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TORONTO – Sheldon Keefe didn’t like seeing his team having to fish the puck out of its net after two early power-play goals.
The fact the penalties — both for instigating fights — came from the Maple Leafs standing up for each other softened the blow for their head coach.
Toronto then used that energy to push back between the whistles.
Noah Gregor scored the winner and added an assist, William Nylander extended his franchise record for points to start a season to 15 games with a goal of his own following two spirited tilts Saturday — including one involving 40-year-old defenceman Mark Giordano — as the Leafs defeated the Vancouver Canucks 5-2.
“The game works in funny ways,” Keefe said of not being able to kill off the instigator penalties. “We built up some good karma through (the fights) — guys sticking together, stepping up, big moments, get the crowd involved.
“It seemed like it pulled our team together to just go out and play. Great responses throughout the game, and then a good job of managing the game.”
Two points in the bag, Giordano had no regrets about fighting Dakota Joshua, who stands six foot three and weighs 206 pounds, after the Canucks centre rocked Leafs counterpart David Kampf.
“Important we’re showing other teams that you’re not going to get away with things like that,” Giordano said. “We’ve got to continue to step up … goes a long way over the course of the season.”
Keefe was asked how the blueliner can still get the job done as the NHL’s oldest player this season.
“He loves the game, he loves his teammates, and he loves competing,” said the coach. “He’s given us absolutely everything that he has.”
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Kampf, Matthew Knies and Nick Robertson also scored for Toronto (8-5-2). Ilya Samsonov made 31 saves in a bounceback performance.
“Awesome,” Giordano said of his goaltender. “Playing with a ton of confidence.”
Max Domi, who also dropped the gloves in the first period, Tyler Bertuzzi and Bobby McMann each added two assists.
“We definitely showed some courage,” Gregor said. “It’s not an easy thing to do to go out and fight. Those guys did a great job.”
J.T. Miller and Pius Suter had the goals for Vancouver (10-3-1). Thatcher Demko stopped 17 shots for the Canucks, who saw their five-game winning streak come to an end.
“It wasn’t a great one, but we’ve been playing some good hockey,” said Vancouver captain Quinn Hughes, whose group dropped to 8-1-1 over its last 10. “There’s going to be nights like this, and nights where we feel real good about ourselves.”
Toronto, which beat the Calgary Flames 5-4 in Friday’s shootout despite blowing a 4-1 lead, allowed fewer than four goals on home ice for the first time in 2023-24, and will now head to Sweden for a pair of games as part of next week’s NHL Global Series.
Down 2-1 after 20 minutes, the Leafs tied it at 4:53 of the second when Nylander banked a shot in off Canucks defenceman Tyler Myers for his 10th goal and 22nd point of the season.
“A man on a mission,” McMann said. “Wasn’t going to be stopped.”
Toronto took the lead when Gregor snapped his second at 14:22 before Robertson stretched the Leafs’ advantage to 4-2 at 4:56 of the third when he chipped his second up and over Demko.
Kampf then put things to bed at 9:13 when he tipped in his first.
Heavily criticized for the lack of a physical response after defenceman Timothy Liljegren was injured on a questionable sequence involving Boston Bruins captain Brad Marchand earlier this month, the Leafs had those fists flying early.
A little too early.
“I get fired up out there sometimes,” Giordano, who received raucous approval from the Scotiabank Arena crowd, said of his bout with Joshua. “One of those situations where you see your teammate down on the ice — big hit.
“(Joshua’s) a big boy. I went over there and I was like, ‘Oh boy, here we go.’”
The Canucks made the Leafs pay on the ensuing power play when Miller scored his ninth at 5:43 on Samsonov, who had been pulled in two of his last four starts and sported an .855 save percentage before Saturday.
Toronto replied right after a Vancouver penalty expired 2:54 later when Knies banged home his fourth.
Ian Cole then smoked Robertson with another clean hit that resulted in Domi going at the Canucks defenceman.
“Shows the character of our group,” Robertson said. “He’s not really known as a fighter, but he has that feistiness.”
That led to the second instigator penalty, which Vancouver capitalized on when Suter scored his fourth on a rebound at 15:48 as Toronto’s porous penalty kill surrendered its 12th goal against in the last 11 games.
But the Leafs held firm on the Canucks’ next four man-advantage opportunities — and put the game’s next four goals past Demko.
“We’ve been trending in the right direction,” Keefe said of his team 15 games into the schedule. “It hasn’t always looked that way, but inside these walls, and from a coaching perspective, we’ve looked at a lot of things that were moving in the right direction. I thought this was a perfect way, and the perfect opponent, for us to finish this homestand.
“Love the way the guys responded.”
KLINGBERG RETURNS, REAVES SITS
John Klingberg was back in the Toronto lineup following a one-game absence for an unspecified injury. The defenceman has struggled since joining the Leafs in free agency with five assists and a minus-8 rating before Saturday.
Ryan Reaves, meanwhile, sat out in favour of McMann, who was called up from the American Hockey League. The Leafs enforcer is an ugly minus-11.
UP NEXT
The Canucks visit the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday, while the Leafs head to Sweden for a pair of games beginning Friday in Stockholm against the Detroit Red Wings.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 11, 2023.
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