Blog: Maple Leafs too much for Golden Knights

By Justin Emerson

Published Thursday, Feb. 14, 2019 | 4 p.m.

Updated Thursday, Feb. 14, 2019 | 9:39 p.m.

It was a back-and-forth game, featuring three ties and three lead changes, but when it was all over, the Golden Knights couldn't match the Maple Leafs, falling 5-3 on Thursday at T-Mobile Arena.

It extended the Golden Knights' franchise-worst home losing streak to five games. The six goals allowed were the most by Marc-Andre Fleury this season.

The Maple Leafs finsihed with a 43-33 edge in shots on goal.

William Karlsson may have scored the game-tying goal, but Jo Merrill made it happen. Merrill saw Karlsson poke out from behind the net and fired a perfect pass to Frederik Andersen's right that Karlsson redirected into the net at 4:12.

Jonathan Marchessault picked up the secondary assist, tying Alex Tuch for the team lead with 40 points.

As they have all game, the Maple Leafs answered the Vegas goal. This time it was defenseman Morgan Rielly firing a laser from the point that beat Fleury. That was a second past the midway point of the third, and the third game in a row Vegas has allowed at least four goals.

The difference this time was Toronto built on its lead. It was Auston Matthews' turn again, his second of the game and third point of the night. He rifled up top past Fleury at 10:56, the second game in a row Vegas allowed five goals.

To make matters worse, the Maple Leafs added a short-handed goal at 16:33 when Mitchell Marner finished a 2-on-1 with Connor Brown.

Maple Leafs keep heading heading to third

The first period may not have had a lot of scoring, but the second period sure did. Each side potted a pair and the Golden Knights went to the second intermission down 3-2 to the Maple Leafs.

The Golden Knights started the second period headed to the box yet again, but this time cashed in with a goal of their own. Reilly Smith continued his strong play on the penalty kill, collecting a gaffe from Frederik Andersen behind the net and feeding Paul Stastny, who buried it to even the game at 2:46.

Vegas kept it rolling after that, grabbing the lead at 7:22. Cody Eakin carried the puck into the zone, pulled off a nifty stop-and-spin move, then dished to Oscar Lindberg, who blasted the puck past Andersen to make it 2-1 Vegas. Shea Theodore had the secondary assist.

The lead didn't last long. Auston Matthews fired a shot on Marc-Andre Fleury which took a strange bounce and ended up behind Fleury. Patrick Marleu was there to tap it in to make it 2-2 just 90 seconds after Vegas took the lead.

Matthews then made sure to make it a two-point night. He fired a low wrister by Fleury on the power play to make it 3-2 at 13:25, the 100th goal of the 21-year-old's career.

Maple Leafs strike early

The Golden Knights flirted with danger in the first period, taking three penalties, but allowed just one goal and ended the first period down 1-0 to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Toronto hopped out to a first-period lead with a power-play goal at 13:14. Most defelcted goals come from right in front of the goalie, but Andreas Johnsson was standing in the slot even with the faceoff dots when he redirected Jake Gardiner's point shot and put the Maple Leafs up 1-0.

It was injury to insult for Vegas, right after Reilly Smith failed to convert on a short-handed breakaway attempt. He fought the puck away at the defensive blue line, faked a fore-handed shot in front of Frederik Andersen and was stuffed on the back-handed five-hole attempt.

The Maple Leafs drew another penalty minutes later, and Smith generated another short-handed attempt. This time it was deep in the Toronto zone, forcing a turnover under the red line and feeding William Karlsson for a one-timer and the Golden Knights' best look of the period.

Jon Merrill took a cross check to complete the Vegas penalty trifecta in the first, and the Golden Knights killed it off without much difficulty.

Toronto led in shots on goal 18-8 after the first.

Pre-game

The Golden Knights practiced Wednesday as hard as they have all season. It was a combination of falling apart in the third period against Arizona and one of the league's best teams coming to town.

They took it easier with an optional practice this morning, but that doesn't mean the Golden Knights aren't prepared for today's 7 p.m. matchup with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

"Everybody has a lot of pride and a lot of character on the team, and we don't like where we're at," Vegas goalie Marc-Andre Fleury said. "We know we can do better, we have to do better, and I think it starts with practice. If we play hard here, we should bring it into the game (tonight)."

Toronto brings with it much firepower, boasting three 20-goal scorers and and four players with at least 50 points. The Maple Leafs like to split them up, putting John Tavares and Mitchell Marner on the top line and sliding Auston Matthews onto the second. Even their third line, featuring Kasperi Kapanen, Nazem Kadri and William Nylander, would be the best line on many teams in the league.

It poses a problem for Vegas, needing to prepare for three scoring lines. The Golden Knights succeeded in their last test against a similar team, beating the league-leading Tampa Bay Lightning last week.

"They're very similar, highly offensive teams that have a lot of skill that can hurt you, all four lines," Golden Knights defenseman Deryk Engelland said. "We got to be ready, expect their best, and we got to come out and match that."

The Golden Knights have dropped their last four home games, and Toronto has one of the league's best road records at 18-7-2. Vegas was nearly unbeatable at home last year, and regaining that edge will be key for the rest of the season.

"It's a team mentality, and to get through it, it's just going to be through sticking together and making sure that if one guy doesn't come up with the puck, he's getting backed up by the next one," Vegas forward Max Pacioretty said. "It's not always going to be perfect, but if you know your linemates are going to be there to get back for you or help you out in that battle, then it's going to give us many more opportunities to create offense and score goals and win games."

Emerson's Prediction: Maple Leafs 3, Golden Knights 2

Season record for predictions: Keefer 5-5, Emerson 12-8

TV: AT&T Sports Net (DirecTV 684, Cox 1313, CenturyLink 1760)

Radio: Fox Sports 1340 AM and 98.9 FM

Betting line: Golden Knights minus-123, Maple Leafs plus-113; over/under: 6.5 (minus-110, plus-100)

Golden Knights (31-23-4) (16-8-3 home)

Coach: Gerard Gallant (second season)

Points leader: Alex Tuch (40)

Goals leader: Jonathan Marchessault (19)

Assists leader: Alex Tuch (24)

Expected goalie: Marc-Andre Fleury (2.54 gaa, .909 save percentage)

Maple Leafs (35-18-3) (18-7-2 road)

Coach: Mike Babcock (fourth season)

Points leader: Mitchell Marner (67)

Goals leaders: John Tavares (33)

Assists leader: Mitchell Marner (47)

Expected goalie: Frederik Andersen (2.56 gaa, .923 save percentage)

Golden Knights expected lineup

Forwards

Jonathan Marchessault, William Karlsson, Reilly Smith, Max Pacioretty, Paul Stastny, Alex Tuch, Oscar Lindberg, Cody Eakin, Brandon Pirri, William Carrier, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Ryan Reaves

Defensemen

Brayden McNabb, Nate Schmidt, Shea Theodore, Deryk Engelland, Jon Merrill, Colin Miller

Goalies

Marc-Andre Fleury, Malcolm Subban