One team will emerge with a welcome second straight win Tuesday night when the Calgary Flames visit the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Flames ended an eight-game losing streak in which they were 0-7-1 Sunday night with a 5-1 home victory over the New York Rangers.
“The overall feeling is a little bit of relief,” Flames coach Ryan Huska said.
Blake Coleman, who scored twice for the Flames on Sunday, feels the team has played better than the streak indicated.
“The past few games, we thought we honestly played pretty well,” Coleman said. “We just couldn’t finish, and on special teams, we were pretty undisciplined. We corrected those things (Sunday) and got a couple bounces. It feels good to get a win. It doesn’t mean much if you can’t build on it, but it feels good today.”
Calgary starts a four-game road trip in Toronto.
The Maple Leafs have struggled to take full advantage of a home-friendly schedule to open the season. They snapped a three-game losing streak (0-2-1) with a 4-3 overtime victory Saturday over the visiting Buffalo Sabres after losing at Buffalo 5-3 on Friday.
John Tavares scored his 499th career goal in overtime for the Saturday win.
The Maple Leafs are 4-2-1 at home. They have one game left in a stretch in which they will have played eight of 10 at home to start the season. Toronto has lost both away games.
The Maple Leafs played with more edge in the rematch against Buffalo on Saturday, and they did it without forward William Nylander, who picked up a lower-body injury Friday. He had played in 267 consecutive games.
“We’ll see tomorrow,” Toronto coach Craig Berube said Monday about Nylander’s status for the game against the Flames.
Berube liked the approach to Saturday’s game.
“Gritty win is kind of how I look at it,” Berube said. “The difference for me is we were better defending the odd-man rushes. … We were above things all night. It was a low-event game. You play teams like that, you have to make sure you are not giving up those freebies, and we didn’t do that. Our guys played hard. I liked the jam they played with, physical, a couple nice hits, just a little bit (ticked) off. If I lost three when I was playing, I guarantee I would have gotten into two fights.”
Cayden Primeau played in goal for Toronto, making 23 saves. Anthony Stolarz is slated to start Tuesday.
Calgary goaltender Dustin Wolf likely will start Tuesday. He stopped 30 shots Sunday and foiled the Rangers on two breakaways during the second period.
“He makes some pretty momentum-shifting saves and saves that get the crowd out of their seats, and it’s fun to watch him play,” Coleman said. “Hopefully, this is the first of many games we give him some run support.”
“We just haven’t been able to find a balance, and we got some bounces (Sunday),” Wolf said. “Putting up five goals is awesome, and we were sound defensively. That’s how we have to play.”
Goaltender Joseph Woll started skating with the Maple Leafs on Saturday. He has been on leave since the start of the season for a personal reason.
Toronto forward Calle Jarnkrok (lower body) is listed as day-to-day.
Flames forward Matt Coronato, a healthy scratch Sunday, is expected to play Tuesday.
–Field Level Media
