Maple Leafs roll stopped by high flying flames, hot goalie

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They were two hot hockey teams, but a cool Devin Cooley was the difference.

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And now the Maple Leafs may be without winger Kirill Marchenko for a bit, as their four-game winning streak was halted 5-2 in Calgary.

Cooley, the Flames goaltender with a fraction of the experience of Sergei Bobrovsky on the other end, outplayed the veteran and turned away 26 Toronto shots on Monday, a score inflated by two empty netters. The Flames, extending their own streak to four victories, denied the Leafs and thousands of their fans in the visitors’ last trip to the Saddledome.

William Nylander, in his hometown and of Auston Matthews’ 800. But the Flames were well-earned their early lead with tougher and timely stops. Toronto also started a power play after Nylander’s goal, when an angry Matthews was judged to have played the faceoff puck with his glove. The captain then took another high minor to test Toronto’s top-ranked penalty kill for a fifth time.

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Leg injury for Marchenko

Marchenko’s left leg was bent awkwardly under his falling frame on a slide into the boards and his night was done early in the second period.

With a 5-0 shot advantage in the opening minutes, the Leafs looked poised to extend their streak. However, the Flames found their pace while their ears probably burned from so many Leaf supporters creating a din.

The Flames own young number 92 broke the ice, Matvei Gridin on the Russian compatriot Bobrovsky, after the latter fell a little too early to leave the top shelf open. Less than two minutes later, Easton Cowan was pushed by a puck in the Leaf zone and Mikael Backlund took advantage of it for a similar shot and goal.

Cowan was also on the receiving end of a hard hit late in the period and put his team down a man trying to retaliate. Earlier, a Leaf advantage was sparked by Cooley playing the puck in the no-go trapezoid, dominating possession but unable to score. Cooley got a toe on Marchenko’s quality lineup from Nylander.

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With Cowan off to start the second period, Gridin got behind Troy Stecher on a bench pass and hit Bobrovsky on the other side. While Cowan was benched for a bit, it got worse when Marchenko briefly tested his ability to skate at halftime, but went into the room.

Leafs coach scrambles lines

The Leafs’ first goal came after coach Jim Hiller had to line the lines minus Marchenko and put the young Cowan and Gavin McKenna on the wings of Colton Sissons. Cowan pushed the net to tip defenseman Stecher’s shot and twice set up Nick Paul for a late second-period Calgary minor.

Toronto crosses the border in Seattle on Wednesday before its four-game trip wraps up in Vancouver on Saturday.

lhornby@postmedia.com

X: @sunhornby

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