TORONTO (AP) — Auston Matthews scored at 2:32 of overtime and the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Calgary Flames 2-1 on Friday night.
Ondrej Kase also scored, William Nylander had two assists and Jack Campbell made 30 saves to help the Maple Leafs win for the seventh time in eight games.
“It was a tight game — not a whole lot of quality offensce,” Maple Leafs captain John Tavares said. “A lot of battles. Big, veteran team that they have, they compete hard and defend really well. We just had to stay with it.”
Oliver Kylington scored for Calgary, which has lost three straight (0-2-1). Dan Vladar stopped 35 shots.
“It wasn’t how we wanted it to end,” Kylington said. “But I thought we showed good work ethic. A lot of positives to take away from this game.”
Vladar stopped Matthews on a breakaway and Mitch Marner on a follow in overtime before Campbell shut the door on a frantic sequence in Toronto’s end. However, Matthews got another chance on his next shift, and beat Vladar between the pads for his sixth goal of the season.
“When they scored we didn’t get down,” Matthews said. “We played solid throughout the whole game. They make it hard to generate offence, especially on the inside. We stuck with it, kept grinding.”
With his goalie shutting the door on chance after chance, Kylington started a break the other way early in the third period. The smooth-skating defenseman passed to Johnny Gaudreau before getting the return feed and beating Campbell with a move to the backhand for his second goal of the season at 4:55 to put Calgary up 1-0.
Vladar, who got the call ahead of regular starter Jacob Markstrom in the second game of a back-to-back following Thursday’s 4-2 loss to Montreal, continued to shut the door for the Flames until Kase tipped Nylander shot in with 7:06 left.
The Flames got their first power play when Kase went off for tripping with 5:25 remaining, but the Maple Leafs had the best chance when defenseman Jake Muzzin hit the post.
“Kind of a playoff feel,” Campbell said. “Calgary’s a deep team. They have a lot of great structure and don’t give you too much. Their goalie played amazing and really kept them in it.”
HALL OF FAMERS HONORED
The Hockey Hall of Fame’s Class of 2020 was honored before the game after last year’s induction ceremony was postponed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Jarome Iginla, who served as Flames captain from 2003-13, Marian Hossa, Kevin Lowe, Doug Wilson and Kim St-Pierre are set to go into the hall in the player category Monday, while Ken Holland will enter as a builder.
UP NEXT
Flames: At Ottawa on Sunday.
Maple Leafs: Host Buffalo on Saturday night.
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