The Leafs

The game last night wasn't a bad performance by the Toronto Maple Leafs, however, it wasn't a good performance either.

The Leafs lost 4-3 in overtime against the Washington Capitals thanks to their captain, Alex Ovechkin.

"It was a competitive game, " said head coach, Mike Babcock after the game.

I agree.   It was competitive, but a loss is a loss.

Andreas Johansson scored 40 seconds into the game to put the Leafs ahead.

John Carlson tied the game at 10:47.

Carlson scored again at 7:59 of the second period on the man advantage.

Auston Matthews tied the game at 19:27.

1:46 into the third period, Matthews scored to put the Leafs ahead 3-2.

Matthews ended the night with three points.

 Ovechkin, tied the game at 4:10.

4:00 into overtime, Ovechkin scored the winner.

Ovechkin had four points last night.

(Top) Alex Ovechkin had four points last night.

Ovechkin's teammate, Nicklas Backstrom, had three assists.

Toronto has three days off.

The Leafs are in Philadelphia on Saturday night to play the Flyers.

Preview: Capitals Versus Leafs

Tonight 7 p.m. EDT.

Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, ONT.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are probably going to find it hard to win tonight.

The Washington Capitals are on a six game point streak, (5-0-1).

A win tonight gives the Caps. their ninth win in October.

Also, the Capitals end their five game road trip tonight.

The Capitals defeated the Leafs 4-3 on Oct. 16, the last time the two teams met.

As for the Leafs,  They're struggling.

Toronto has lost three of their last four games.

The good news for the Leafs is Travis Dermott is scheduled to play tonight after a long absence because of a shoulder injury.

Injury:

Washington

Richard Panik - Upper Body - Injured reserve, (IR.),

Toronto

Zach Hyman - Torn ACL. - IR.,

Mason Marchment - Undisclosed - IR.,

David Clarkson - Back - IR.,

John Tavares - Fractured Finger - Day-to-day.

Hutchinson Loses Again

(Top) Michael Hutchinson

Toronto Maple Leafs fans are probably getting tired of Leaf's backup goalie, Michael Hutchinson.

Last night, Hutchinson played poorly in a 5-2 loss to the Montreal Canadiens.

Hutchinson gave up a goal at 7:43 of the first period to Brendan Gallagher.

Then Hutchinson gave up a goal to Jonathan Drouin at 12:34.

Jake Muzzin made it a 2-1 game just seconds to go in the first period.

Andreas Johansson tied the game, scoring the loan goal of the second period.

Unfortunately, 0:07 into the third period, Joel Armia stripped the puck from Muzzin and scored.

Drouin scored his second goal of the game at 7:40.

Nick Suzuki added another goal at 11:53.

Armia finished the game with two points.

Hutchinson stopped 33 shots last night.

Toronto is off for two days before hosting the Washington Capitals on Tuesday night.

Leafs Surge Late To Win Crucial Game.

The Toronto Maple Leafs worked hard last night to get a crucial 4-1 win over the San Jose Sharks, despite going 0-5 on the power play.

"We didn't give up much which is positive," said Leaf's head coach, Mike Babcock at the post game press conference.

Kevin Lebanc put the Sharks ahead 1-0 at 10:35 of the first period.

Toronto really put the pressure on in the second period.

With just seconds to go, Jake Muzzin finally tied the game.

The Leafs continued to add the pressure in the third period.

Finally, at 14:31, Morgan Rielly scored to put the Leafs ahead 2-1.

Ilya Mikheyev added an empty netter at 19:12, however, the Leafs weren't done yet.

Auston Matthews scored his ninth goal of the season at 19:30.

Mikheyev had two points.

Toronto's Mitch Marner had two assists.

Toronto is in Montreal tonight to face the Canadiens.

Preview: Leafs Versus Canadiens

Tonight 7 p.m. EDT.

Bell Centre, Montreal, QUE.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are going into this game with a positive feeling after defeating the San Jose Sharks 4-1 last night.

