Maple Leafs overwhelm Flames
CALGARY, Alberta -- Four Toronto players found the back of the net, leading the Maple Leafs to a 4-1 win over the Calgary Flames on Tuesday at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
Roman Polak, Nikita Zaitsev, Nazem Kadri and Leo Komarov scored for the Maple Leafs (16-9-1), who improved their road record to 8-4-1.
Toronto goalie Frederik Andersen made 19 saves to improve his record to 14-7-1.
Michael Stone scored the lone goal of the game for the Flames (13-10-1), who will have a chance to avenge the loss when the same two teams meet in Toronto on Dec. 6.
Netminder Mike Smith did his best to keep the Flames in the game by stopping 26 of 29 shots he faced.
The Leafs carried the majority of the play in the first period but were continually stymied by Smith, who made a great pad save to deny a great scoring chance by Mitch Marner with 5:20 left.
Marner finished with four shots in the opening period, including two on a power play after the Flames were penalized for too many men on the ice.
Polak opened the scoring at 18:36 of the first with a fluky goal. Although his shot from the point was going wide, it hit Flames defenseman Travis Hamonic in the leg and deflected past a stunned Smith.
The Flames had a great chance to tie things up 6:40 into the second period, but Andersen kicked out his left pad to make a great toe save to deny Matthew Tkachuk's tip-in of a pass by linemate Michael Frolik.
Zaitsev put the Leafs up 2-0 at 12:36 of the second when he took a pass from Zach Hyman before snapping a shot past Smith that deflected off the stick of Flames forward Mikael Backlund.
The Leafs extended their lead to 3-0 at 1:54 of the third when Kadri wired a shot from the slot past Smith for his 11th point in his past 11 games.
Stone then spoiled Andersen's shutout bid when he blasted a point shot past the Toronto goalie, who was screened by Flames center Mark Jankowski on the play.
Komarov rounded out the scoring with an empty-net goal with 0.9 seconds left.
NOTES: Flames RW Kris Versteeg missed his second straight game with a lower-body injury, while RW Jaromir Jagr was a late scratch with a similar ailment. ... D Matt Bartkowski was Calgary's other scratch, meaning that D Brett Kulak drew back into the lineup. ... Toronto scratched D Connor Carrick, RW Nikita Soshnikov and LW Josh Leivo. ... The Maple Leafs continue their three-game road trip on Thursday when they play the Oilers in Edmonton before traveling to Vancouver to take on the Canucks two nights later. ... The Flames will play the second of four straight home games on Thursday when they host the Arizona Coyotes.