Toronto Maple Leafs defeat Atlanta Thrashers 9-3
Nikolai Kulemin lit the lamp twice and had two assists, while Clarke MacArthur and Mikhail Grabovski each scored two goals and an assist, as the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Atlanta Thrashers 9-3 on Friday night.
Kris Versteeg notched a goal and two assists in Toronto’s largest offensive output of the season. Colby Armstrong and Phil Kessel each tallied a goal and an assist for the Maple Leafs, who have won their second consecutive game, and third straight on the
road.
James Reimer turned aside 41 shots for Toronto, who had nine consecutive goals - including six goals in the second period. Defenseman Tomas Kaberle had four helpers in the lopsided win.
“That was one of the best second periods I’ve ever seen,” Reimer said. “I’m not sure how it happened.”
Patrice Cormier notched his first career NHL goal for Atlanta, who saw their two-game win streak snapped. Defenseman Tobias Enstrom and left winger Andrew Ladd also scored goals.
Atlanta goaltender Ondrej Pavelec (15-9-4) began the game but did not finish, as he surrendered five goals on 24 shots. He was pulled out late in the second period. Chris Mason replaced him and played the entire third period. He finished out the contest
with 6 saves off 10 shots.
“That was unbelievable,” MacArthur said when the Thrashers’ changed three goalies. “I feel bad for their goalies. I don’t know if some of the shots were screened or not.”
Tobias Enstrom broke the deadlock early in the first period, to put Atlanta in the lead before their defence collapsed. Enstrom took a pass at the top of the zone, brought the puck into the left circle and hit a shot past Toronto netminder.
After that, it was all Toronto the rest of the way.
Toronto tied the contest in the 10th minute of the opening period with Versteeg’s 12th goal, after a defensive zone face-off win. Defenseman Carl Gunnarsson carried the puck out of his own zone and dished it over to the left circle for Armstrong,
who sent a sharp pass over to the right side, where Versteeg slipped a wrester through Pavelec’s pads for a 1-1 game.
Toronto took a 2-1 lead on Grabovski’s 16th goal of the season. Kessel snapped a shot that bounced off the Atlanta goalie's left pad. Grabovski got the rebound in the left slot and hit a wrist shot past the nearside post.
The Maple Leafs established a two-goal cushion when Versteeg fed the puck to a streaking Armstrong, who fired the puck over the Atlanta netminder. Kulemin gave Toronto a 4-1 lead just 79 seconds later. He fired a wrist shot that beat the Atlanta goaltender.
Grabovski's 17th goal made it 5-1 with 4:45 left to play in the middle frame. He has scored 12 goals in 14 games and has recorded a point in five of the last six games. Pavelec was sent to the bench after the high-scoring second period. Mason then came in
and played out the rest of the game.
"Things happen -- it was embarrassing to the fans," Pavelec said. "We try to get the fans to buy the tickets and we show them this one. We took the day off. It's embarrassing for our fans but tomorrow's another day."
With three minutes left in the second period, Eager was given a match penalty after sucker punching Armstrong, a former Atlanta forward. Toronto made good use of the man advantage, cashing in four power-play goals.
MacAurthur netted two of the goals, while Kulemin tallied the other to wrap up a six-goal second period. Kessel scored the final power-play goal just 1:32 into the third period.
"He took a bad penalty." Maple Leafs coach Ron Wilson said of Eager. "It was uncalled for and we managed to take advantage of it. Both games now against Atlanta our power plays have worked really well. We were persistent all night long when we needed to
be."
Thrashers cut the deficit to 9-3 with two third-period goals from Patrice Cormier and Andrew Ladd.
“For them, it was like quicksand,” said MacArthur, who played 21 games for the Thrashers last season. “The harder they tried the worse it got.”
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