Maple Leafs blow lead in Anaheim, pressure mounts

Article content

ANAHEIM — Those boos ringing in the ears of the Maple Leafs have nothing to do with Halloween.

Article content

But this continuous sluggish start could haunt coach Sheldon Keefe and general manager Kyle Dubas as the team limps home on a four-game losing streak. It was capped by a 4-3 overtime defeat to the Anaheim Ducks, who had not won in seven straight, a match Toronto led all Sunday night and  3-1 at one stage with a penalty shot to extend it.

Article content

Article content

Add that to being unable to get victories against Arizona, Montreal and on this trip, San Jose or Los Angeles and there is further doubt cast on this new-look roster Dubas constructed.

Trevor Zegras beat Erik Kallgren hallfway through the extra period after Mitch Marner was stopped on the doorstep. What would’ve been Anaheim’s go-ahead goal in regulation was waved off for goaltender interference.

Article content

Standards for Toronto have certainly slipped when playing a 1-6-1 team can be labelled ‘must-win,’ but the result failed to take heat off Keefe and Dubas.

They were having trouble finding the scoring pace of last season and integrating new members, though two of those, Denis Malgin and Calle Jarnkrok, scored Sunday.

The Leafs just couldn’t let sustained effort elapse without some kind of self-inflicted wound. One was committed by Filip Kral, in his second game and looking very good until he tried to put a pass through Derek Grant at centre just as the middle period ended.

It required Kallgren to make a breakaway save and Auston Matthews to take a slashing call, his third minor in two games after 74 minutes the previous 415 games.

Article content

The Leafs did turn that into their first short-handed goal of the year, a TJ Brodie stretch pass that Alex Kerfoot and Jarnkrok converted.

In the third period, Kerfoot had a breakaway hampered enough to warrant a penalty shot, but found no room on John Gibson as he came in too tight and shot wide.

Moments later, Zegras didn’t miss on Kallgren as the Leafs went with their No. 2 goalie after Ilya Samsonov played a mistake-filled game by his mates in Los Angeles.

Anaheim tied it with defenceman Dmitry Kulikov poked the puck past John Tavares, circled the net and beat Kallgren on the wraparound.

Keefe re-arranged the forward lines in his ongoing attempts to find the same chemistry as last season, while incorporating four new forwards. The Leafs had just six goals in the three losses on the trip.

Article content

After a couple of own-zone fumbles, the Leafs found their legs on their first power play. William Nylander and Marner set up Matthews for a quick flick at 4:23, giving him two goals on the trip.

The revamped second line of Kerfoot, Tavares and Jarnkrok thought it had scored soon after, Kerfoot half raising his stick, but the puck skittered wide of an empty net. As Kerfoot looked skyward, Anaheim cashed at the other end. Mark Giordano was the first Leaf to miss a chance to clear and eventually other flat-footed mates lost track of Jakob Silfverberg in the open.

Article content

Toronto regained the lead before the period ended, thanks to another ad hoc line, Nick Robertson and Nylander setting up Malgin. It has been an eventful season for the Swiss winger already, a great camp, a place among the top-six forwards, then usurped by Robertson and banished to the press box a few games.

Malgin moved across to the right side on Sunday with Nylander shifted to centre and with all three showing good wheels, he was loose for a nifty backhand deke.

Gibson stopped Tavares on the doorstep and stacked the pads on Matthews’ rebound to keep the game at one. Gibson has suffered behind the Ducks poor start, seven consecutive losses after an opening night win over Seattle.

“We didn’t get off to a great start last year, it’s not what we’re looking for this year,” captain Tavares said between the L.A. and Anaheim matches. “Every game we’ve had a chance to win. Have we played to our capabilities yet? I don’t believe so.”