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Columbus Blue Jacket Adam Fantilli moves up the ice as Maple Leafs’ Simon Benoit defends during Thursday’s game in Toronto.Sammy Kogan/The Canadian Press
Given the lengthy injury list that the Toronto Maple Leafs find themselves battling through, getting Scott Laughton back in the lineup was a victory unto itself, even if his return to the ice couldn’t spark the team to a second straight win Thursday night.
While the Maple Leafs were forced into overtime for the second straight game, they were unable to capitalize during the three-on-three skills contest. Instead Adam Fantilli provided the signature moment, beating Joseph Woll with 39 seconds remaining to hand the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets a 3-2 victory.
After being forced to watch the last five games from the sidelines after a check from Boston Bruins defenceman Nikita Zadorov on Nov. 8 left him with a suspected concussion, Laughton was ready to go for just the third time this season. He had previously missed the first 13 games of the season after blocking a shot with his foot in the penultimate pre-season contest.
In a scoreless first period, he almost broke the deadlock, getting on the end of an alley-oop from linemate Steven Lorentz while the team was killing a penalty. But despite bearing down on the Columbus goal at speed, goaltender Jet Greaves flicked out a pad to deny Laughton a celebration on multiple fronts.
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But it would take more than an overtime loss to dampen the spirits of the Oakville, Ont., native, who dressed for just his 23rd game in blue and white since coming over from the Philadelphia Flyers in a trade-deadline move.
“I’ll tell you, I was pretty excited this morning to get back at it,” he said after the game. “It’s been a long time coming. And, yeah, it sucks we lost. But like I said before, we keep rolling. And I’ve been in this situation many times back in Philly, you string together a couple and you get some momentum.”
Despite the outcome, head coach Craig Berube was happy with his team’s process. Without captain Auston Matthews, who was back on the ice for the morning skate, and with an injured list that also includes Nicolas Roy, Matthew Knies, Chris Tanev, Brandon Carlo and goaltender Anthony Stolarz, Berube saw his team turn in a competitive effort, although it was shaded 30-29 in shots.
“We’re defending a lot better,” he said. “We’re doing a lot of good things. You know, we needed to finish better tonight, that’s really the story.”
Other than the return of Laughton, who Berube described as “really good,” one of the bright spots – as he has been so often of late – was the play of John Tavares. After the Leafs fell behind 2-0 by the midway point, the 35-year-old grabbed an assist on the opening goal by Dakota Mermis, before capitalizing in close on a third-period pass from Easton Cowan to send the game to overtime.
He also won 16 of his 23 faceoffs, and his goal – his ninth of the season – was his 27th point, pulling him into a tie with William Nylander for the team lead.
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Toronto centre John Tavares breaks in on Columbus goaltender Jet Greaves during the third period of their game on Thursday.Nick Turchiaro/Reuters
“He’s obviously been one of the best players in the world for a long time, and he’s a special player,” said Woll, who made 27 saves on 30 shots.
After playing 15 of their first 21 games at home, Toronto now goes on an extended road trip for the first time this season. It will hope to improve on its 1-5 road record so far, with the team set to kick off its six-game swing in Montreal this Saturday against the Canadiens.
And though the team is currently 15th out of 16 teams in the Eastern Conference, with 21 points from 21 games, Laughton, a 31-year-old veteran in his 13th NHL campaign, knows that at the season’s quarter mark, there’s still a lot of hockey to be played.
“The adversity, it’s going to make you better down the stretch, 60 or so games left, there’s a lot of runway,” he said. “But you get that urgency in your game, and you start playing the right way, good things are going to happen with the talent on this team.”
