William Nylander’s career night on Saturday ensured the Maple Leafs kept their impressive streak intact.
Then — who else — Mitch Marner ensured another Leafs win.
Marner, who earlier extended his point streak to 22 games, scored at 43 seconds of overtime after his initial shot was blocked, beating goalie Dan Vladar to give the Leafs a 5-4 victory against the Calgary Flames.
Nylander had five points in a game for the first time in the National Hockey League, scoring twice and assisting on three at Scotiabank Arena.
The Leafs have gone 14 games (11-0-3) without a regulation loss, two off the team record of 16 games set in 2002-03. They have not lost in regulation since Nov. 11 against Pittsburgh.
Marner had an assist in the first period to keep his eye-popping streak going in a weird game that featured some unusual Leafs sloppiness.
Earlier in the third, Michael Bunting extended his point streak to eight games when he scored his first home goal of the season to tie the game 4-4. At 6:10, Bunting smacked the puck into the net after it came off end boards on an Auston Matthews shot. The assist was Matthews’ third point of the night.
Calgary had gone up 4-3 when a shot from the side boards by Noah Hanifin got through Murray and dropped over the goal line.
Marner has moved into some select company.
In National Hockey League history, only 23 times have there been a streak of longer than 22 games.
Marner did some grunt work to get on the scoresheet, picking the puck out of a scrum along the boards and sending it to Rasmus Sandin. The latter then fed Nylander, who scored on a low shot at 17:10 of the first period.
Marner has 30 points (11 goals and 19 assists) during his run, which started on Oct. 27 in San Jose against the Sharks. As his assist was being announced, the crowd rose and gave Marner a standing ovation.
The overall play of the Leafs’ top players has naturally caught the attention of Flames coach Darryl Sutter.
“With Toronto, and I saw it last year, their top players, those guys have taken another whole level in terms of their leadership and they’re by-example type players,” Sutter said. “It’s so evident when you watch them. Even last year, you could see the difference in them.”
Nylander’s goal was the final goal of four in a bit of an uneven opening 20 minutes, with each team scoring twice. Neither goalie would have been bragging about his play through one period.
The Leafs’ Matt Murray was beaten cleanly on both Flames goals, first by Hanifin at 9:13 and by Nazem Kadri at 12:52. The first Calgary goal came moments after a Matthews turnover in the offensive zone, and while the teams played 4-on-4. The Leafs would had a power play had Simmonds not taken a retaliatory penalty for roughing Nikita Zadorov, who had cross-checked Matthews.
It was Matthews who had given Toronto a 1-0 lead at 5:04 when he went low stick on Vladar following a Nylander feed. Matthews ran his point streak to seven games with the goal.
Both teams scored in the second period. The Flames went up 3-2 at 11:11 when Trevor Lewis hammered a Mikael Backlund rebound past Murray. Backlund hit the post after Marner turned the puck over, inadvertently setting up Lewis for a one-timer.
Nylander tied the game at 17:19 when his shot from the slot appeared to change direction and fooled Vladar.
There was a dicey moment when Murray left of his crease to play the puck and was forced to make while he was in the slot as he tried to scramble back to the net.
For Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe, the message during the Leafs’ run had not wavered.
“When things are going as well as they are right now, it’s important for me to make it clear to our guys about why it’s going well, and we show that (in video),” Keefe said after the club’s optional morning skate. “We show that and we just need to continue to replicate it. We’re really embracing the things that have given us a chance to succeed every night, no matter who is in the lineup.
“What keeps (motivated) is that there’s another day coming. The NHL is a challenging world, and things change quickly. When things change quickly, if you don’t flip them back, it snowballs.
“Every game the NHL is difficult. And you have to take the preparation seriously, or things get away on you.”
With Pierre Engvall serving a one-game suspension and Nick Robertson out with a shoulder injury, Keefe inserted Simmonds and Joey Anderson, who was recalled from the Toronto Marlies.
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