ANAHEIM, Calif. — About three weeks after Tomas
Kaberle expected it, the Toronto Maple Leafs finally got their first win of the
season.
Niklas Hagman scored three of Toronto's five power-play
goals, and the Maple Leafs finally slowed the worst start in franchise history
with a 6-3 victory over the last-place Anaheim Ducks on Monday night.
Kaberle scored a career-high five points and Lee
Stempniak added a career-best four as the Maple Leafs (1-7-1) recouped some
pride for the Original Six franchise, which stumbled to that miserable start
with all-around faulty play. After improved efforts in the past two games,
Toronto got it going with outstanding special-teams work – a particular source
of pride for Kaberle, the longtime Toronto defenseman.
"It is a big relief," Kaberle said. "It feels good to get
the win. We never thought we would go (winless) until late October. … Every
line played simple hockey. Most of the night, we played in their zone. We used
their penalties to our advantage, and that makes the game simple."
Jonas Gustavsson made 25 saves to earn his first NHL
victory in his first start in nearly three weeks as Toronto repeatedly
capitalized on Anaheim's 17 penalties and all-around sloppy play. The Maple
Leafs scored four goals while Anaheim had just three skaters on the ice,
including three two-man advantage goals.
"Hopefully we'll remember next game how good it feels,
and we'll get another lead," Hagman said. "We had quite a few opportunities on
the power play, and most of them were obvious penalties. It's fun to score, but
today, getting the win felt real good."
Kaberle had a goal and four assists, while Stempniak
contributed a goal and three assists. Matt Stajan added three assists.
Petteri Nokelainen, Bobby Ryan and Corey Perry scored for
the slumping Ducks, whose penalty-killers struggled even more than the Maple
Leafs' league-worst unit. Jonas Hiller stopped 33 shots, but couldn't keep up
with the Maple Leafs' lengthy advantages during Anaheim's fourth straight loss.
The Ducks have given up 21 goals during their skid – and
a team with a lengthy history of racking up penalty minutes couldn't overcome
its weaknesses.
"It was a special night coming back here, but it feels
even better getting the win," said defenseman Francois Beauchemin, who left
Anaheim in the offseason to sign with Toronto. "We were struggling to score
goals, and tonight we had plenty of opportunities to get it done. We knew that's
how they were going to play, because that's Anaheim, and we could capitalize on
it."
Mikhail Grabovski scored a two-man advantage goal for
Toronto in the first period, and Hagman converted another two-man advantage
midway through the second. Kaberle added a 4-on-3 goal with 13:49 to play during
yet another delayed penalty by the Ducks, and Hagman completed his hat trick
with 9:50 left on yet another 5-on-3 goal.
"It just seemed like everything we were trying to do
went against us," Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle said. "We turned the puck over in
the second period probably four or five times in neutral ice, and those are
things you cannot do in a 2-1 hockey game. In the third period, it just seemed
to fall apart for us in the first 10 minutes."
Toronto general manager Brian Burke watched from the
press box in his new team's first visit to the franchise he led to its lone
Stanley Cup title in 2007. Burke left the Ducks last November, saying he wanted
to work closer to his family, and swiftly took over the Maple Leafs.
Former teammates Ryan Getzlaf and Beauchemin exchanged
shoves and nearly fought in the first period after Getzlaf slashed the former
Anaheim defenseman. Perry ended up with a double minor for roughing after the
10-man scrum, leading to two goals for the Leafs.
The rough play continued in the second period when
Stempniak nearly left his skates to send Todd Marchant into the boards, hitting
the back of his head on the glass. Stempniak wasn't penalized, and Carlyle later
said he didn't think it was a dirty hit, but Anaheim captain Scott Niedermayer
got a roughing penalty in the ensuing shoving match, giving Toronto another
two-man advantage – and Hagman capitalized again.
"We didn't stick with what we've been talking about,
there's no doubt about it," Niedermayer said. "If we were focused on our game
and what we were trying to do to win the game, we wouldn't have taken all those
penalties."
Ryan added a power-play goal late in the second, ending
a six-game goal drought with just his second goal and fourth point of an
unimpressive season for the top-line wing.
Notes
Gustavsson hadn't played since Oct. 6 after
injuring his groin. Toronto activated him from injured reserve Sunday. …
Expatriate Canadians didn't come close to filling the Honda Center for just the
Leafs' third visit in more than 11 years. Toronto's last two visits to Anaheim
were in November 2003 and January 2008.