Nylander buries third overtime winner this season, Samsonov wins goalie duel, Leafs down Wild 2-1
William Nylander hit the 70-point mark for the second consecutive year with a goal and an assist in the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-1 overtime victory over the Minnesota Wild.
Ilya Samsonov and Filip Gustavsson duelled all night in their respective nights with Samsonov stopping 24 of 25 and Gustavsson 22 of 24.
Both the goals in regulation were in the first period just four minutes apart.
Brandon Duhaime scored his third in four games and second in a row to open the scoring. Duhaime scored from behind the net off a bank shot from Calle Jarnkrok’s skate that fooled everyone on the ice and was called a no goal at first.
David Kampf, who hadn’t scored in 28 games, buried his second in four games to tie it up. Much like the Duhaime goal, this one was generated behind the net with Nylander waiting out the Wild defense to find Kampf who came crashing from the blue line to push it in.
This was all the offense both teams mustered for the rest of regulation. During play, Mark Giordano tied the NHL record for blocked shots with 2,044. Blocked shots were first tracked in 2005-2006 and his former teammate Kris Russel held that mark.
The Leafs only needed a minute in overtime to get the job done. Nylander stripped the puck from Frederick Gaudreau with one hand on his stick before driving towards the net for a highlight reel goal and Nylander’s third OT winner of the year. Nylander tied the league lead for overtime winner with Carolina Hurricanes Martin Necas, Vancouver Canucks Elias Pettersson and Colorado Avalanche Mikko Rantanen.
Ilya Samsonov also grabbed his 20th win of the season as the Leafs won their second straight and third in a row at home.
Toronto head out on their western Canada road trip but stop first in Seattle for their second meeting against the Kraken Sunday. Seattle won the first meeting 5-1 early January.
TOR Scoring: Kampf (6), Nylander OT (33)
MIN Scoring: Duhaime (7)