John Tavares

John Tavares scored two goals and added an assist, Joseph Woll made 22 saves and the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Nashville Predators 3-2 on Sunday ...

Tavares leads the Maple Leafs in power-play goals with 15. I’m always grateful when I get to hop in the net with the Leafs. Tavares scored the game’s first goal at 18:06 of the opening period. The Maple Leafs are seven points ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning for second place in the Atlantic Division with Toronto having one game in hand. You leave them within striking distance and that’s why they have a chance to get a push there in the third.” Tyson Barrie had a goal and an assist, Cody Glass also scored and Kevin Lankinen made 31 saves for Nashville, which lost back-to-back home games over the weekend.

John Tavares scored twice to end an eight-game scoring drought, Alexander Kerfoot found the scoresheet again, and the Maple Leafs held down the fort in ...

Lots to be decided still even if the positioning in the standings is all but a formality. As it stands, the Leafs now sit seven points up on the Lightning with a game in hand. That duo just completed a really solid weekend with a ridiculous 96% of the expected goals in over 16 minutes of five-on-five ice time tonight — conceding just .05 of an expected goal and generating 1.33 — after owning 84% of the xGF in Carolina. Home ice in the first round hasn’t been clinched, but it’s pretty difficult to envision a realistic scenario in which Tampa Bay overtakes them for second in the Atlantic. After William Nylander took a high stick to put the Leafs back on the power play, the top unit once again went to work with efficiency. Joe Woll made an incredible save with the right pad on a chance in front. Following a one-timer that went just wide, William Nylander was able to buy some time and cycle back to the point to reset the structure of the power play. After Auston Matthews drew a penalty, the Leafs generated a few more chances themselves. Both teams were stuck to the outside in the offensive zone, unable to generate any significant scoring chances. Toronto was able to open the scoring before the end of the period. [Leafs](https://mapleleafshotstove.com/) were taking a beating in the shot column early on. Mark Giordano carried the puck down low and put it out front multiple times, the second of which nearly resulted in a William Nylander goal.

With a little bit of everything — three points to his name, a bit of grit, some mental fortitude — John Tavares ensured his club did what they needed to do, ...

“I think overall we carried a lot of the play in the third period,” Tavares told Sportsnet’s Shawn McKenzie after the final buzzer had sounded. I thought our power play responded really well, and overall we just played with the puck a lot in their half of the ice, and behind their goal line. Tavares took a Morgan Rielly point shot off the body, let it fall to the ice, and then spun and swept it past Lankinen. After some early chances traded by both clubs to start the final frame, Tavares found himself stranded near the offensive blue line, Nashville’s Kiefer Sherwood with just enough space to chip the puck by the Leafs captain and prepare to fly up ice on an odd-man rush. Toronto kept the pressure on, doubling the Preds in shots through that middle frame, cruising to the second intermission with a steady 2-0. Still, it was the type of game playoff-bound teams seem to fumble often: a desperate opponent with nothing to lose, the back half of a back-to-back, the final test on a road trip that’s been decent enough already.