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SOUP'S ON: Campbell shutout, special teams, lift Maple Leafs to 'textbook win' over Flyers

Nylander stays hot with pair of goals in road victory

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The Core Four was down to a wee three up front, but with Jack Campbell guarding the door, it still added up to a vital 3-0 road win for the Maple Leafs on Wednesday night in Philadelphia.

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Minus captain John Tavares, but still led by William Nylander, Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner, Toronto’s highest-paid forwards made it 16 straight goals as part of the triumph. before third-liner Ondrej Kase’s late tally.

In concert with solid defence and Campbell’s 36 saves, the Leafs did what they needed to get back on the horse after a five-game streak came to an end in ugly fashion on Monday night at home against Los Angeles.

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Nylander had two goals, Matthews two assists and Tavares’ line substitute — Nick Ritchie — had his first Toronto power-play point on a third-period Nylander conversion. The unit is now 7-for-15 in the past six games, while the flip side of the Leafs special teams killed four Flyers chances.

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“That’s what I call a really good response,” said Matthews. “Everyone up and down the lineup was solid.”

It takes a lot to keep Tavares out of the lineup and he tested the limits in every way of his lower-body injury before giving way to Ritchie replacing him on the second line and Kirill Semyonov on the roster in the Russian’s first NHL game.

Coach Sheldon Keefe listed Tavares as a possibility for Friday’s game against Calgary saying “he’s not far off.”

As Campbell said, the team took Keefe’s frequent preaching about starting the game on time “to heart” after the lapse against L.A.

“Special teams gave us a lot of life. They come through and then we get an insurance goal (from Kase),” said the coach. “We needed to be comfortable going into the third and we had a textbook win.”

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Maple Leafs’ Jake Muzzin and Flyers’ Zack MacEwen chase the puck during Wednesday’s game in Philadelphia. Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images
Maple Leafs’ Jake Muzzin and Flyers’ Zack MacEwen chase the puck during Wednesday’s game in Philadelphia. Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images

Nylander put the Leafs ahead 1-0 in the second period at 11:11 — quite a coincidence on the eve of Remembrance Day — but it needed a review to reverse the official’s call that he’d kicked the puck in.

With Keefe saying “not even close” on the bench, the video challenge showed that Jake Muzzin’s cross simply banked off of Nylander’s skate past goalie Carter Hart.
Nylander had earlier just missed stuffing a Matthews wraparound rebound past Hart’s out-stretched pad before camping in the slot and burying a Ritchie pass for his seventh of the year.

A chance at a hat trick was foiled by Hart on a last-minute breakaway, while Campbell survived for his second shutout of the year, fourth as a Leaf and first by a Toronto netminder in Philly since Ed Belfour in 2002.

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The Leafs’ lineup composition was greatly affected by the absence of Tavares, a 10-point performer in the Leafs’ recent run of 5-1. Semyonov made his NHL debut in the No. 94 jersey once worn by fellow Russians Sergei Berezin and Alex Barabanov, the 27-year-old saying it was “a dream.”

Semyonov made a good impression at camp and had nine points for the Marlies. He even had enough trust from the coaching staff to be deployed on the penalty-kill.

Though his presence didn’t change the scoring imbalance between the top and bottom lines, there were some chances generated by the third and fourth trios. Keefe really just wanted good back-checking from the latter and certainly had that from David Kampf and linemates Kase and Pierre Engvall.

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No Tavares meant a revamped second line with Ritchie restored to a prominent right-wing role with Alex Kerfoot centring and Marner, whose six-game points streak ended, on the left. After Ritchie showed good pace and a few shots on goal, including some power-play time, he took the Leafs’ third minor of the game’s early stages, for pulling a Flyer’s helmet off.

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Momentum swung the Flyers’ way early, with Claude Giroux drawing calls on principal Leafs penalty-killing forwards Jason Spezza and Kampf. Yet the home team absorbed typical Philadelphia crowd abuse for doing very little on its first three penalties as the unit skidded to 1-for-14 overall.

Campbell, won the seventh of his 11 starts, while Justin Holl came back after five games in the stands, returned to the pairing with Jake Muzzin and overcame some early yips.

The Leafs have Thursday off before back-to-back games, home to Calgary and in Buffalo. One of those goalkeeping starts will likely go to rookie Joseph Woll, who was called up to replace the injured Petr Mrazek.

lhornby@postmedia.com

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