The Toronto Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews (34) and forward Mitch Marner (16) scramble for the puck against the San Jose Sharks forward William Eklund (72) in the first period at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Tue Jan 9, 2024 (Canadian Press via AP photo)
By Mary Walsh
The San Jose Sharks lost 7-1 to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday. Morgan Reilly, Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, Pontus Holmberg, Jake McCabe and Nicholas Robertson scored for Toronto, with Marner scoring twice.
Martin Jones made 22 saves for the win. Sharks defenseman Henry Thrun scored for the Sharks, his first goal in the NHL. Kaapo Kahkonen made 16 saves on 20 shots before being relieved by Mackenzie Blackwood, who made 22 saves in the loss.
Morgan Reilly opened the scoring at 16:48 of the first period, a wrist shot from low in the slot. Tyler Bertuzzi was creating a good screen right in front of the Sharks goaltender. Assists went to William Nylander and TJ Brodie.
Auston Matthews made it 2-0 with a slap shot on the power play at 17:22. Low in the faceoff circle, Matthews sent the puck between Kahkonen and the post. Assists went to Mitch Marner and William Nylander.
Mitch Marner scored just 54 seconds into the second period to make it 3-0. From just above the goal line, and facing away from the goal, Marner pushed the puck behind him into the blue paint where it slipped by Kahkonen. Assists went to Jake McCabe and Timothy Liljegren.
Pontus Holmberg scored the fourth goal at 2:06. Skating into the zone, Holmberg held Kyle Burroughs off with his left hand while guiding the puck with one hand on the stick. Assists went to Bobby McMann and David Kampf.
The Sharks changed goaltenders after that goal, bringing in Mackenzie Blackwood.
Henry Thrun got one back for the Sharks at 7:21 of the second. Thrun tipped a shot from Mikael Granlund on the power play, scoring his first goal in the NHL. Assists went to Granlund and Anthony Duclair.
Jake McCabe made it 5-1 at 1:27 of the third period. Off a faceoff win, Marner’s pass found McCabe out in the open and a snap shot beat Blackwood. Assists went to Marner and Simon Benoit.
Marner scored his second of the game at 4:00 of the third period. The first of two goals they would score during a 4-minute major penalty against the Sharks, Marner pushed the puck over the line after Morgan Reilly’s shot was slowed down by Blackwood. Assists went to Reilly and William Nylander.
The second goal for that power play was scored by Nicholas Robertson at 5:54. His shot came from the faceoff dot through some traffic. Assists went to Matthew Knies and Jake McCabe.
The Sharks had Scott Sabourin in the lineup, his debut with the team. The forward had five hits in 11:12 of ice time and took one penalty, that four-minute penalty in the third period. He was called for a high-stick to the face of Simon Benoit.
The Sharks were out-shot badly, 45-23. this was most conspicuous in the first period when they had just five shots to the Leafs’ 16. In the face-off circle they struggled too, winning only 38.7% of the draws. Neither team did well with their penalty kills, as both teams were perfect on the power play.
The Sharks next play on Thursday at 4:00 PM PT in Montreal against the Canadiens.
