Will Ferrell did not regret his decision.
Cap pulled low, the funniest man in Hollywood slipped low-key into Staples Center Thursday night and caught one of the most ridiculous overtimes of the season.
To top it off, he saw his Los Angeles Kings and its seemingly well-groined goaltender mount a late comeback and swipe a critical 3-2 shootout victory from the Toronto Maple Leafs.
“Our biggest asset is our speed,” new Leaf Brian Boyle told reporters.
Indeed. Speed led Zach Hyman to draw penalties, Mitchell Marner to negate icings, and Auston Matthews to do spinning, twisting Auston Matthews things.
But it was something speed can’t teach—the poise to close out tight, meaningful games—that, ultimately, gave the edge to the bejeweled home team.
Here are eight takeaways from the Maple Leafs’ fourth consecutive loss.
We’d hate the loser point except…
…it gives us beautiful, excruciating 3-on-3 overtimes like this one.
Tyler Bozak missed banging home a rebound into a gaping net. Drew Doughty made a sprawling skate save to disassemble a Marner–Jake Gardiner 2-on-1. Jeff Carter could’ve ended it. Ditto Auston Matthews. The fourth period was awesome, and it was over too soon.
“I think everyone would have liked to see that one keep going instead of the shootout,” said Bozak, speaking for Mr. Ferrell and the rest of us. “Too bad it had to end that way.”
Toronto had six quality scoring chances in the OT; the Kings had three.
Toronto lost its bonus point in the shootout because of course. Dropping to 1-8 in the skills contest, the Leafs failed to beat Jonathan Quick, who did the splits while reaching around his back to glove William Nylander’s final attempt.
Disgusting.
L.A. captain Anze Kopitar was the lone SO scorer, securing a critical point for a team on the wild card bubble.
Quick strike strikes Quick
Marner registered his first point since Valentine’s Day when he relayed a James van Riemsdyk pass to linemate Bozak crashing the Kings’ net front. Bozak, the beneficiary of the tic-tac-toe, beat Quick in tight, giving Toronto the lead just two minutes and four seconds after puck drop.
The goal gives Bozak his fourth 40-point season. He’s never reached 50, but he’s never had Marner—the water bug stripping pucks and outracing icings all night—on his right.
The Leafs have now drawn first blood in six consecutive games.
Toronto squanders another third-period lead
Trailing 2-0 to start the third period, the Kings scored on their first two attempts of the frame. A lucky deflection on a controlled power-play, a gaffe by a Toronto defenceman. Ninety seconds of weakness and a tie game, 2-2.
“To be able to come back in the third,” Jarome Iginla said on-air, “it got the building going.
“You could tell, both sides, the points were so important.”
Jarome Iginla: No. 88 in your program, No. 1 in Sutter’s heart
The first time seeing Jarome Iginla out of a Calgary Flames sweater was disconcerting. But as the future Hall of Famer (he better be, chairman Lanny McDonald) continued to change clothes and go to Boston and Colorado, we got used to the different colours.
But he always wore number 12. Not in L.A.
Since that numeral is already the property of Marian Gaborik, Iginla opted for 88—a digit previously untouched in Kings history.
Looks weird on him, but it’s comforting to know the reason.
Despite being a huge Oilers fan growing up in Edmonton, a 10-year-old Iginla bought a Kings sweater in 1988 when Wayne Gretzky was traded south and slapped an 88 with IGINLA stitched on the back.
Coach Darryl Sutter started the 39-year-old on a line with Gaborik and Kopitar. Coincidentally, that trio skated together way back in the 2008 All-Star Game in Atlanta.
As maligned as Iginla has been for his decreased production, he actually has more goals this season (eight) than both Kopitar (seven) and Gaborik (seven).
No. 88 finished his Kings debut with three hits, two giveaways, no shots, and 15:46 in ice time. He sat out the lightning-quick OT.
“He was fine,” Sutter said. “It’s not easy the last few days for him. He flew from [Ottawa], and he’s going to fit in and play a role for us.
“It’s a big adjustment. He’s coming from a team that hadn’t had much success and the whole belief system. He’ll be fine. Just play. Relax and play.”
Jarome Iginla: 88 + 12 =
— David Alter (@dalter) March 3, 2017
Mixed pairs
With the Morgan Rielly–Nikita Zaitsev duo struggling of late, Babcock flipped his top four, placing Rielly with Alexey Marchenko and Zaitsev with Gardiner.
The tinkering worked reasonably well through two periods.
Zaitsev scored his third goal of the season, and fortunately avoided injury when a Kopitar power-play one-timer smashed off the side of his helmet and into the Leafs net.
“It really doesn’t change much as far as how you play the game,” Rielly told reporters. “We’re all pretty familiar with each other and we know how to play with one another.”
One other lineup note: Nikita Soshnikov, who will be able to play for the AHL Marlies this spring if necessary, drew in on the fourth line and Josh Leivo returned to healthy-scratch status after nine consecutive games played (and nine points in that span).
Boyle in the dot
Though the newest Maple Leaf, Eric Fehr, participated in the morning skate after being picked up from the Pittsburgh Penguins in a deadline-day deal, the veteran was a healthy scratch.
So Toronto fans’ curiosity remained focused on the club’s second-newest depth centre, Brian Boyle. In his second game since being shipped out of Tampa Bay (and first sans jet lag), the big man looked strong.
A second-period face-off won by Boyle led directly to a Zaitsev point shot. The Russian’s wrister hit a body, snuck through Quick and put the Leafs up 2-0. The type of play Babcock dreamed about when Lou Lamoriello sought out Boyle and made him shave.
“Later in the year, face-offs become more important. There’s a lot of cheating that goes into it,” Boyle said. “It’s a very nuanced thing. You have to figure out what works for you.
“Some nights you’re hot, some nights you’re not.”
Not only did Boyle earn his first point as a Leaf, he won 56 per cent of his draws.
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Kings failed to address their biggest need
L.A. added 1B goaltender Ben Bishop and veteran Iginla at the trade deadline but missed out on the wings who are scoring this season: Thomas Vanek, Radim Vrbata, or even P.A. Parenteau, who went to Nashville for a sixth-round pick.
The Kings operate the NHL’s sixth-worst offence, and once again had to rely on That 70s Line—Jeff Carter, Tanner Pearson, Tyler Toffoli—for its only even-strength goal.
Scoreboard watching
With Atlantic rivals Boston and Florida both losing their games Thursday, Toronto had a nice opportunity to gain ground in the sport’s tightest division. Still, outshot 35-30, the Leafs will take the one point against the league’s best possession team.
Toronto will be in tough again Friday in Anaheim as they round out a difficult California roadie with a back-to-back against Randy Carlyle’s Ducks.
Backup goalie Curtis McElhinney will get the nod for the Leafs.
“It’s disappointing. The objective is to win,” Boyle said. “We have to get the points, and we didn’t.”
