Pierre Engvall lifts Leafs over Sharks

Pierre Engvall scored the go-ahead goal at 17:33 of the third period and the Toronto Maple Leafs went on to defeat the visiting San Jose Sharks 3-1 Wednesday night.

Engvall scored his third goal of the season from the right circle with assists from Alexander Kerfoot and David Kampf.

Mitchell Marner scored into an empty net with an assist from Kerfoot at 18:49 of the third to match the Toronto team record of 18 straight games with at least one point. Darryl Sittler (1978) and Ed Olcyzk (1989-90) also had 18-game point streaks for the Maple Leafs.

Auston Matthews also scored for the Maple Leafs, who were coming off a 4-0-0 road trip. Ilya Samsonov returned from a knee injury to play in his first game since Nov. 5 and made 23 saves.

Matt Nieto scored for the Sharks, who opened a four-game road trip Tuesday with a 4-0 win over the Montreal Canadiens.

Aaron Dell made his first start for the Sharks this season and stopped 29 shots.

Toronto pressed during the first period, but that left them open to the counterattack that led to three San Jose breakaways. At 19:20 of the first period, Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson hit the goal post on a three-on-two breakout.

Toronto had a 10-7 advantage in shots on goal after one period.

Matthews tipped in his 12th goal of the season off Mac Hollowell’s shot at 4:19 of the second period. Michael Bunting also earned an assist.

Nieto scored his sixth goal of the season at 7:26 of the second on a nine-foot shot from the right of the net. Logan Couture made the pass from behind the goal line and Nick Cicek also earned an assist.

Toronto had a 22-18 edge in shots on goal after two periods.

Toronto center Calle Jarnkrok (groin) left the game in the second period and did not return.

The memory of former Maple Leafs defenseman Borje Salming, who died last week, was honored in a pregame ceremony.

–Field Level Media