Nazem Kadri shoots and scores a goal against the Flames for the 100th of his career.Tom Szczerbowski
As the Toronto Maple Leafs continued to wobble in the wake of Morgan Rielly's injury, the Calgary Flames arrived just in time.
With the Leafs winless in two games since losing their best defenceman to a leg injury a week ago, they needed to stop the bleeding. The Flames obliged by losing 4-0 at Air Canada Centre Monday night. It was Calgary's third consecutive loss and an inauspicious beginning to a three-game road trip that takes them to Montreal and Ottawa next.
The win allowed the Leafs to end their four-game homestand with a 2-1-1 record and leave on a high note for a two-game road trip that takes them into the weekend's NHL all-star break.
Leafs centre Nazem Kadri had a big night, scoring the 100th goal of his NHL career in the second period and his 20th of the season in the third.
The key moments for the Leafs, though, came on a second-period hit by Leo Komarov and Zach Hyman's shorthanded goal several minutes later. Komarov flattened Flames winger Johnny Gaudreau, firing up the Leafs, and then Hyman's goal squelched a chance for the hapless Flames to get back in the game.
There was some thought Komarov might face supplemental discipline for the hit that came at 12:36 of the second period, but that is unlikely. Komarov caught Gaudreau with his head down and while the hit may have been an eyelash late, it was not a headshot.
Komarov nailed Gaudreau on the upper chest with his shoulder. Gaudreau left the game briefly, presumably to undergo the league concussion protocol but was able to come back a few minutes later. In fact, he came back just in time to see Hyman go sailing past him and score on a shorthanded two-on-one rush at 16:55.
The Leafs' penalty killers were perfect on five Flames power plays, a much better outing than in Saturday's shootout loss to the Ottawa Senators when they allowed one power-play goal on four opportunities. They played a much more aggressive game than they did against the Senators, keeping the Flames forwards under pressure.
"We just did a better job than we did against Ottawa," Hyman said.
William Nylander was called for hooking to set up the Flames power play that Hyman victimized, and the Leafs saw some luck on the play. It was a delayed call on Nylander, and while the play carried on, Leafs defenceman Martin Marincin gave a Flames player a crisp slash on the hand. In fact, when the whistle blew, Marincin thought the call was on him and skated to the penalty box.
He was lucky not to get a penalty – so lucky, in fact, that he was on the ice to get the only assist on Hyman's goal.
It was Hyman's second shorthanded goal of the season and second in the Leafs' past three games. He is now the only NHL rookie with two shorthanded markers, and it came in typical fashion for him, after some fierce checking on the penalty kill. Hyman took off on a two-on-one rush, kept the puck and put in his own rebound on Flames goaltender Brian Elliott.
"Well, work ethic, smart, good stick, skates fast, blocks shots," Leafs head coach Mike Babcock said a few hours before the game when he was asked what makes Hyman such a good penalty killer. "They're the things about Hyman that just make him good, period. He's a good penalty killer and he's a good player."
Hyman said his success was the result of a team effort in keeping the opposition's power play under siege.
"We try to create turnovers," he said. "Sometimes we do things that create odd-man rushes."
The play of the Leafs forwards and goaltender Frederik Andersen (who earned his second shutout of the season) took a lot of pressure off the defence, which has had trouble adjusting to Rielly's injury. While Rielly was back on skates during Monday's game-day skate for the first time since he was injured last Tuesday, Babcock said there is still no date for his return. He was asked if Rielly would play before the NHL all-star game on Sunday and said, "I don't know that. If he's ready to play, we'll play him."
Babcock seemed to be in prescient mode after the Leafs' morning skate. Aside from his remarks on Hyman, he also called on rookie forward Mitch Marner, who had 10 goals and 27 assists going into the game, to shoot more. There was a so-so response on that front but Marner still ended the game with a goal and an assist.
The coach said he doesn't think Marner defers any chances to shoot, but "I just think in junior you can stickhandle around one more player and get a little closer. In the NHL you can't stickhandle around that guy. Last game [against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday], when he had those opportunities he passed on them. Most goals in the National Hockey League are scored on second chances. In order to get a second chance you've got to shoot the first one."
Well, Marner scored his 11th goal late in the first period to open the scoring against the Flames. By the end of the second period he had three shots on goal and then set up Kadri early in the third for his goal. The only thing was, Marner didn't have to shoot to get his goal. As soon as he saw defenceman Nikita Zaitsev set up in the high slot for a wrist shot toward the net, Marner brought his feet and stick together for a nifty deflection to the top corner.
Marner now has 39 points, one more than teammate Auston Matthews.