Calle Jarnkrok scored the game-winning goal early in the third period and goaltender Joseph Woll made 25 saves to give the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs a 2-1 victory over the struggling Calgary Flames on Thursday.
Mitchell Marner also scored for the Maple Leafs, who have won four of five games.
Woll, making his third start of the season and seventh of his career, was especially key with a flurry of saves just past the midway point of what was a tie game.
Blake Coleman scored for the Flames, who are winless in their last four games and have only two victories in their last nine outings (2-4-3). Goalie Jacob Markstrom had one of his best games of the season with a 32-save outing, but it wasn’t enough to put his team in the win column.
Jarnkrok — who signed with Toronto as a free agent last summer after a disappointing late-season stint for the Flames — notched his 13th goal of the season at 2:20 of the third period. Morgan Rielly was denied on a breakaway, but Jarnkrok poked the loose puck into the goal just before the net was dislodged.
The Flames, who sit outside of a playoff spot because of their swoon, could not find the equalizer.
Coleman opened the scoring with his short-handed goal 2:32 into the clash. When Toronto couldn’t keep the puck in the offensive zone, Coleman zipped away for a breakaway and buried a forehand shot for his 14th goal of the season and second in as many games.
However, Marner’s highlight-reel goal tied the game at 7:36 of the second period. Taking advantage of Calgary’s fourth line, he wheeled around in the offensive zone before firing a wrist shot from the slot for his 22nd of the season.
The Flames thought they took a 2-1 lead when Nazem Kadri lit the lamp during a power play moments after Marner’s goal, but the Maple Leafs successfully challenged that the Flames were offside on the play.
Toronto’s two newest acquisitions, defensemen Erik Gustafsson and Luke Schenn, played their first game since being acquired via trade.
–Field Level Media