TORONTO — Sheldon Keefe witnessed one of his players accidentally direct the puck into the Maple Leafs’ net.
Then the same thing happened again. And once again just in case.
Toronto’s head coach had no problem with his team’s efforts Tuesday. The bounce did not fall in the home team’s direction.
Braden Schneider scored the winning goal, New York’s only clean shot against Martin Jones, Igor Shesterkin made 31 saves, and the Rangers defeated the Leafs 5-2.
“Something happens and you’re like, ‘OK,'” Keefe said of the visitors’ ping-pong attack. “When the second one happens, you think, ‘Okay, the game is acting weird. That’s why I’m playing 82 games.'”
“Things settled, but I thought we did a good job.”
Mika Zibanejad scored twice and joined Alexis Lafreniere and Artemi Panarin to lead New York (22-7-1) to the best record in the Eastern Conference. Former Leafs defenseman Erik Gustafsson and Blake Wheeler each had three assists.
Red-hot Auston Matthews, who was out Saturday with the flu, scored both goals to improve Toronto’s NHL-best 25 (16-7-6). William Nylander had the assist, extending his point streak to nine games.
“It was a good game in a lot of different areas,” Matthews said. “Three goals, three shaky bounces, but sometimes that’s the way it happens.”
Jones stopped 31 shots for the Leafs, ending a nine-game scoring streak (6-0-3) that included a 7-3 win over the Rangers on Dec. 12 at Madison Square Garden.
“It was a really intense game,” Schneider said. “If you don’t carry out the execution, you’ll be made to pay.”
Shesterkin allowed six goals on 29 shots in that ugly loss, but was solid on the night.
“We got off to a better start,” Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette said. “They kept the pressure on all night.”
Jones started 3-0-0 with a .949 save percentage since being recalled from the minors, but suffered his first loss of the 2023-24 season.
“There were a few tough bounces,” he said. “But for me, (Schneider’s) goal was an unfortunate goal. I wish we could have played a little differently in that time in the game.”
“No one knows what happened after that.”
Down 2-1 until the 40th minute, Matthews turned Toronto around 1:16 into the third period, scoring his second goal of the night, his 25th of the season, and the center’s 11th in his last seven games. He scored a goal.
“There was never a second,” Keefe said. “When he has the puck around the slot, he has a lot of confidence and he’s finding holes.”
But Schneider burst into the offensive zone and fired his second goal over Jones’ pads at 8:08, ending a 22-game drought after Toronto missed a neutral zone assignment.
“I thought he was going to pull up the middle,” Jones said of the Rangers defenseman. “I thought I’d give him a little nudge. He kept his head up.”
“It’s the same as it was that night,” Keefe added. “It looks to me like that guy is going to go under the bar on that shot, and it goes into the five hole. That’s the way it goes.”
Panarin scored on the power play, making his 17th shot in regulation (this time by William Lagesson) off a Leafs blueliner with 4:52 left. Zibanejad then added his 11th to an empty net.
After a tepid opening 20 minutes, the Rangers took a 1-0 lead 6:11 into the second half. Wheeler’s pass bounced in the frame and was deflected off the stick of Toronto defenseman Jake McCabe, Zibanejad, who dribbled it over the line.
The Leafs tied the game 1 minute, 21 seconds later when Matthews took a pass from Morgan Rielly and fired a bullet.
But the visitors got back on the power play at 9:50, scoring their ninth goal on a shot from Lafniere that hit Lilly and deflected. Jones made 28 saves last week against New York and won Saturday’s 7th. He also made 38 saves. The Pittsburgh Penguins have allowed 0 runs at home.
“Both teams played a little cautiously,” Keefe said of Tuesday. “Only Auston can beat world-class goaltending tonight, but we had more than enough chances.
“The scores look a little strange…it could easily have been the same score if it were the other way around.”
1,000 reasons
Leafs captain John Tavares was honored last week with his family in an on-ice ceremony before the season opener as he bids to reach 1,000 career points. The 33-year-old becomes the 98th player in NHL history to reach this milestone. Leafs legend Darryl Sittler, who has 1,121 career points, presented Tavares with a golden stick.
next
Toronto visits Buffalo on Thursday and New York hosts Edmonton on Friday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 19, 2023.
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