Unfortunately, the Leafs power play wasn't good last night.

Toronto went 0-5 on the man advantage.

As for Montreal, they're having problems too.

The Canadiens lost 4-2 to the Sharks on Thursday night.

Montreal also has allowed 11 power play goals in their last 10 games.

Injuries:

Toronto

Zach Hyman - Torn ACL. - Injured reserve, (IR.),

Travis Dermott - Shoulder - IR.,

Mason Marchment - Undisclosed - IR.,

David Clarkson - Back - IR.,

John Tavares - Fractured Finger - Day-to-day.

Montreal

Joel Teasdale - Torn Right ACL., MCL. - IR.

Preview: Sharks Versus Leafs

Tonight 7 p.m. EDT.

Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, ONT.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have to win tonight.

The Leafs have lost two straight.

The San Jose Sharks have had a decent start to the season.

Veteran Shark player, Patrick Marleau, reaches a milestone tonight.

Marleau is playing in his 1,500th  game as a Shark tonight.

Marleau has six points in six games.

Injuries:

San Jose

Radim Simek - Torn Right ACL., MCL - Injured reserve, (IR.),

Jacob Middleston - Undisclosed - IR.,

Dalton Prout - Upper Body - IR.,

Lukas Radil - Illness - Day-to-day.

Toronto

Travis Dermott - Shoulder - IR.,

Zach Hyman - Torn ACL. - IR.,

Mason Marchment - Undisclosed - IR.,

David Clarkson - Back - IR.,

John Tavares - Fractured Finger - Day-to-day.

Leafs Lose Second Straight

I had a bad feeling that the Toronto Maple Leafs weren't going to pull off a miracle against the Boston Bruins last night as the team did Saturday night.

Leaf's backup goalie, Michael Hutchinson isn't Frederik Anderson.

The Leafs lost 4-2.

David Pastmak scored the lone goal in the first period to put Boston ahead 1-0.

At 4:23 of the second period, Kasperi Kapanen tied the game.

Brad Marchand put the Bruins ahead again at 6:09.

Alexander Kerfoot tied the game with a power play goal at 12:54.

Brett Ritchie put Boston ahead for good with a goal at 6:35 of the third period.

Boston added another goal by Par Lindholm at 17:57.

Despite the loss, Leaf's head coach, Mike Babcock was pleased with his team's performance.

"I actually thought we started out real good in the third, (period)," said Babcock.  "We hung in there great,"

Kapanen and Kerfoot had two points.

Hutchinson stopped 39 shots last night.

Pastmak and Marchand also finished the night with two points.

Bruin's goalie, Tuukka Rask, stopped 30 shots.

Toronto is off for two days before hosting the San Jose Sharks on Friday night.

Penalties Kill The Leafs Against Columbus

(Top) That's how Leafs fans must of felt last night.

There's no question on what hurt the Toronto Maple Leafs last night.

Stupid penalties.

Even Leaf's head coach, Mike Babcock blamed the 4-3 loss on bad penalties at the post game press conference.

The Leafs were flat in the first period.

The Columbus Blue Jackets quickly went up 2-0 in the first period with goals by Riley Nash and Pierre-Luc Dubois.

Thankfully, Kasperi Kapanen and Austin Matthews tied the game before the period was over.

William Nylander put Toronto ahead 3-2 at 19:43 of the second period.

In the third period, the Leafs played awful.

Alexander Wennberg tied the game at 10:09.

At 1:57 into overtime, Gustav Nyqvist was awarded a penalty shot.

Nyqvist scored on the penalty shot to give his team the victory.

Columbus's Nick Foligno had two assists.

Blue Jacket's goalie, Joonas Korpisalo stopped 31 shots.

Toronto's Jake Muzzin and Andreas Johnson had two assists.

Matthews had two points. 

Preview: Leafs Verses Bruins

Tonight 7 p.m. EDT.

TD Garden, Boston, MASS.

Is lightning going to strike again for the Toronto Maple Leafs?

