Toronto Maple Leafs: Andreas Johnsson Hat-Trick Downs Flyers

There are nights where it’s great to be Toronto Maple Leafs fan, and Saturday night was definitely one of those times.

Andreas Johnsson bagged his first career hat trick and Garret Sparks recorded a 34 save shutout as the Toronto Maple Leafs dominated the Philadelphia Flyers 6-0 on Saturday night at Scotiabank Arena.

The shots may have been close (41-34) but on the ice the Maple Leafs used their speed to breeze by the Flyers defense on multiple occasions, leading to plenty of goals. The Maple Leafs snapped a two game skid and it was the first time in three games where they weren’t trailing 2-0 in the first period.

Yet in a game where the Leafs’ offense could do no wrong, it really did come down to the performances between the pipes for both squads, and unfortunately for the Flyers their five hole was wide open.

Not Exactly A Goalie Duel

In his fifth start of the season, Sparks earned his second career NHL shutout to improve to 4-1-0 on the season. The 25-year old now has a 2.57 GAA and a .924 SV%, which is great considering the small handful of games he’s actually started this year. Hopefully this performance will convince Mike Babcock to start him in a larger role instead of simply using him on back-to-backs.

As for the Flyers, they started Calvin Pickard In net, whom they claimed off of waivers from the Maple Leafs back in October. Suffice it to say, Pickard did not have a good night. He allowed 4 goals on 6 shots and was pulled just 12:20 into the first period. While it wasn’t entirely his fault, a couple of his goals came from his teammates being beaten to the puck or just standing around puck watching, it was not a good showing for the 26-year old, who was beaten through his five hole on all three of Johnsson’s goals.

The Power of Johnsson Compels You!

By a show of hands, who predicted Andreas Johnsson would record the first hat trick of his career? And of those people who thought all three goals would come in the first period? Put down your hands because you’re all liars.

Last night Johnsson looked like a man possessed. He steamrolled the Flyers defense every chance he got, and despite having the least amount of icetime for the Leafs (10:48 minutes) he made every second count. He now has five goals on the year and six points in total.

Riding the momentum of the hat trick, the Leafs looked absolutely incredible offensively. Mitch Marner continues to impress; he hit 30 points with his two assist game last night. Let’s check in once again with WWE superstar and excited Maple Leafs fan Luke Harper for his take on Marner’s performance…

Thanks Luke!

Other stand outs last night were Patrick Marleau scoring his fifth goal of the season, the 540th of his career as he prepares to play in his 1,600th game on Monday night. John Tavares notched his 15th of the season on a gorgeous play set up by Marner in the third period, he now has 27 points this season. He’s tied in scoring with Morgan Rielly, who recorded his 18th assist of the season on Tavares’ goal.

Also of note, Connor Brown, Josh Leivo and Igor Ozhiganov all recorded a point. That may not be the most important stat, but I thought it was nice, so I’m including it here. And James van Riemsdyk played his first game in Toronto since joining the Flyers, registering three shots and 18:11 minutes of icetime.

With the win the Toronto Maple Leafs improve to 16-8-0, good for third place in a stacked Atlantic Division where the Buffalo Sabres are currently in first place. I wonder how long that’s going to last?

Next up the Toronto Maple Leafs will be back at Scotiabank Arena on Monday night to take on the Boston Bruins in a critical divisional showdown. If the Leafs can harness the momentum from this win, it could be lead to a huge two points in the standings.