The Toronto Maple Leafs are enjoying considerable time at home these days and they intend to take advantage of it again Saturday night against the Seattle Kraken.
The Maple Leafs have won two of three to open their five-game homestand after their 2-1 overtime win over the New York Rangers on Thursday night.
They are opening their season by playing eight of their first 10 games and 12 of their first 16 at home.
“You always want to be a good team at home,” Toronto coach Craig Berube said. “You always want to make it a tough building to come into for other teams, for sure. So it is a good opportunity for us with the amount of home games we have in a row here.”
The Kraken are in a different situation. They opened their season with two wins at home before embarking on a six-game road trip. They opened the trip with a 5-4 overtime loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday and a 4-3 shootout loss to the Ottawa Senators on Thursday.
Toronto goaltender Anthony Stolarz was the difference in the win over the Rangers, making some spectacular saves among the 28 shots he handled.
He made one save late in the third period after his mask popped off.
“I kind of just saw the rebound go to the side, and as I was going (to get set), the helmet flew off,” Stolarz said. “Just trying to be a competitor and slide across. Obviously, not an ideal situation, but at that stage of the game you’re trying to do anything to keep the puck out of the net.”
“He was incredible,” Toronto captain Auston Matthews said. “Another example of just what a gamer he is. … He definitely made some huge saves for us in all situations.”
Matthews scored the winning goal 58 seconds into overtime, completing a 2-on-1 break with William Nylander.
It was the 14th career overtime goal for Matthews, who tied Mats Sundin for the franchise record.
Nylander also assisted on a first-period goal by Matthew Knies, Toronto’s first on a power play in 10 attempts this season.
The Rangers tied the game early in the third period as the Maple Leafs provided little entertainment for the home crowd.
“In the third period, they had the momentum, but we grinded it out,” Berube said. “Our goalie was good. We’ve got to be better than that, but it was a win.”
In both road losses, the Kraken were leading until late in the third period, only to allow a tying goal. They have earned at least one point in each of their first four games.
“We’re in games. We’re hard to play against. And that’s the way it’s going to be. I expect to probably see a lot more of that,” Kraken coach Lane Lambert said. “We controlled a large part of the game (against Ottawa). We outchanced them. Our power play was really good. It’s just, we couldn’t find one towards the end there. … And I thought we were stingy defensively for the most part. Play that same hockey game 10 times, we probably win eight or nine of them.”
Seattle placed forward Freddy Gaudreau on injured reserve Friday with an undisclosed injury. He took a hit in the second period on Thursday. Forward John Hayden was recalled from Coachella Valley of the American Hockey League.
