Nylander plays OT hero again. Leafs beat Wild 2-1: Game highlights

There wasn’t a ton of action during Friday’s game versus the Wild. It was tight checking battle with solid goaltending on both ends. The Leafs squeaked out a 2-1 win in overtime. This is the type of win that proves they can get it done in the playoffs. Below are the highlights from the game.
Disaster almost struck early as Ilya Samsonov was fooled by a Ryan Hartman dump in. Just as Samsonov left the net to play the puck Hartman threw it on net instead…

Hartman almost got Samsonov there pic.twitter.com/MWbSv2qMRM
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) February 25, 2023

The weird bounces continued when Brandon Duhaime opened the scoring from behind the net. The Wild won the battle deep in the Leafs’ zone and Duhaime’s pass banked in off Calle Jarnkrok…

the puck goes off Jarnkrok’s skate and in
Brandon Duhaime gets credit pic.twitter.com/z7d52gqQrQ
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) February 25, 2023

David Kampf tied it up a few minutes later. William Nylander did his best Gretzky impression setting up in the Great One’s office and feeding Kampf in front. 1-1…

That feed from Willy Nylander to David Kämpf 👌 pic.twitter.com/wiODxNW3K1
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) February 25, 2023

Ryan O’Reilly had a chance to put the Leafs on top in the second but Filip Gustavsson made the save look easy…

O’Reilly goes for the slapper pic.twitter.com/Mgd3uFzarF
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) February 25, 2023

Gustavsson had the Leafs frustrated all night. He stopped O’Reilly again later in the frame…

another chance for O’Reilly
his reaction was picked up on the mic pic.twitter.com/1GI4CI3nJB
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) February 25, 2023

John Tavares had a pair of chances partway through the third. Again, it was Gustavsson who came out on top….

pair of chances for Tavares pic.twitter.com/y4qxcWHxxo
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) February 25, 2023

Late in the game the Wild had a great look for the go ahead goal but Timothy Liljegren broke up the Mats Zuccar …

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Author: Scott Ony / The Leafs Nation

Notes from Team Canada vs. Czechia at the World Juniors

Covering the World Juniors is strange. No ads on the boards. No ads during stoppage of play. The Zambonis are plain white. There’s not a Tim Hortons, Canadian Tire, or Telus ad in sight, and while this is generally a positive thing, how we got there is certainly not, and that reasoning has been looming all day as I experienced my first couple of games of World Juniors coverage.
Watching Canada play is definitely a bit different too. In contrast to the game between the United States and Austria, there was certainly a notable crowd for the game between Canada and Czechia, but in the lower bowl the number of empty seats still outnumbered the filled. Those who chose to show up are certainly showing up for Canada though. There’s no hesitation to cheer for the Canadian players, no matter what the Hockey Canada jersey might represent at the moment.
As for the game itself, both teams certainly delivered on providing a product worth tuning into. The early first period push by Czechia, and their ability to pull ahead with a shorthanded goal while killing off a five minute major was not expected. That should have been the end of Czechs then and …

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Author: Jon Steitzer / The Leafs Nation