Goaltender James Reimer made 43 saves to win his third straight game, leading the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 4-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks at Air Canada Centre on Saturday.
The Canucks were led offensively by Jannik Hansen and Alex Burrows, but their efforts weren’t enough to beat the Leafs.
The Canucks on their part were very frustrated as not one, but two goals were waived off. Vancouver coach Willie Desjardins was not pleased that his team had two goals waved and lost his challenge on Lupul’s goal late in the third period that restored Toronto’s two-goal lead.
“Just tough,” Desjardins said. “I think they’re all close calls. I can’t say I agreed with them, but it doesn’t matter. I know [goalie] Ryan [Miller] kind of thought he wasn’t being held [on Lupul’s goal]. Maybe he could’ve covered that puck. I thought it was tough. But they got a look at it, and that’s what they called.”
James Van Riemsdyk opened the scoring for the Leafs at the 8:23 mark of the first period to score his sixth goal of the season.
In the second period the Leafs doubled up their lead when Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau scored on the power play at the 8:51 mark for his fourth goal on the year.
The Canucks cut into the lead when Jannik Hansen scored his fifth goal on the season at the 16:33 mark of the second period with the assist going to Daniel Sedin.
Shawn Matthias, a former Canuck, gave Toronto a 3-1 lead at 1:49 mark of the third period, converting from in tight on a give-and-go with center Tyler Bozak.
Vancouver kept pursuing the tying goal, and made it 3-2 at 10:36 when Yannick Weber‘s power-play shot from the left point hit Burrows and went past Reimer with Parenteau in the penalty box. It was Burrows’ fourth goal of the season.
Unfortunately for the Canucks, Joffrey Lupul restored Toronto’s two-goal lead at 16:16 mark of the third period when he drilled home his sixth goal of the season, and the 200th of his career, following a scramble in front of the Vancouver net. The Canucks challenged the goal, claiming Miller was interfered with, but it was allowed to stand after video review.
The Canucks are currently 1-3-1 on their road trip, and have 2 road games remaining before heading home.
Up Next: The Canucks visit the Canadiens Monday at 4:30pm.
Written by: Hamed Amiri