Maple Leafs extend winning streak to three

TORONTO-- Tyler Bozak scored twice, and James van Riemsdyk had three assists for the Toronto Maple Leafs in a 6-3 win against the Vancouver Canucks at Air Canada Centre on Saturday.
Toronto (5-4-3) has won three in a row. Vancouver (4-7-1) has lost eight straight.
"We're going to have to use any energy we can," Canucks goaltender Ryan Miller said. "We're having a rough go and we can use any energy to try and get out of it."

WATCH: All Canucks vs. Maple Leafs highlights
Bozak gave the Maple Leafs a 2-0 lead at 16:18 of the first period, when he got a bouncing puck off a missed attempt from van Riemsdyk in close.
The Canucks made it 2-1 at 16:44. Derek Dorsett got a rebound in the slot after a shot by Jannik Hansen and beat goalie Frederik Andersen on his right side.

The goal was the first for Vancouver on its six-game road trip, snapping a drought of 159:27.
Bozak scored his second at 15:00 of the second period, when Mitchell Marner elected to pass the puck in close. Bozak, caught off guard, fell but got an off-speed shot past Miller to make it 3-1.
"I thought we played pretty well. [Andersen] made some big saves for us again," Bozak said. "[Nazem Kadri] got a big goal for us early that kind of boosted us and we made some good plays. The puck was able to find the back of the net. Overall I thought we had a pretty good effort tonight."
The Canucks made it 3-2 at 16:20 of the second. Henrik Sedin got a loose puck in front of Andersen and deked before putting a shot under the crossbar.

The Maple Leafs made it 4-2 at 4:18 of the third period. Bozak skated with the puck along the left boards in the Vancouver zone and passed to Marner, who raced to the net and beat Miller on his left side.
"I thought Toronto played well. I thought they had lots of speed and they came at us early," Canucks coach Willie Desjardins said. "I thought Miller played good early; I thought our [defense] had trouble handling them tonight."
Bozak, Nikita Soshnikov and Jake Gardiner had the other goals for Toronto. Daniel Sedin scored for Vancouver in the third period.
"We came out and scored instead of falling behind," Andersen said. "I think we defended, and playing offense is a good defense sometimes. We came and took it to them and got some extra goals."
The teams combined for 171 penalty minutes, 157 in the third period. Andersen and Miller each received a game misconduct; goalies Jhonas Enroth for Toronto and Jacob Markstrom for Vancouver finished the final 5:08.

Goal of the game

Soshnikov made it 5-2 when Ben Smith stripped Canucks defenseman Ben Hutton of the puck behind the Vancouver net. Smith skated in front and left it for Soshnikov, who deked across Miller and slid it through at 6:13. "[Soshnikov] is going. He gets limited opportunities with [Matt Martin] and [Smith] and [is] doing a good job," Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said. "He's played really well for us, it's great to see him get rewarded."

Saves of the game

With Toronto up 3-2 in the second period, Maple Leafs defenseman Connor Carrick took a shot from the point and Miller made the initial save. A rebound was left for Auston Matthews, but Miller put out his glove to deny him at 16:46.

Highlight of the game

The goal that gave Toronto a 4-2 lead was made possible by Bozak noticing Marner speeding to the net past Gudbranson. Marner was able to get the quick release and beat Miller.

Unsung moment of the game

Toronto forward Zach Hyman had a partial breakaway in the second period. Erik Gudbransson stayed with Hyman and managed to take away the puck and eliminate the threat at 16:36.

They said it

"I thought today it was good because [Andersen] looked after us the last two nights and then we picked [him] up tonight. It was a nice night to be a goalie. Just getting some confidence and playing, I think that takes us … what's our record at home? 4-1? So, we've only won one game on the road and we had lots of opportunity to win and should have won. Now we get on a bit of a road run. But, obviously we're starting to make home more comfortable, which is positive." -- Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock

Need to know

Soshnikov has two goals in three games this season. … Andersen is 4-1-0 in the past five games with a .944 save percentage. … Kadri tied Matthews for the Maple Leafs lead with six goals. … Canucks forward Loui Eriksson has not scored in 12 games this season, the longest drought to start a season in his 11-year career.

What's next

Canucks: At the New York Islanders on Monday (7 p.m. ET; NHLN, MSG+, SNP, NHL.TV)
Maple Leafs: Host the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday (7:30 p.m. ET; TVA Sports, TSN4, FS-W, NHL.TV)