St. Louis Blues 2, Toronto Maple Leafs 5
Things were much better for the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday evening. They went into their game in St Louis having lost their last two, but they put the breaks on that skid with a hard-fought 5-2 victory.
Austin Matthews scored twice in the win. The win also ended a succession of seven straight defeats against the St. Louis Blues. There were also two goals for Zach Hyman in the victory.
Frederik Anderson made 26 saves for the Leafs as a second defeat on the bounce was handed out to the Blues. The Stanley Cup champions haven’t been able to get a consistent run of form over recent weeks, and the Leafs were the big beneficiaries of that.
David Perron and Ivan Barbashev were the scorers for the Blues, while Jason Spezza rounded off a first-period four-goal run for the Leafs.
That opening period was the ultimate game-deciding factor. The Leafs scored four. Meanwhile the Blues only scored once. The game was over once the second period saw the Leafs score once more.
The Blues threatened to make a comeback in the final period by scoring, but the Leafs were able to hold their opponents off with ease.
There is still work for Toronto to do, as they have lost more games than any of the sides above them. However, their fifth goal in this game was also their 100th of the season in the NHL.
The Maple Leafs have a few days off, before returning to action on Tuesday against the Vancouver Cannucks.
Peace,
Burke.
