Leafs crack home slip with 3-1 victory over Golden Knights

Early Tuesday, the Toronto Maple Leafs swore they were ready to do something about their embarrassing 3-5-0 record at home.

"Good question," said Leafs winger Kasperi Kapanen, to the question of why they are so awful in front of the local crowd. "We've been wondering for a while.

"I think it's enough today, to be honest, I think guys are ready to play and excited, we'll see how it goes."

The Leafs managed to win 3-1 and the result was good. But it was only through the grace of Leafs goaltender Frederik Andersen, who distinguished himself by his performance against the Golden Knights of Vegas. They beat the Leafs by almost 2-1 at the end of the third period, but could not beat Andersen, who was the best player on the ice.

By the end of the second period, this "best game at home" was more than just a thread. The Leafs had a 2-1 lead but that was only because of Andersen's exploits. He faced 18 shots in the second period only and 31 in the first 40 minutes, holding the Golden Knights coldly.

At the end of the second period, the Leafs looked nothing like a punch-fought fighter who waved blindly around the ring until he was saved by the bell. At that point, their breakaways consisted of a series of passes back to center ice that were quickly sent back to the Leafs area by Vegas.

The expansion of the Golden Knights entered the game with a 6-7-1 record and a hangover from their first magical season that ended with a trip to the Stanley Cup final.

At the start of the third period, apart from two forced turnovers that produced their two goals, the Leafs were really not allowed to generate much offense. These two turnarounds occurred early in each of the first two periods, followed by a decline in the Golden Knights.

On the first, the Leafs' center, By Lindholm, kept the puck in the offensive zone with a sustained effort, but the goal went to the baton of Vegas defender Nick Holden. Not for long, though. Leafs forward Connor Brown quickly stole the puck, turned around and beat Vegas goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury in the lead at 5:30.

Nazem Kadri scored on an empty net to bring the score to 3-1.

It was the first time in six games that the Leafs scored the first goal of the home game. At this point, it seemed that the Leafs had gone and ran, but as the period went on, they began to sink.

Subsequently, John Tavares eliminated the center of Vegas, William Karlsson, from the puck of the blue line of the Knights. Tavares dropped Mitch Marner on the right and beat Fleury with a shot nine seconds later to give the Leafs a 2-0 lead.

The Leafs kept their lead, but it was not long before. The Golden Knights had the puck for pretty much the rest of the period.

Things started to go south when Reilly Smith returned Marner with a nice gesture and Marner was penalized for hanging. Andersen allowed the Leafs to play the Vegas Power Game, but the visitors' enjoyment was just beginning.

Vegas finally beat Andersen at 11:22 of the second period and took a bad defeat. Cody Eakin tipped Shea Theodore in front of goal to reduce Toronto's lead to 2-1.

However, even though the Golden Knights hit the post three times in the second half, they could get another puck behind Andersen and the Leafs clung to their 2-1 lead.

It was easily the worst time of the Leafs season and Babcock did not say his team had played well at home lately.

The Golden Knights lost center Erik Haula early in the third period to Patrick Marleau, the Leafs winger. He hit Haula hard against the board and the Vegas player stayed on the ice with a serious right knee injury. Haula was removed from the ice on a stretcher and beckoned to the fans in response to an ovation, but he could be sidelined for a long time.