Toronto Maple Leafs edge past Los Angeles Kings 3-2
Nikolai Kulemin lit the lamp with the game-winner in the third period to lift the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings.
Darryl Boyce and Phil Kessel each recorded a goal while Kris Versteeg and Joey Crabb both had an assist for Toronto, who have won the first two contests of a four-game road trip. They have also won four of their last five games overall. James Reimer turned
aside 29-of-31 shots in the victory.
Toronto Head Coach Ron Wilson praised his side’s goaltender by saying, "[Reimer] was outstanding all night. Every time we needed a whistle, he's cool and calm, doesn't give up very many rebounds...He did a great job."
Wayne Simmonds and Michal Handzus each tallied a goal for Los Angeles, who have dropped six of their last seven games. The Kings have lost five of six contests on its recent eight-game home stand. Jonathan Quick stopped 25 shots in the loss.
Los Angeles opened the scoring first and got the only goal of the first period with nearly five minutes to play in the frame. Off a left circle faceoff, Rob Scuderi gave a pass from the point to the low side to Simmonds, who moved to the front of the net
and strong-armed it home.
“When you’re playing a team that you don’t see a lot, you try to focus on the things that you have to do,” Kings defenseman Rob Scuder said. “I think we did a good job of that in the first period and in the last 15 minutes, but it’s not enough. We find a
way to do just enough to lose by one goal. That’s been the case since Christmas, and it’s got to turn around for us.”
The Maple Leafs surged ahead in the second with two goals in 34 seconds.
After a slow start, the first goal came from Boyce in the third minute of the second period. He skated into the Kings zone and drew the puck back at the left circle, and banged a wrist shot through the pads of the Los Angeles defender Alec Martinez into
the right corner of the net. It was his second goal in six contests since joining Toronto at the end of December.
A few seconds later, Toronto took a one-goal advantage over the Kings at 2-1. Crabb carried the puck behind the net from the left side, keeping the Kings defender Scuderi off of him. From the right side he slipped the puck across the net to Kessel, who one-timed
it home for his team-leading 18th goal.
Los Angeles equalised the game at 2-2 with five minutes remaining in the second period. Martinez, at the left point hit-off, sent a pass to Handzus who skated in front of the net and trickled the puck through the legs of Reimer.
The Maple Leafs took the lead again at 3-2 just five minutes into the final period. After Los Angeles broke down defensively, Kulemin's nifty spin and turnaround shot from the left side snuck past Quick. With an assist from Mikhail Grabovski, the goal was
the third in two contests for Kulemin, who leads Toronto with four game-winners.
Dion Phaneuf got a penalty with nearly two minutes left in third period, but the team was unable to capitalise. The Kings had the puck behind Reimer with 35 seconds remaining, but video reviews showed that it did not cross the goal line.
“They came hard with a lot of pressure, dumping pucks in, but kudos to the guys,” Reimer said. “The team that’s down is always going to push hard. I just tried to take it shot by shot and not look at the clock.”
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