2/7/15

The Streak is Over!

The Toronto Maple Leafs took on the Edmonton Oilers at the Air Canada Centre tonight in hopes of ending their 11-game losing streak. James Reimer got the start for the Leafs and Viktor Fasth got the start for the Oilers. At 18:16 of the first period, Oilers' forward Rob Klinkhammer and Maple Leafs' forward David Booth squared off. Both players received five-minute penalties for fighting and Klinkhammer was assessed a two-minute roughing penalty as well. This put the Leafs on the power play. At 19:54, Oilers' defenseman Jeff Petry was called for a two-minute cross-checking penalty to give the Maple Leafs a 5-on-3 power play. The Maple Leafs were unable to score in the remaining six seconds and the game was scoreless after one period of play. At the start of the second period, the Maple Leafs were unable to cash in on the power play. At 7:56, Oilers' forward Matt Fraser was called for a two-minute holding penalty to give the Maple Leafs their third power play opportunity of the game. The Maple Leafs took advantage, as Richard Panik scored at 8:56 to give the Maple Leafs a 1-0 lead. Phil Kessel expanded the Maple Leafs' lead to 2-0 when he scored his 21st goal of the season at 10:34. Morgan Rielly scored his fifth goal of the season at 13:26 to increase the Maple Leafs' lead to 3-0. At 16:05, Maple Leafs' forward Phil Kessel was called for a two-minute slashing penalty. The Oilers were unable to score on the power play. After two periods of play, the Maple Leafs led 3-0. The Maple Leafs' lead was boosted to 4-0 when Mike Santorelli scored just 39 seconds into the third period. Peter Holland expanded the Maple Leafs' lead to 5-0 with his ninth goal of the season at 9:58. The Oilers got another power play opportunity when Maple Leafs' forward Leo Komarov was assessed a two-minute slashing penalty at 17:14. The Oilers were unable to score on their second power play opportunity of the game. With three seconds left, Luke Gazdic scored his first goal of the season to prevent the shutout. The Maple Leafs ultimately won the game 5-1.