3 takeaways from Knights’ victory: Winning streak reaches 8

Reilly Smith had already lost to Maple Leafs goaltender Erik Kallgren once. He wasn’t going to get beat again.

After being denied on a breakaway in the second period Tuesday at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena, Smith mixed things up when he got another chance in overtime. He switched from a wrist shot to a move to his backhand before elevating the puck past Kallgren for a 4-3 victory.

The play capped a brilliant performance on a milestone night for the Mimico, Ontario, native. Smith, playing in his 700th NHL game, had tied the score at 3-3 with a short-handed goal with 8:17 to play.

His second goal gave him a team-high seven this season and five in his past three games. It also handed the NHL-leading Knights their eighth straight win, tied for the second-longest streak in franchise history.

The Knights won 10 straight from April 9 to 28, 2021.

“We’re pretty resilient,” Smith said to AT&T SportsNet. “We give up a couple goals in the second period, but we do a good job just keeping putting on the pressure and waiting for the floodgates to open.”

It looked for a time that Smith and the Knights would spend the evening cursing their missed opportunities.

They had four breakaways in the first two periods. Kallgren stopped all of them, but center Nicolas Roy pounced on a rebound after the first to give the Knights a 1-0 lead 45 seconds into the game.

Center Jack Eichel scored with 2:05 left in the first period to put the Knights ahead 2-1 after defenseman Timothy Liljegren had tied the game. It extended Eichel’s point streak to six games ahead of his Thursday return to Buffalo, where he spent the first six years of his career.

The Knights didn’t capitalize on opportunities to extend their lead. Kallgren, pressed into action with goaltenders Matt Murray (abductor) and Ilya Samsonov (knee) hurt, held firm. That allowed the Maple Leafs to fire back after two moments of brilliance from right wing Mitch Marner.

The 25-year-old, for his first trick, danced around four Knights sticks and beat rookie goaltender Logan Thompson glove-side to tie the game 2-2 with 6:10 left in the second. Then he slipped a no-look pass to Liljegren on an extended offensive-zone shift 3:06 later to give Toronto the lead.

The Knights didn’t blink. Smith, who shared his 700 games played accomplishment with defenseman Alec Martinez, tied the score with his second short-handed goal this season.

Then, when the Knights got their fifth breakaway in overtime, he made sure to not miss.

“That second period was a little bit frustrating,” left wing William Carrier said. “We had a lot of breakaways, and nothing was going in. You thought it would be one of those nights where nothing goes in, but the team keeps pushing and finds a way.”

Here are three takeaways from the win:

1. Fourth line strikes again

Coach Bruce Cassidy made an early switch Tuesday.

He started Smith’s line on the milestone night rather than the fourth line, which has gotten the team buzzing early all season. But the group still managed to get the job done.

Roy extended his point streak to three games on the second shift of the game by cleaning up Carrier’s rebound. Carrier got another breakaway in the second period, and right wing Keegan Kolesar got one of his own.

“Nic Roy’s line has been a really big part of our success,” Cassidy said. “It showed early tonight. They’ve been able to get us off and running.”

2. Box checked

The win was the Knights’ first in five tries at Scotiabank Arena.

It was one of two active NHL buildings in which they have never won a game. The only one left is Arizona’s Mullett Arena, where the Knights won’t play until Jan. 22.

Tuesday’s victory also marked the first time the team has won two straight against the Maple Leafs and swept the season series.

3. Smith’s shorties

Smith, because of his telepathic connection with center William Karlsson, remains one of the NHL’s most dangerous penalty killers.

He’s the only player in the league with multiple short-handed goals in each of the past four seasons. His eight short-handed goals in that time is tied for the NHL lead with Carolina’s Sebastian Aho.

Smith has more short-handed goals on his own than 20 teams this season.

Contact Ben Gotz at bgotz@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BenSGotz on Twitter.