Maple Leafs continue Winning Road Trip Beating The San Jose Sharks 5-3

After a blistering arrival in sunny California that saw the Toronto Maple Leafs decimate the Los Angeles Kings, it was clear that the San Jose Sharks did not want to join the list that has fallen prey to the lightning speed of the Leafs.

Right from the moment the puck dropped, the Sharks were determined to go after Nazem Kadri. It was an effort that was in vain as Toronto with the win anyway, and the San Jose Sharks joined that list after the Maple Leafs beat San Jose 5-3 and won the second of four games on this road trip.

John Tavares scored the opening goal for Toronto after San Jose found themselves on the defensive late in the first period and on the receiving end of the Leafs top line. Kasperi Kapanen scored two goals, Mitch Marner scored one as did Josh Leivo. Earning assists were Mitch Marner with two assists and Travis Dermott, Tyler Ennis, Frederik Gauthier, Patrick Marleau and Morgan Reilly. Even Frederik Andersen managed to earn an assist after he sent the puck to Marner who carried to the Sharks zone and scored the Leafs 5th goal of the night.

In post-game interviews, Kasperi Kapanen was unsure why Barclay Goodrow went after Nazem Kadri. Commenting he said,

“I don’t know what was going on to be honest. Nazzy loves that stuff. It got him into the game. I think that was a mistake by them. To go after Naz like that is not going to do anything to him. I think it’s the opposite. It’s going to get him going. I thought our line had a pretty good night tonight.”

Sportsnet

Last season Kadri had a scrap with Barclay Goodrow that saw Goodrow losing a chunk of his beard, and it didn’t take long to realise he had not let it go as the Sharks were constantly going after the London, Ontario native.

Kadri, however, used that to his advantage to keep them agitated. He added,

“It seemed like they were pretty agitated to start, so I figured I’d just try to use that to my advantage. I think they might have been a little too worried about their own thing out there. We took care of business, and it was a good win for us.”

San Jose battled hard and managed to tie the game just past the midway point of the first period, and after the Leafs went ahead 2-1, San Jose once again responded and tied it with a goal by Joe Pavelski while the Sharks were on a power play. Early into the second San Jose took the lead, but their hopes of earning a win diminished from there on as Toronto once again took control to earn the win.

Frederik Andersen stopped 42 shots, and Martin Jones has 29, but he was unable to stop the speed and powerful rushes that the Maple Leafs generated last night. He was not the only one to feel the frustration as Joe Pavelski also felt frustrated commenting that,

“The frustrating part right is we haven’t played to our identity. We do it for a few minutes, and then we do this or that, and suddenly there’s a breakaway, then another breakaway. We’re just hanging them out to dry with these odd-man rushes and chances. It happened again tonight. It can’t happen five times a night.”

The Leafs visit Anaheim on Saturday to take on the Mighty Ducks, but if the Maple Leafs have anything to say about it, the ducks will be sent to the pond. Punters interested in NHL betting action will find a wide selection of highly ranked sports betting sites ready to reward you with generous signup bonuses, Register today and reap the benefits.