William Nylander and Teddy Blueger each had a goal and an assist as the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs held on for a 4-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night.
Max Sasson brought the Canucks within one 9:27 into the third period before Blueger sealed the win with an empty-net goal at 18:24, helping Toronto snap a two-game skid.
Toronto goaltender Anthony Stolarz stopped Brendan Gallagher’s soft shot from the high slot through a maze of bodies but directed the rebound right onto Sasson’s stick in close.
Auston Matthews and Zack MacEwen scored in the second period to give Toronto a two-goal lead. Brock Boeser scored Vancouver’s first goal.
Stolarz made 26 saves and recorded his third assist of the season. Leevi Merilainen stopped 24 shots for the Canucks, who are 1-11-1 in their last 13 games and have yet to defeat an Eastern Conference opponent.
Nylander opened the scoring 1:23 into the game. Jamie Oleksiak, the last man back in the neutral zone, bobbled a bouncing puck, allowing the speedy winger to swipe it away. Nylander pulled the puck onto his backhand and flipped it over Merilainen’s shoulder on the ensuing breakaway.
The Canucks answered with a breakaway goal to tie the score at 1-1. Filip Hronek sent a long stretch pass to Boeser along the sideboards. Boeser sent Stolarz sliding the wrong way with a slick forehand-backhand-forehand move before scoring at 10:30 on the power play.
Matthews restored Toronto’s lead 3:47 into the second period. He and Darren Raddysh exchanged passes on a give-and-go before Matthews beat Merilainen from the bottom of the faceoff circle.
MacEwen, a former Canuck, made it 3-1 at 12:34 of the middle frame after a pinball-like sequence. His point shot hopped out of Merilainen’s glove, caromed off Luke Schenn’s shoulder and went into the Vancouver net.
Stolarz missed on an attempt at an empty-net goal, but Blueger provided the insurance marker to make it 4-2.
Toronto’s Chris Tanev played his first game since Oct. 10, when he sustained an upper-body injury. Teammate Dakota Joshua also made his season debut.
–Field Level Media
