LOS ANGELES (AP) – John Tavares and Pierre Engvall each scored one goal and one assist, while Toronto scored four consecutive goals in the second period, and the Maple Leafs posted a 6-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday night.
Alexander Kerfoot, Auston Matthews, Jason Spezza and Michael Bunting also scored as the Leafs avenged their 5-1 loss to the Kings in Toronto on November 8 with their own victory. Toronto scored four times in the 12 1/2 minute span of the second, and Bunting added a fifth straight goal in the third.
Engvall, who scored two points in his previous 15 games, started the second-period streak with his first goal since the first game of the season. He ended with the first multi-point performance of his 111-game NHL career.
Sean Durzi had a goal and an assist in his NHL debut for the Kings, who acquired the 23-year-old defender from his hometown Maple Leafs nearly three years ago. Durzi set up Viktor Arvidsson’s first goal before scoring his own with 3:53 remaining, putting a strong shot just below the crossbar.
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Jonathan Quick stopped 32 shots for the Kings, who have lost five in a row since a winning streak that was preceded by a six-game knockdown.
Los Angeles is winless in the first four games of a seven-game home run. The Kings have allowed 18 goals during their five-game streak after previously ranking as one of the NHL’s top defensive teams.
Durzi is a Mississauga native who was selected by the Leafs in the second round in 2018, but was later traded to Los Angeles in a package by veteran defender Jake Muzzin in January 2019. Durzi, a Leafs fan since childhood , had his parents and siblings present. at the Staples Center for the big night.
Jack Campbell made 30 saves against his former team for Toronto, which opened up a three-game road swing in California with his seventh win in eight games since the Kings’ beating 16 days ago.
Quick entered the night sixth in the NHL in goals-against-average and save percentage in his impressive rebounding season, but Toronto took a toll on his stats.
Kerfoot put the Leafs ahead in the opening minutes with a transition goal, kicking home a backhand from an Ondřej Kaše pass for his first goal of November.
Arvidsson tied it early in the second, but Engvall put the Leafs ahead again two minutes later when he was left alone in the slot for a pass from Kings forward Wayne Simmonds.
Tavares hit William Nylander’s long shot for his team-leading ninth goal moments later. After Matthews scored his eighth of the season, Spezza hit the power play for his first goal since Oct. 23, breaking a 14-game drought.
UNTIL NEXT TIME
Maple Leafs: at the San Jose Sharks on Friday.
Reyes: host the Ottawa Senators on Saturday.
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