Marner scores twice, Maple Leafs hold off Jets

TORONTO -- Mitchell Marner scored twice to help the Toronto Maple Leafs defeat the Winnipeg Jets 3-1 at Scotiabank Arena on Monday.

"We've got to be ready to play in tight games," Marner said. "Every game we've played has been close, so we just want to make sure we keep doing the right things and playing the right way."
John Tavares scored, and Frederik Andersen made 27 saves for the Maple Leafs (3-1-0), who have won two in a row.
Kyle Connor scored, and Connor Hellebuyck made 35 saves for the Jets (1-1-0).
Winnipeg was 0-for-4 on the power play, including 0-for-2 in the third period. Toronto has killed off its past 12 minor penalties.
"Obviously you need that goal, that tying goal, and it didn't happen for us, so you'd be left thinking that our power play didn't get it done," said Jets coach Paul Maurice, who said the Maple Leafs capitalized on broken plays. "But that wouldn't be the story of the game. I won't assess it as what caused the loss."

Andersen was making his third start, having allowed nine goals in his first two. He did not dress for a 3-2 win against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday so he could rest and work with goaltending coach Steve Briere.
"A little new thing we were trying," Andersen said. "Me and Steve Briere got some good extra time on the ice to work on a few things we were talking about the night before. I thought it was good."
Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said, "I don't know how much we can attribute his [strong play] to [the game off]. It's easy to say because that's how it turned out, but it was his best game for sure, the way he tracked the puck and looked super calm in there."
Tavares put Toronto ahead 1-0 on the power play when he one-timed a pass from William Nylander in the slot at 5:28 of the second period. The center has six points (three goals, three assists) in four games to start the season.
"I think he's skating really well, he looks really confident with the puck," Keefe said of Tavares. "He looks quicker to me than he did at any point last season. He's got a little extra step whether that's on the rush, coming out of the corners in the offensive zone to attack the net or coming back into our zone. He looks to me like he's got an extra step this season, and that's serving our team very well."
Marner extended the lead to 2-0 at 18:39 when he poked in the rebound of Justin Holl's shot, but Connor scored from the low slot to pull Winnipeg within 2-1 34 seconds later at 19:13.
"Speed, breaking out of the zone quickly, finding easy exits, we were really communicating a lot and controlling the puck in the offensive zone," Marner said. "When they were exiting, they seemed fatigued and couldn't really forecheck our defense that much. We've talked about wanting to get better at that every game, and I thought in the second period we really took over and did that well."
The Maple Leafs outshot the Jets 22-6 in the second period.
"It wasn't our best period of hockey," Connor said. "I think all night we were kind of looking for it. It's a good thing about the NHL, we've got a game back to back, so we'll kind of forget about that one. For as bad as we played, we were only down one goal going into the third period. I thought we put up a good fight in the third."

Winnipeg outshot Toronto 12-6 in the third, but Marner scored into an empty net with 23 seconds left for the 3-1 final.
NOTES: Jets defenseman Logan Stanley and Maple Leafs defenseman Mikko Lehtonen each made his NHL debut. Stanley, selected by Winnipeg in the first round (No. 18) of the 2016 NHL Draft, had three shots in 11:19 of ice time. Lehtonen played 6:41. … The Jets were without forward Patrik Laine, who is day to day with an upper-body injury. … Winnipeg plays at Ottawa on Tuesday.