On Saturday, the Leafs defeated the Boston Bruins 4-3.

That probably won't happen tonight.

Why?

It is because the Leafs have back up goalie, Michael Hutchinson in net tonight.

Hutchinson is 0-2 this season.

Boston's goalie, Tuukka Rask is playing in his 500th game tonight.

David Pastmak, Patrice Bergeron, and Brad Marchand are the Bruin players to watch tonight.

Injuries:

Toronto

Zach Hyman - Torn ACL -Injured reserve, (IR.),

Travis Dermott - Shoulder - IR.,

Mason Marchment - Undisclosed - IR.,

David Clarkson - Back - IR.,

John Tavares - Fractured Finger - Day-to-day.

Boston

John Moore - Shoulder - IR.,

Kevan Miller - Knee - IR.,

Anton Blidh - Torn Shoulder Ligament - IR.,

David Krejci - Upper Body - IR.,

Joakim Nordstrom - Upper Body - Day-to-day,

Karson Kuhlman - Lower Body - Day-to-day.

Preview: Blue Jackets Verses Leafs

Tonight 7 p.m. EDT.

Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, ONT.

The Columbus Blue Jackets have been struggling lately, losing two straight games in overtime.

This doesn't mean that the Toronto Maple Leafs ought to slack off tonight, though.

Columbus is consistently competitive.

Injuries:

Columbus

Brandon Dubinsky - Wrist - Injured reserve, (IR.),

Ryan Murray - Upper Body - IR.

Toronto

Zach Hyman - Torn ACL. - IR.,

Travis Dermott - Shoulder - IR.,

Mason Marchment - Undisclosed - IR.,

David Clarkson - Back - IR.,

John Tavares - Fractured Finger - Day-to-day,

Andreas Johnsson - Leg - Day-to-day. 

Reilly Scores Two, Including Overtime Winner

Wow!

That was a good game last night.

The Boston Bruins were 5-1 going into last night's game against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

With the Leafs without John Tavares, I wasn't too confident about Toronto winning last night's game, but the team actually pulled it off.

After Boston's David Pastnak scored the tying goal at 15:34 of the third period, Leaf's Morgan Reilly scored the winner in overtime to give Toronto the 4-3 victory.

It was no surprise that Toronto won.

Boston was absolutely flat in OT.

Reilly also scored the first goal of the game at 5:55 of opening period.

(Top) Morgan Reilly scores OT. winner.

Dmytro Timashov and Alexander Kerfoot also scored for Toronto.

Jake Debrusk and Danton Heinen also scored for the Bruins.

Leaf's goalie, Frederik Anderson, had a really good night, stopping 46 shots.

Toronto's Mitch Marner had two assists last night.

Pastnak finished the night with  two points.

Toronto hosts the Columbus Blue Jackets tomorrow night.

Preview: Bruins Verses Leafs

Tonight 7 p.m. EDT.

Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, ONT.

The Boston Bruins are 5-1 this season.

The Toronto Maple Leafs won't have their captain, John Tavares tonight.  He's out with a broken finger.

Boston's David Pastmak is having a good season.  He's got eight goals.

Boston's David Kreji is out with an upper body injury.

Injuries:

Kevin Miller - Knee - Injured reserved, (IR.),

John Moore - Shoulder - IR.,

Anton Blidh - Torn Shoulder Ligament - IR.,

David Kreji - Upper Body - Day-to-day,

Joakim Nordstrom - Upper Body - Day-to-day.

Toronto

Zach Hyman - Torn ACL. - IR.,

Travis Dermott - Shoulder - IR.,

Mason Marchment - Undisclosed - IR.,

David Clarkson - Back - IR.,

John Tavares - Fractured Finger - Day-to-day.

Caps. Edge Leafs

Things didn't go as planned for the Toronto Maple Leafs last night.

After going ahead 2-0 in the first period, the Washington Capitals defeated Toronto 4-3.

"We didn't have enough to get it done," said Leaf's head coach, Mike Babcock after the game.

