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(Logo Source: NHL.com)
Title - Chris Savard
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Komarov leads Maple Leafs over Rangers
By Chris Savard
HometownHockey.ca

Komarov  leads Maple Leafs over Rangers
At times, it seemed as though neither team wanted to win this game. In the end, the Toronto Maple Leafs emerged with a 5-4 victory over the New York Rangers, on the back of a two point night by Leo Komarov. Komarov, who was the best off-season acquistion of the Leafs over the off-season, scored the game winner at 14:26 of the third period. Komarov also added an assist earlier in the game to register a two point night and to bring his season total to nine points in 15 games.
PHOTO CREDIT - NHL.com

Stoney Point - November 8, 2014 - At times, it seemed as though neither team wanted to win this game. In the end, the Toronto Maple Leafs emerged with a 5-4 victory over the New York Rangers, on the back of a two point night by Leo Komarov.

Komarov, who was the best off-season acquistion of the Leafs over the off-season, scored the game winner at 14:26 of the third period. Komarov also added an assist earlier in the game to register a two point night and to bring his season total to nine points in 15 games.

The Leafs continued their unfavourable trend of getting off to a slow start. Chris Kreider scored 52 seconds into the game to put the visitors up 1-0 early in the game. The Leafs would rebound to take a 3-1 lead on goals by Phil Kessel, Peter Holland and Richard Panik.

Giving up a goal in the first and last minute of a period are often referred to as “cursed”. Tonight, the Maple Leafs did both – after giving up a goal in the first minute of the first period, they also gave up one in the last minute of the first as Mats Zucarello beat Jonathan Bernier with 40 seconds left in the opening frame.

The Rangers built on that momentum in the next 25 minutes of the game, scoring two goals to take a 4-3 lead. Carl Hagelin scored at 17:43 of the second and Rick Nash scored 4:33 into the third to tally three straight goals to take their first lead of the game.

Less than three minutes later, Roman Polak scored his second of the year to knot the game at four apiece. That set the stage for Komarov’s heroics with just over five minutes to go.

The Rangers would pull their goalie in the final 90 seconds of the game to no avail, as the Leafs held on to secure the victory in this one. The Leafs improve to 7-5-2 on the season, while the Rangers fall to 6-5-2.

Teams like the Buffalo Sabres, Edmonton Oilers and Carolina Hurricanes are used to facing the second string goaltender in many games. In somewhat of a surprising move, Cam Talbot got the start tonight ahead of New York’s star goaltender Henrik Lundqvist. Talbot gave up five goals on 31 shots. Bernier made 31 saves to record the win.

Komarov lead Toronto with eight hits on the night, while Zucarello and Dan Giradi lead the Rangers with five hits apiece. Nazem Kadri had a rebound night with two assists and a 68% win percentage in the faceoff circle.

Morgan Rielly returned to the lineup after being a healthy scratch on Thursday in Denver against the Colorado Avalanche. The New York Rangers continue to miss key defencemen due to injuries to Dan Boyle and captain Ryan McDonagh.

The Maple Leafs are back in action tomorrow in the Nation’s Capital, as they take on the Ottawa Senators in the make up game from the October 22nd game that was cancelled due to the shooting on Parliament Hill.

Look for Randy Carlyle to give the starting goaltending nod to James Reimer. Kessel will look to extend his current six game point scoring streak against the Sens.

Follow Us on TwitterIn his lifetime, Chris Savard has spent time as both an elected official and a hot air balloon pilot. As such, FULL OF HOT AIR seemed to be an appropriate name for this column. Savard will provide his thoughts on a number of topics including hockey on this site, as well as politics and local issues on OurHometown.ca. His opinion combined with $1.60 will buy you a medium coffee at Tim's! You can email him at csavard@ourhometown.ca



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