Toronto Maple Leafs: 3 Stand-Out Performers In Carolina Win

The Toronto Maple Leafs proved themselves remarkably resilient and effective despite the challenges they faced in Carolina.

Starting the game with the third-choice goalie against a strong and well-rested contender, the Toronto Maple Leafs firmly had the odds stacked against them.

If indeed you believed the early naysayers (myself included), this was exactly the sort of game that’d see the Hurricanes take advantage and rack up three or four goals to embarass the Leafs.

Instead, despite holding a lead and dominating the first period, the Canes weren’t able to capitalise and the Maple Leafs not only held on but found their groove on the back of some really impressive individual displays.

Toronto Maple Leafs Stand-Out Performers In 3-1 Win

While it really was a team display from the Toronto Maple Leafs, with everyone playing their role, there’s a few players that stood out:

Erik Kallgren

The first stand-out performer for the Toronto Maple Leafs is the unlikely hero; Erik Kallgren, especially heroic given the goal he did concede was a weak one.

There was every chance that the one goal might’ve caved his confidence and opened the floodgates. The Canes certainly had some decent looks but Kallgren stood firm, assisted by a team defense that went out of its’ way to protect him.

Even the Canes goal itself came partly resulting from Timothy Liljegren taking a nasty shot block and not being able to get back into position easily.

Kallgren did all that was asked of him in ensuring the Toronto Maple Leafs stayed in the game; they couldn’t have hoped for anything more.

Denis Malgin

Even Sheldon Keefe recognized this one in his post-game remarks:

The diminutive Swiss winger was a real pest in the Hurricanes end, hassling on the forecheck and ensuring that he helped his line create a threat every time they were on the ice.

The hard-work of that group paid off because it ultimately allowed the top guys to make a breakthrough – that doesn’t come about if the bottom-six aren’t pressuring initially.

His threat for the Toronto Maple Leafs can be measured with the very simple statistic that he put 5 shots on goal despite seeing just 13 minutes ice-time.

William Nylander

Nylander deserves a mention, if only for his hustle on the Toronto Maple Leafs insurance goal.

Given he was one-on-one with one of the league’s strongest defensive defensemen, he managed to out-work him and put the puck past Freddie Andersen with relative ease very late in what had been a defensive zone shift shift for the Swede.

He could just have easily have seen the puck up ice, turned and made his change. Instead, he turned on the after burners and hustled for the puck to great reward.

Nylander also seemed noticeable in his own defensive zone, not necessarily harassing players on the boards, but certainly making some good plays around the puck.

All in all, it was a true team performance and really should put to sleep the narrative that this year’s Toronto Maple Leafs aren’t cut out to get wins in the regular season.

While they may have started slowly, back-to-back nights winning against both the Boston Bruins and Carolina Hurricanes should highlight that this is a genuinely impressive group.