By Canadian Press

Tavares, Nylander lead Maple Leafs past Sharks 4-1

Nov 26, 2021 | 11:27 PM

SAN JOSE, Calif. — John Tavares and William Nylander each had a goal and assist and the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the San Jose Sharks 4-1 on Friday night.

Auston Matthews and Wayne Simmonds added goals, and backup goalie Joseph Woll stopped 34 shots as Toronto won for the eighth time in nine games. The Maple Leafs are 11-2 in November and have outscored their past three opponents 13-3. Toronto moved into a tie with Florida for first place in the Atlantic Division.

The Sharks got a first-period goal from Nick Bonino, but their defense couldn’t hold up against constant pressure from the Leafs. James Reimer, who has provided a spark in the net recently for San Jose, was pulled in the second period in favor of Adin Hill.

Toronto jumped ahead just 31 seconds into the game. 

Tavares alertly let a pass from Morgan Rielly slip past him, and it landed on the stick of Nylander, who beat Reimer for a 1-0 Toronto lead.

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Bonino tied it 4:44 into the first with his second goal in as many games for San Jose. But the Maple Leafs answered just 32 seconds later as Simmonds deflected David Kampf’s shot past Reimer for a 2-1 lead.

Matthews scored on a deflection of Timothy Liljegren’s shot in the second period, increasing Toronto’s lead. Tavares added his 10th goal of the season on a power play shortly after.

KASE SCRATCHED

Toronto right wing Ondrej Kase was scratched Friday after a heavy workload in Wednesday’s win over the Los Angeles Kings. The six-year veteran, who played in just three games last season because of injuries, has five goals and three assists in 21 games this season. 

VLASIC’S MILESTONE

San Jose defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic played in his 1,100th NHL game. He is five games away from passing Joe Thornton for second place on the Sharks’ all-time list of games played.

UP NEXT

Maple Leafs: Travel to Anaheim on Sunday to complete a four-game trip.

Sharks: Play at Chicago on Sunday to begin a five-game trip.

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More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Joe Stiglich, The Associated Press