Maple Leafs defeat Ducks in OT, complete California sweep
Rielly scores with 1:43 left for third straight win against Pacific teams
via NHL.com
Morgan Rielly scored with 1:43 left in overtime to give the Toronto Maple Leafs a 2-1 win against the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center on Friday.
Garret Sparks made 38 saves in his fourth start of the season for the Maple Leafs (14-6-0), who improved to 9-1-0 on the road this season, winning three straight against the Ducks, San Jose Sharks and Los Angeles Kings. It is the first time since 1995-96 that Toronto won road games against the three California teams.
“We had the opportunity to sweep the road trip, and we like winning hockey games as a group, so I think we poured out everything that we had left in the tank for the road here,” Sparks said. “It’s nice to see that effort was enough for the win.”
John Gibson made 33 saves for the Ducks (8-9-4), who have lost two in a row and are 2-3-0 in their past five games.
Maple Leafs defensemen Jake Gardiner (8:01) and Nikita Zaitsev (13:57) each saved a goal in the third period by blocking a shot with an open net behind them.
“We’ve been snakebit to provide offense, tonight was a demonstration of that,” Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle said. “It was probably the most frustrating time all year because of the open nets we missed.”
Golden Statement.
Take a look at the @OntarioLottery Game Winning Numbers from tonight's thrilling OT victory.#LeafsForever #That649Feeling pic.twitter.com/lbKVVQKk3n
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) November 17, 2018
The @MapleLeafs swept a three-game road trip in California for the second time in franchise history (also Dec. 14-17, 1995). #NHLStats #TORvsANA pic.twitter.com/EalNFAfyQf
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) November 17, 2018
Most wins through first 20 games in a season, @MapleLeafs franchise history:
15 – 1934-35 (15-4-1)
14 – 1933-34 (14-3-3)
14 – 1940-41 (14-5-1)
14 – 1941-42 (14-6-0)
14 – 2018-19 (14-6-0)#NHLStats #TORvsANA pic.twitter.com/nz7SRMmgO5— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) November 17, 2018