Kasperi Kapanen scored at 4:37 of the first period to put the Leafs ahead 1-0.

Kapanen had a three point game last night.

Leaf's rookie, Ilya Mikheyev, scored at 10:58.

At 18:39, though, Jakob Vrana scored to make it a 2-1 game.

Things fell apart for the Leafs in the second period.

Evgeny Kuznetsov tied the game at 5:07.

11 seconds later, Washington went ahead 3-2 with a goal by Niklas Backstroke.

The Capitals weren't done.

John Carlson scored at 6:25 to put the Capitals ahead by two goals.

Carlson finished the night with three points.

John Tavares scored the lone goal in the third period.

Caps. goalie, Ilya Samsonov, stopped 32 shots last night.

Toronto's goalie, Michael Hutchinson, also stopped 32 shots.

The Leafs are off for two days before hosting the Boston Bruins on Saturday night. 

Preview: Leafs Verses Capitals

Tonight 7 p.m. EDT.

Capital One Arena, Washington, D.C.

The Toronto Maple Leafs hope to win their third straight game tonight.

Toronto scored four goals in the second period last night in a 4-2 victory over the Minnesota Wild.

Leaf's defenseman, Morgan Reilly, tied a franchise record by assisting in all four goals last night.

As for the Washington Capitals, they've lost four of their last five games and are struggling on defence.

Injuries:

Toronto

Travis Dermott -Shoulder - Injured reserve, (IR.),

Zach Hyman - Torn ACL. - IR.,

Mason Marchment - Undisclosed - IR.,

David Clarkson - Back -IR.

Reilly Ties Record With Four Assists

All the Toronto Maple Leafs needed last night was four goals in the second period as the team defeated the Minnesota Wild 4-2.

"The first 15 minutes of the second period was real good," said Leaf's head coach, Mike Babcock after the game.

Leaf's defenseman, Morgan Reilly assisted on all four goals and tied a franchise record.

Reilly also recorded his 200th career assist last night.

"He's, (Reilly), is a good player," said Babcock.

(Above), Morgan Reilly ties a franchise record with four assists in the second period.

Luke Kurin scored the lone goal of first period for Minnesota.

John Tavares tied the game at 1:58 of the second period with a good hard shot.

Toronto went ahead 3-1 with back to back power play goals by Mitch Marner and Andreas Johnson.

Auston Matthews scored his seventh goal of the season at 13:05 of the second period.

Wild's rookie, Gerald Mayhew, scored his first NHL goal at 18:58 of the third period.

Minnesota goalie, Devan Dubnyk stopped 34 shots last night.

Marner finished the night with three points.

Toronto is in Washington tonight to face the Capitals.

Preview: Wild Verses Leafs

Tonight 7 p.m. EDT.

Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, ONT.

The Minnesota Wild is 1-4 this season, however, this doesn't mean that the Toronto Maple Leafs has a guaranteed win tonight.

The Leafs are struggling at home with a 1-3 record.

Toronto's fourth line was really good in a 5-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday night.

Toronto's Frederik Gauthier was seven for seven on face-off on Saturday.

Injuries:

Minnesota

Greg Pateryn - Bilateral Core Muscle - Injured reserve, (IR.),

Mason Shaw - Torn Left ACL. - IR.,

Mats Zuccarello - Undisclosed - Day-to-day.

Toronto

Zach Hyman - Torn ACL. - IR.,

Travis Dermott - Shoulder - IR.,

Mason Marchment - Undisclosed - IR.,

David Clarkson - Back - IR.

Mikheyev And Timashov Helps Leafs Snap Losing Streak

The Toronto Maple Leafs had a really good performance last night as the team defeated the Detroit Red Wings 5-2.

The stars of the game were on the third and fourth line.

"They, (the two lines), were good," said Leaf's head coach, Mike Babcock at the post game press conference.

The third and fourth line provided the offense for the Leafs.

