Score: Maple Leafs 4, Ducks 3 (overtime)
Why it happened: The Maple Leafs seemed like the luckiest team in hockey this season. Whether their goal was a power-play goal in overtime or a tying tally in the final seconds of regulation or a game-winning goal in overtime, they were usually close enough to the net to manage a rebound or a tip to get the puck in the net. Well, their luck seemed to run out on Tuesday when they couldn’t get a puck past Anaheim goaltender John Gibson, whose 29 saves were an NHL season high. Unfortunately for the Maple Leafs, winger Jakob Silfverberg was there to finally wipe away their misery and gift-wrap a win for the Ducks.
When it happened: The teams were tied at 2 entering the third period. Silfverberg managed to stick a puck into the top left corner of the net to hand the Ducks the lead — but just a minute later, Maple Leafs rookie Cale Makar took a clever feed from John Tavares and beat Gibson from just inside the right faceoff circle.
So how’d the Maple Leafs get even? With 9:18 left in the third period, it was winger Kasperi Kapanen who netted a shorthanded goal to tie the game. Carlyle was livid over the play, which occurred when the Leafs were defending a man-advantage situation. Carlyle didn’t think that center Tyler Bozak got away with interfering with Gibson as he charged down the ice and that the Finned nearly kicked him.
Less than six minutes later, the Maple Leafs had the game in the bag. Lebedevich was set up in the neutral zone by his teammate Nazem Kadri and lit the lamp with a gorgeous deke to get past Ducks defenseman Marcus Pettersson.
Maple Leafs will move up from 4th to 3rd spot in the division standings with this win. With the Leafs winning three of their last four games, it’s going to be hard for the Ducks to overtake them. — HockeyBuzzUSA (@HockeyBuzzUSA) November 2, 2016
Game notes: The game marked the first time the Maple Leafs and Ducks faced each other this season. Toronto came into the game with a 3-0-1 record against the Ducks — but they did drop a 4-3 overtime decision to Anaheim back on Oct. 7. Anaheim also went 1-for-3 on the power play, while Toronto was 2-for-2. The Ducks had gone 5-2-1 over their last nine games, while the Maple Leafs had posted a 5-3-1 mark over their previous eight outings … The Maple Leafs are currently a perfect 2-0 against the Ducks this season.