National Hockey League
Toronto 4, Vegas 3
When: 7:00 PM ET, Monday, November 6, 2017
Where: Air Canada Centre, Toronto, Ontario
Referees: Brian Pochmara, Kendrick Nicholson
Linesmen: Shandor Alphonso, Brad Kovachik
Attendance: 19398

TORONTO -- The Vegas Golden Knights continued to look like anything but an expansion team Monday night, even though they lost 4-3 in a shootout to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Golden Knights fell behind 3-1 after the first period but came back to tie the score on a third-period goal by Deryk Engelland to force overtime.

"We found a way to get a big point, and we had a chance to win that game," Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant said. "A lot of good things happened in the second and third periods."

Mitch Marner scored the only goal of a shootout after both teams had chances to win the game in a stirring overtime. Marner also had an assist on Toronto's first goal.

"(Vegas) is a good team, but that shows you about the NHL now," Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said. "They've got a whole bunch of free agents, they could trade them all and they could sign them all and again the next year. It's quite a setup, to say the least.

"They're a real good team, and I mean, Gerard (Gallant) does a good job. He did a good job with Florida, and they're organized and they're having fun and playing with house money and enjoying it."

The Maple Leafs were playing at home for the first time since completing a 1-3-0 road trip. The Golden Knights dropped to 1-3-1 with one game left on a six-game trip.

Toronto led 3-1 after the first period and 3-2 after two periods.

Nazem Kadri scored two goals and James van Riemsdyk scored the other for the Maple Leafs (9-7-0). Frederik Andersen made 25 saves in the Toronto goal.

James Neal and Reilly Smith also scored for the Golden Knights (9-4-1). Maxime Lagace stopped 22 shots for Vegas.

"That road trip, I think, every game we didn't start on time," Marner said. "In the second period, we took it back and played the game we wanted to, and then the third it kind of got lost again. That was the main focus tonight was start how we always start, come in fast and play hard. I think we did that again tonight."

The Maple Leafs opened the scoring with a power-play goal by Kadri, who knocked in the rebound from a point shot by Morgan Rielly at 4:14 of the first period.

The Golden Knights tied the score 38 seconds later when Neal deflected a shot by Erik Haula for his eighth goal of the season.

The Maple Leafs regained the lead at 9:31 of the first on the sixth goal of the season by van Riemsdyk with a strong rush by Auston Matthews setting up the play.

Kadri scored his eighth of the season at 15:03 of the first period on a pass from Patrick Marleau.

"We wanted to get off to a good start, which we did," Kadri said.

The Maple Leafs withstood the Golden Knights' five-on-three power play for 1:12 with about seven minutes left in the second period.

Smith scored his fifth goal of the season at 18:50 of the second on a power play, slamming in a rebound after a shot by Colin Miller.

The Golden Knights caught the Maple Leafs on a line change when Engelland snapped his second goal of the season from the top of the right circle over Andersen's shoulder on the stick side to tie the score 3-3 at 6:16 of the third.

"I thought, for the most part, we played a good, solid game," Engelland said. "In the first period, we were back on our heels a little bit, but we battled back."

Andersen made a big save on Haula's close-in attempt with 1:03 to play in regulation.

"It's a big win," Babcock said. "People don't know how hard when you come from the West -- I coached in Detroit for 10 years, we played in the West, and this first game at home was always the toughest.

"You can get off to a good start, but you always ran out of gas. So I was happy we were able to get off to a good start.

"We turned the puck over too much in the second, but I thought we dug in and we got some saves out of Freddie (Andersen) in overtime and, obviously, the shootout.

"Anytime you've been in a bad spell, it's usually ugly when you come out of it, but it's a win, and now we can breathe and get playing."

NOTES: Maple Leafs C Auston Matthews was in the starting lineup after he left the morning skate early and was listed as a game-time decision by coach Mike Babcock because of "a little soreness." ... Vegas LW Brendan Leipsic returned to the lineup after not playing in the five previous games. He was plucked from the Maple Leafs in the June 21 expansion draft. ... The Golden Knights conclude their six-game road trip Tuesday against the Montreal Canadiens. ... The Maple Leafs will host the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday.
Top Game Performances
 
Vegas   Toronto
Deryk Engelland 1 Points Nazem Kadri 2
Deryk Engelland 1 Goals Nazem Kadri 2
Erik Haula 1 Assists Patrick Marleau 1
Reilly Smith 1 Power Play Goals Nazem Kadri 1
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Maxime Lagace .880 Save Percentage Frederik Andersen .893
Maxime Lagace 22 Saves Frederik Andersen 25
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Vegas 28 3 1-3 3-4 8 30
Toronto 25 4 1-4 2-3 6 29
Upcoming Games
  • Toronto will play their next game at home against Minnesota. The Maple Leafs have a W/L % of .500 after a win and .625 after a loss.
  • Vegas will play their next game on the road against Montreal. The Golden Knights have a W/L % of .667 after a win and .600 after a loss.