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Andersen stops 47 shots, Nylander scores shootout winner as Leafs edge Flames

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TORONTO — Frederik Andersen stopped 47 shots through regulation and overtime, and three more in the shootout as the Toronto Maple Leafs beat Calgary 2-1 on Wednesday for their second win over the Flames in eight days.

William Nylander scored the winner in the fourth round of the shootout, deking to the backhand to beat Mike Smith.

Morgan Rielly scored for the Maple Leafs (18-10-1), who also downed Calgary 4-1 on Nov. 28.

Mark Giordano scored for the Flames (14-12-2), who have dropped three in a row. 

Smith stopped 28 shots in a losing cause.

Toronto centre Tyler Bozak was back in the lineup after missing two games and was placed on a line between James van Riemsdyk and Mitch Marner to start the game.

Calgary had control early in the contest when Toronto's Matt Martin went to the box midway through the first period.

And Giordano made Martin pay for his hooking penalty when his wrist shot from the point went through traffic and beat Andersen for the game's first goal at 10:37.

Later in the period, Martin checked Troy Brouwer into the boards between the benches, leading to a brief scrum. Flames forward Matthew Tkachuk appeared to spear Martin from the bench while the altercation ensued, but it went undetected by officials. Martin showed no sign of being hurt.

Toronto began the second period on the power play, but couldn't get much going in front of a quiet Air Canada Centre crowd.

Sean Monahan almost doubled Calgary's lead seven minutes into the second only for Andersen to turn him away from between the hash marks.

Andersen was there again to bail out his teammates late in the period on a Toronto power play when Calgary had a 2-on-1 short-handed break after Marner turned the puck over at the Flames blue line.

Rielly finally evened the score with 1:13 to play in the second, with his shot from the sideboards beating a screened Smith blocker side.

Tkachuk continued to agitate as the game went on and took a couple shoves from Andersen after crashing the net late in the second. On his final shift of the period, he drew a cross-checking call on Jake Gardiner in the corner that set up a Flames power play to start the third.

Monahan thought he regained the lead for Calgary 5:10 into the third but a video review confirmed the officials' original no-goal call because the net was off its moorings before the puck crossed the goal-line.

The Flames took it to the Leafs in the final 20 minutes, at one point outshooting Toronto 14-3, and held a 43-28 shots advantage heading into overtime.

Notes: Flames winger Jaromir Jagr missed the game with a lower-body injury... Members of the Grey Cup champion Toronto Argonauts took part in a pre-game ceremonial puck drop.  

Kyle Cicerella, The Canadian Press


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