Hot Tavares scores two in third as Leafs rally to beat Kings

Article content

There is no stop John Tavares.

Article content

Article content

Article content

On Saturday night, even the Los Angeles King, who would almost never be lost at home, could not cover the Maple Leaf veteran.

Tavares scored in the fifth straight inning, defeating goalie Darcy Kuemper in the third stage Leaf power play, giving Toronto a 3-1 victory.

Tavares won with an empty net goal.

Tavares scored 13 of two goals in March, making it the most productive month of his national hockey league career.

The Leaf had 92 points and finished first in the Atlantic Division, with the Florida Panthers and the Tampa Bay Chargers leading by one point.

Leaf wins for the eighth time after two periods. In this case, this is tied to most of their wins with Las Vegas.

Article content

Article content

This is the fourth time in the 34 home games the Kings have lost in the regulations. Kuemper scored 14-0-1 in the first 15 games at the Crypto.com Arena.

Anthony Stolarz was outstanding in Leaf Net, winning 36 saves and winning his third inning for the third straight.

We apologize, but the video failed to load.

Play video

Leaf captain Auston Matthews tied with a 55-second mark in the third stage, while Toronto was hit by a low-speed shot from Kuemper.

The Kings had challenged the high stick in seconds before the goal scored, but after review, the goal stood up. This is Matthews’ second brief goal in his national hockey league career.

Matthews scored not long after Stolarz made a sharp save against Kings captain Anze Kopitar to keep his teammates.

Kings forward Alex Laferriere hit the only goal in the 40-minute 1:57 in the second stage.

Article content

Laferriere grabbed Simon Benoit’s flat foot in the Toronto blue line and blew through the Leaf’s back before turning to a backhand score.

We apologize, but the video failed to load.

Play video

The highlight of the first phase of the low event was the battle between Leaf defensive player Brandon Carlo and Kings forward Jeff Malott, who played in his third NHL game.

Nick Robertson is the weird guy after Pontus Holmberg was scratched two games.

“I have to make a decision, I want the guys to keep going,” Leaf coach Craig Berube told the media in Los Angeles before the game. “I thought Nick, in the last few games, there were a lot of penalties and some turnovers. I talked to him well, he was in good condition and he would be ready (he would play the Ducks in Anaheim if needed).”

Robertson won the minors in both of the first two games of the Leafs. The Sharks scored against Robertson in the box in San Jose on Thursday.

tkoshan@postmedia.com

X: @ @koshtorontosun

Article content