Sharks take a bite out of the Leafs

San Jose Sharks defenceman Mario Ferraro, left, and Maple Leafs forward Nick Ritchie battle for position while going for a loose puck during the second period of Friday’s game in Toronto. San Jose defeated Toronto 5-3, which is the Sharks’ fourth successive win to start the season,

Karlsson continues to bully Toronto with pivotal goal in San Jose’s fourth win in a row

The Maple Leafs and Sharks barely created a murmur at Scotiabank Arena during a plodding first period on Friday night.

When the second period began, so did the fireworks. The teams traded four goals over the first 10 minutes before San Jose’s Erik Karlsson ripped a long wrist shot past Michael Hutchinson for the go-ahead goal in an eventual 5-3 victory.

Perhaps it was the early 6 p.m. puck drop, but it took a while for the players and the crowd to shake off a sluggish start. The biggest stir of the night occurred when the primary cast members of Trailer Park Boys were spotted in the audience. Only Bubbles wore a mask.

With Toronto playing the first of backto-back games, Hutchinson was in the crease. He is a journeyman and played the way he always has: sometimes good, sometimes appearing lost. Between him and Sharks goalie Adin Hill, neither distinguished himself.

Hutchinson, 31, has been shuttled back and forth between the Maple Leafs and the AHL numerous times over the past three seasons. He was called up from the AHL Marlies last Sunday to fill in for the injured Petr Mrazek and this was his first start.

Jack Campbell will go on Saturday when the Maple Leafs play the Penguins in Pittsburgh. Because of COVID-19, the game will be the team’s first regular-season contest outside of Canada since a visit to Anaheim on March 6, 2020.

The win was San Jose’s fourth in a row to start the season. Since a victory over Winnipeg in their home opener, the Sharks have put the bite on Montreal, Ottawa and now Toronto in succession. The previous time they went 3-0 out of the gate was 2015.

Logan Couture tapped in a wraparound by attempt by Marc-Édouard Vlasic to put San Jose on the board first with 17:29 left in the second. Less than a minute later, Jason Spezza flicked a puck past Hill after the Sharks failed to clear it during a goalmouth scramble.

The score had been tied 1-1 for only 17 seconds when Timo Meier scored a long shot that found its way through traffic and eluded Hutchinson.

But then Ondrej Kase beat Hill with a lovely backhand on a breakaway with 9:36 on the clock to even things again. That goal stood up for a little over a minute before Karlsson put San Jose ahead to stay.

The goal was the second of the season to go along with four assists for the Swedish defenceman who antagonizes the Maple Leafs at every opportunity. Karlsson’s 38 points against Toronto in his career is the most he has against a single opponent.

It took Jonathan Dahlen only 35 seconds after the second intermission to put the Sharks ahead 4-2. It was the centre’s third goal of the campaign.

The loss dropped the Maple Leafs, who have played all but one game on home ice, to 2-2-1. They now head out for their first true road trip with games in Pittsburgh, Carolina on Monday and Chicago on Wednesday. They return home against the Detroit Red Wings on Oct. 30.

Monday’s matchup with the Hurricanes will see the Maple Leafs longtime goalie, Frederik Andersen, face his former team for the first time since he signed with Carolina as a free agent in the offseason.

Andersen was Toronto’s primary goalkeeper for five years until he was injured and replaced by Jack Campbell during 2020-21. He has started all three of Carolina’s games thus far and has victories in each.

“Carolina is different when it comes to the media attention, but there is pressure everywhere you play,” Andersen said Friday afternoon during a video call with journalists. “It is just a matter of focusing on the things you can control.”

The Maple Leafs entered the night looking forward to Auston Matthews’s first goal of the season. Last year’s NHL goals leader sat out the first three games while recovering from wrist surgery and was held scoreless in an overtime loss to the New York Rangers on Monday.

The team was also looking for first goals from Mitch Marner and John Tavares. After an impressive preseasons, Nick Ritchie has also failed to register a single point.

Matthews, Marner and Ritchie were held off the score sheet, but Tavares netted his first of the year with 6:21 left to cut the disadvantage to 4-3. Couture added an empty netter to close out the scoring with 39 seconds remaining.

Mrazek, who suffered a groin injury, is expected to miss at least another week. The games are spaced out well enough to where they may be able to get by only with Campbell for the next four.

Hutchinson was credited with 26 saves in the defeat.