Pacioretty has 3 points, Maple Leafs edge Ducks

Max Pacioretty had two goals and an assist for the Toronto Maple Leafs in a 3-2 win against the Anaheim Ducks at Scotiabank Arena on Thursday.

“Overall, the whole group really played well offensively,” Pacioretty said. “We definitely had a lot of zone time, a lot of chances to score, a lot of chances off the rush too so things seem to be coming together a little bit. Obviously, there’s always areas to improve but we especially liked the third period there playing with the lead.”

William Nylander scored, and John Tavares had two assists for the Maple Leafs (18-9-2), who are 5-2-0 in their past seven.

Anthony Stolarz made seven saves on eight shots in the first period but was replaced by Joseph Woll to start the second because of a lower-body injury. Woll made 19 saves. Toronto coach Craig Berube had no update after the game and said the team would have a better idea on Friday as to the extent of the injury.

“You’re a little cold from sitting there but it was nice to come in at the start of the period at least and not have to go in during the middle of the game,” Woll said. “I thought it was a really good game by our team. We really limited a lot of their chances and in the third period, played in their zone almost the whole period.”

Jackson LaCombe had a goal and an assist, and Lukas Dostal made 30 saves for the Ducks (10-14-4), who have lost five in a row (0-4-1) including 5-1 to the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday.

“We skated more tonight,” Anaheim coach Greg Cronin said. “Ottawa was skating 100 miles an hour and we were skating about 60 and I thought tonight we had a lot of pace and urgency. You worry about getting in late at night and some energy starts to drop. At the start of the third period we lost a little bit of our energy but we brought it back there midway through the third. It was unfortunate we couldn’t get a point.”

The Maple Leafs went up 1-0 at 6:57 of the first period when Pacioretty lunged at the top of the goal crease to poke a no-look, between-the-legs pass from Tavares past Dostal’s left pad. The goal ended a seven-game point drought for Pacioretty and was his first goal since Oct. 21, a span of 11 games.

“Chemistry with Johnny knowing that he’s going to throw it behind him, and I think when you play with top notch players like that, chemistry just seems to keep growing and growing and I think that was an example of that,” Pacioretty said.

“I’ve got to make sure I balance everything in terms of being hard to play against and playing straight lines. I can’t get away from that no matter what the outcome is, so I started to feel that fade a little bit but in the third I got back to that. That’s definitely where I am helping out our line and our team the most but there are areas where I can maybe get lost (in coverage) a little bit and get a shot off.”

Nylander made it 2-0 at 14:17 when he swatted a loose puck out of the air over Dostal’s glove.

Frank Vatrano cut it to 2-1 at 15:56 on the power play when he shot past Stolarz’s right pad from just below the top of the right face-off circle.

Pacioretty made it 3-1 at 12:54 of the second period when he deflected a point shot from Conor Timmins in the slot.

“I’m not trying to score on that, the play was just to get the puck to the net,” Timmins said. “That was our plan all night to just be really direct with it especially after last game and he did a great job getting body position and getting a stick on it.”

LaCombe scored 1:05 later at 13:59, cutting it to 3-2 when he shot through traffic from the high slot.

Woll kept it 3-2 at 11:45 of the third period when he sprawled to make a save on Alex Killorn, who got in alone at the top of the goal crease.

That was Anaheim’s only quality scoring chance in the third period, when the Ducks were outshot 10-5.

“Pretty good game, really good third I thought with the lead,” Berube said. “We only gave up one chance in the third, but we had lots of opportunities to score and didn’t put it in the net enough. But I thought our game was pretty good.”

Toronto has won two in a row after a 2-1 overtime win against the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday in which they were outshot 39-17.

“It was better than the game before, but I still think we can get better,” Nylander said.

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