The worst team in the National Hockey League was roasted by the Maple Leafs on Tuesday night.
Mitch Marner extended his franchise-record point streak to 23 games and Ilya Samsonov made 29 saves for his second consecutive shutout as the Leafs crushed the Anaheim Ducks 7-0 at Scotiabank Arena.
To say it was a one-sided hockey game wouldn’t do the smackdown justice. The feeble Ducks didn’t threaten with any consistency, and the Leafs played around with them through much of the game.
Since losing to the Ducks in overtime on Oct. 30 in Anaheim, the Leafs have been more or less unstoppable, going 15-1-4.
How bad are the 32nd-place Ducks? Of their seven wins this season, a measly one has come in regulation.
Marner, who had two assists, continues to have some streaking company among teammates. Michael Bunting scored in the second period, running his career-high streak to nine games. And Auston Matthews had an assist in the second, extending his streak to eight games. Matthews’ career high is 13 games, accomplished in the 2020-21 season.
Alex Kerfoot scored two goals in a game with the Leafs for the first time, doubling his season total to four, and defenceman Conor Timmins had three assists in an NHL game for the first time.
Samsonov, who was playing in his 100th NHL game, has recorded back-to-back shutouts for the second time in his career, also doing it last November for the Washington Capitals. Samsonov is 8-0-0 at home this season.
It was the third shutout in four games for the Leafs, who rebounded nicely after playing some disorganized hockey in an overtime win against Calgary on Saturday.
Before 18,477, Marner extended his streak early, setting up captain John Tavares for the Leafs’ second goal at 8:41 of the first period.
With the assist, Marner became just the third NHL player since 1992 to reach a point streak of at least 23 games. Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks was the most recent to do it, going on a 26-game run in 2015-16. Pittsburgh Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby was the other active player to reach 23 games, hitting 25 in 2010-11.
In NHL history, there were just 19 previous streak of at least 23 games. The great Wayne Gretzky, who holds the NHL record of 51 consecutive games with at least one point, went no less than seven different runs of at least 23 games.
Marner fed Tavares, who was in the crease area and not bothered by a couple of nearby Ducks as he easily tapped the pass in.
During his streak, Marner has 32 points (11 goals and 21 assists). Against the Leafs’ next opponent, the New York Rangers on Thursday in Manhattan, Marner has 15 points in 14 career games.
Expect to see a steady diet of both Samsonov and Matt Murray, not one over the other, in the Leafs crease as long as both remain healthy and both keep excelling.
“We’re going to have both goalies involved,” Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said Tuesday morning. “I don’t think you’re going to see a situation where one guy is going to go any sort of extended run, particularly the way that they’ve played.
“They both deserve the net and that allows us to manage the workload. Both guys, we have great confidence in and they’ve given us the ability to win games.
“With that being the case, we don’t see any need to lean too heavily on one guy. We take it a day at a time, but we’re always looking at the schedule. Ilya certainly deserves the opportunity to get back in.”
Toronto’s first goal came off the stick of Kerfoot. Pierre Engvall, sprung from the NHL sin bin after serving a one-game suspension, set up Kerfoot for a one-timer at 1:58. The goal came on the Leafs’ first shot of the game, fooling netminder John Gibson.
Tavares’ goal was next during a first period that was a little sloppy on the part of the Leafs and required 16 saves by Samsonov.
In the second, the Leafs buckled down defensively. Gibson departed the game, apparently experiencing some discomfort after facing 27 Toronto shots, and was replaced by Lukas Dostal.
The first shot on Dostal went in, as defenceman TJ Brodie scored his first of the season with a shot along the ice at 12:16.
Next was Bunting, who scored for the second time in as many games when he smacked a rebound past Dostal at 16:33.
Between those goals came Samsonov’s best save of the night, a glove stop on Max Comtois, who found some open ice and had broken in alone.
Kerfoot, who had two goals in his previous 29 games, Engvall and Joey Anderson, with his first with the Leafs, scored in the third period.
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