The Maple Leafs’ hopes of entering the 4 Nations Face-Off with a four game road win streak ended in the town that has become their dead end.
With a strong third period push, the Vancouver Canucks delivered an eighth straight home win over their Eastern Canadian rivals, a stretch going back to 2019. The 2-1 final also represented 12 Canucks victories in the past 13 against Toronto at Rogers Arena.
Brock Boeser broke the tie midway through the final frame with Oliver Ekman-Larsson in the box as Vancouver won its third without injured captain Quinn Hughes. Auston Matthews had a chance to get that goal back as well as break his six-game goal drought, longest in six calendar years, only to be robbed by Kevin Lankinen with the man advantage. Lankinen also foiled John Tavares after that with the Toronto net empty.
Now that they’ll be Team USA mates this week, Matthews hopes Hughes will get past his lower body injury and see some tournament action. Also heading to the 4 Nations for Toronto are Mitch Marner for Canada and Sweden’s William Nylander, who had an early third-period breakaway slip off his stick before he could make his desired move.
The Leafs’ second low-event game against Vancouver this season after a 3-0 Lankinen shutout almost went five full periods without a goal. But who better than hometowner Morgan Rielly to get it after his struggles this season and at Rogers Arena through the years. It was the defenceman’s first goal in B.C. since 2019.
Late in Toronto’s first power play of the game, the puck came Rielly’s way after Ekman-Larsson corralled Matthews’ errant shot and fed him at the point, his first in 14 games. Rielly has been candid with reporters on the trip that a frank conversation with coach Craig Berube has helped him get hungry on offence after it seemed he’d over-embraced the new team philosophy to keep offensive risks to a minimum.
Until that goal, the Leafs’ scoring success the past 10 days had been stopped cold by the Canucks. They could’ve been down more than 1-0 had Joseph Woll not been so sharp as part of 23 saves. He’d taken a break Thursday, allowing Anthony Stolarz a comeback win against the Kraken.
After the Leafs couldn’t get through a determined forecheck by the Canucks, Matthews among those unable to clear, Elias Pettersson found Filip Hronek alone in front.
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At the other end, Thatcher Demko lasted only a few minutes before what appeared to be lower body discomfort from the pre-game warm-up flared. After discussion with head coach Rick Tocchet, Demko exited for Lankinen.
Toronto fell three points behind the Florida Panthers for first place in the Atlantic Division, but maintains two games in hand. The bulk of the Leafs not involved in the 4 Nations were to scatter to various vacation spots the next 10 to 11 days and regroup for the final push to playoffs with a home game against Carolina Feb. 22.
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