Toffoli scores twice and Sharks edge Maple Leafs 6-5 in a shootout after blowing late lead
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Tyler Toffoli scored two goals and had an assist and the San Jose Sharks defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-5 in a shootout after blowing a late lead Thursday night.
Collin Graf, Alexander Wennberg and William Eklund also scored for the Sharks, who led 5-3 with less than a minute left.
John Tavares cut Toronto's deficit to one with 59 seconds remaining and William Nylander tied it 45 seconds later with his second goal of the game.
Will Smith and Macklin Celebrini scored in the shootout and Alexandar Georgiev stopped Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner to seal the win after allowing Nylander to score on Toronto's first shootout shot. Georgiev made 30 saves in regulation.
Matthews and Scott Laughton had second-period goals for Toronto. Joseph Woll made 30 saves.
Takeaways
Maple Leafs: Toronto opened its three-game California road trip in inauspicious fashion for its seventh loss in 12 games (5-6-1).
Sharks: An impressive upset win gave San Jose something to build on.
Key moment
Graf became the first Sharks rookie to score a short-handed goal since Tomas Plihal did it against the Los Angeles Kings on Oct. 11, 2008.
Key stat
Wennberg’s goal was the 100th of his career.
Up next
Toronto plays at Los Angeles on Saturday and San Jose hosts the New York Rangers on Saturday night.
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