Nick Shore, Ilya Mikheyev, Alexander Kerfoot, Jake Muzzin, and Trevor Moore scored for Toronto.

Mikheyev finished the night with two points.

Mikheyev skated around Detroit's goalie, Jimmy Howard, who left his crease to play the puck, and scored into the empty net with just 30 seconds to go in the second period.

Trevor Moore scored an empty-netter at 17:47 of the third period.

Toronto's Dmtro Timasov had two assists.

(High above) Ilya Mikheyev, (above) Dmytro Timasov.

Jacob de le Rose and Darren Helm scored for Detroit.

De le Rose had two points.

Detroit's Justin Abdelkader had two assists.

Howard stopped 40 shots last night.

There was just four penalties called last night.

The Leafs are off for two days before hosting the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday night.

Preview: Leafs Verses Red Wings

Tonight 7 p.m. EDT.

Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, MICH.

There is no question that the Toronto Maple Leafs want to snap their three game losing streak tonight.

Also, the Leafs want to make up for that 7-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday.

Unfortunately for Toronto, the Detroit Red Wings have won three of their last four games.

Toronto has to contain Anthony Mantha tonight.  He has eight points this season.

Tyler Bertuzzi and Dylan Larkin have six points.

The Leafs have to watch Bertuzzi and Larkin too tonight.

Auston Matthews is the offensive force for Toronto with six goals.

Matthews teammate, Morgan Reilly, has five assists this season.

Injuries:

Toronto

Travis Dermott - Shoulder - Injured reserve, (IR.),

Zach Hyman - Torn ACL. - IR.,

Mason Marchment - Undisclosed - IR.,

David Clarkson - Back - IR.


Detroit

Chase Pearson - Mid-Body - IR.,

Jonathan Ericsson - Undisclosed - IR.,

Johan Franzen - Concussion - IR.,

Frans Nielsen - Upper-Body - IR.,

Trevor Daley - Lower-Body - IR.,

Filip Hronek - Undisclosed - IR.

Leafs Get Struck Badly By Lightning

It was the worse performance by the Toronto Maple Leafs this year.

The Leafs got hammered by the Tampa Bay Lightning last night 7-3.

"It wasn't a good night for us," said Leaf's head coach Mike Babcock at the post game press conference.  "Tonight was disappointing."

I wrote yesterday in the game preview that Toronto was going to have trouble with Tampa's Brayden Point if he played last night.

I was right.

Point scored the opening goal at 2:28 of the first period.

Andreas Johansson tied the game at 4:19.

John Tavares put the Leafs ahead 2-1 at 7:46.

Nikita Kucherov tied the game at 11:24.

Kevin Shattenkirk put the Lightning up 3-2 at 12:45

Auston Matthews tied the game at 17:56.

Steven Stamkos put Tampa ahead 4-3 at 19:17.

In the second period, Point put the Lightning ahead 5-3 with a goal at 10:46.

Point finished the night with three points.

3:56 into the third period, Ondej Palat scored to put Tampa ahead 6-3.

Kucherov scored his second goal of the night at 6:57 of the third period.

Kucherov and Stamkos finished the night with four points.

(Above left) Nikita Kucherov, (above centre) Steven Stamkos.

Tampa's Anthony Cirelli had three assists.

Matthews had two points last night.

Toronto heads to Detroit to face the Red Wings tomorrow night.

Preview: Lightning Verses Leafs

Tonight 7 p.m. EDT.

Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, ONT.

Both teams are highly skilled.

Brayden Point is scheduled to play tonight for the Tampa Bay Lightning.

That is bad news for the Toronto Maple Leafs who has lost two straight games.

Hopefully, the two days off is going to help the Leafs tonight.

Injuries:

Tampa Bay

Cedric Paquette - Arm - Injured reserve, (IR.),

Daniel Walcott - Shoulder - IR.

Toronto

Travis Dermott - Shoulder - IR.,

Zach Hyman - Torn ACL. - IR.,

Mason Marchment - Undisclosed - IR.,

David Clarkson - Back - IR.