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Marner runs point streak to 23 games, Maple Leafs blank Ducks

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TORONTO — Mitchell Marner extended his point streak to 23 games for the Toronto Maple Leafs in a 7-0 win against the Anaheim Ducks at Scotiabank Arena on Tuesday.

Marner had two assists, giving him 32 points (11 goals, 21 assists) during the longest streak in Toronto history. He is the 12th player in NHL history with a point streak of 23 or more games.

“He’s playing great, continues to roll and is one of the top wingers in the game and plays in all situations for us,” Maple Leafs captain John Tavares said. “I think as a team and [he] himself would just say we’re just trying to focus on playing our game and what’s bringing us success and getting the results we want as a team. He obviously plays a major role for us, so he’s continuing to play great, and we’re just trying to focus on our game and getting better, and feeding off the good things we’re doing.”

Video: ANA@TOR: Marner sets up Tavares goal to extend streak

Ilya Samsonov made 28 saves for his second straight shutout for the Maple Leafs (19-5-6), who won their fourth in a row and extended their point streak to 15 games (12-0-3). Alexander Kerfoot scored twice, Tavares had a goal and an assist, and Conor Timmins and Pontus Holmberg each had three assists.

“First period, a little bit hard for us,” Samsonov said. “… But we turned the game in the second period. For me, it’s playing much easier.

“Everybody feels comfortable right now because we play really hard. … That’s really important for us.”

Video: ANA@TOR: Kerfoot gets the pass and buries it for goal

Samsonov has a shutout streak of 152:34. He made 29 saves in a 5-0 win against the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday.

John Gibson made 25 saves on 27 shots for the Ducks (7-20-3) before leaving the game at 10:48 of the second period. Lukas Dostal Made 10 saves.

Ducks coach Dallas Eakins said Gibson sustained a lower-body injury but had no further update on him.

Anaheim lost its ninth straight road game (0-6-3).

“That performance in the third was embarrassing, myself included,” Ducks forward Troy Terry said. “It’s the whole team. We have a young kid (Dostal) who has played a handful of games, and he’s going in there and we left him out to dry.

“It’s unacceptable. This year, everyone knows how hard it’s been, but all we have is each other and that’s been the message. Sometimes games aren’t going to go our way. But to not play for each other, it’s unacceptable.”

Video: ANA@TOR: Brodie extends the Maple Leafs lead

Kerfoot got his 200th NHL point when he gave Toronto a 1-0 lead at 1:58 of the first period, one-timing a pass from Engvall at the right hash marks.

Tavares made it 2-0 at 8:41 when he tapped in a backhand pass from Marner at the top of the goal crease.

“I thought we gave them just too much room in the first period,” Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said. “A little too easy access to our zone, to the middle of the ice. But Samsonov was excellent in that period, and it allowed us to settle in.”

Anaheim outshot Toronto 16-14 in the first period but had 12 shots in the final two periods.

TJ Brodie‘s first goal of the season made it 3-0 at 12:16 of the second. He scored with a wrist shot from the left face-off dot.

Michael Bunting extended the lead to 4-0 at 16:33 and pushed his point streak to nine games when he backhanded a shot over Dostal’s outstretched pad after collecting the rebound of Marner’s point shot. Bunting has 11 points (two goals, nine assists) during his streak.

Kerfoot’s second of the game increased the lead to 5-0 at 2:37 of the third period. He took a pass from Mark Giordano and shot from the slot.

“That’s big obviously,” Kerfoot said. “I haven’t put many pucks in the net so far this year so it feels good to get some. I feel like we did a lot of good things tonight so we just have to keep that rolling.”

Video: ANA @ TOR: Engvall shoots from the circle to score

Engvall made it 6-0 at 5:42, and Joey Anderson scored his first goal of the season at 18:20 for the 7-0 final.

“I’m embarrassed the way we let Lukas down in the third,” Eakins said. “It’s the one thing that this team hasn’t done this year. They’ve always worked for each other and we had a few players that decided they were just going to play by themselves and it cost us.”

NOTES: The Ducks dressed 11 forwards and seven defensemen after the forward Max Jones sustained an upper-body injury during the warmup. … Maple Leafs forward Austin Matthews extended his point streak to eight games with an assist on Brodie’s goal. He has 14 points (six goals, eight assists) during his streak. … Timmins set an NHL career high for points in a game. … Giordano’s assist was his 400th in the NHL. He’s played 1,054 games. … Kerfoot last scored twice in a game on April 2, 2019, for the Colorado Avalanche against the Edmonton Oilers. He has 201 points (68 goals, 133 assists) in 390 NHL games.

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