Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Erik Kallgren makes a pad save on Dallas Stars centre Radek Faksa during the first period.Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press
When he was called up on an emergency basis by the Maple Leafs last week, Erik Kallgren was so uncertain what to do that he texted a teammate to ask about the club’s practice schedule and how to access the arena.
Five days later, he posted a shutout in his first NHL start in a 4-0 victory over the Dallas Stars on Tuesday at Scotiabank Arena.
“It feels good,” Kallgren said after recording 35 saves in Toronto’s net. “There are a lot of emotions. Before the game I tried to treat it like a normal situation and embraced the moment. During the game, I tried not to think too much.”
Only the fourth goalie in franchise history to win his first start, Kallgren was unflappable where injured starter Jack Campbell and backup Petr Mrazek have struggled of late.
“He’s been here for what, four days?” Ondrej Kase, the Toronto winger, said afterward. Kase scored for the second straight game. “I am very happy for him. He got a shutout in his first [start] That must be a dream. Good for him.”
Kallgren has allowed one goal on 46 shots since he was called up on an emergency basis last Thursday when it was disclosed that Campbell is ailing with a rib issue that will likely keep him out for at least another week. In his only other appearance, he repelled 10 of 11 pucks in relief of Mrazek in a loss to the Arizona Coyotes.
“He was great,” Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said. “He continued where he left off the other night. He didn’t try to do too much. He just made sure that the pucks that came to him stuck to him.
“It was very impressive.”
Keefe would not commit to naming Kellgren the starter on Thursday night when the Carolina Hurricanes visit Toronto.
“Let’s just enjoy this one a little bit,” Keefe said.
Mrazek, who was signed in the offseason to back up Campbell, has allowed 17 goals in his last four starts and has an abysmal .884 save percentage. He has recorded a loss in three of his last four outings and has allowed easy goals in each.
The fact that Kellgren did not surrender an early lead and looked confident in himself the whole night was a breath of fresh air.
“It’s huge,” Keefe said. “It is a hard game to play when you are pulling the puck out of your net all night.”
In arguably the best game of his season, Rasmus Sandin got the winning goal on a lovely backhand in the first period and also had three hits and blocked two shots.
He is the fellow Swede that Kallgren reached out to for help when he was called up from the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League.
“He was okay,” Sandin said straightfaced late Tuesday, then burst into laughter. “He looked very comfortable back there. I am super happy for him. He deserved it.”
The Maple Leafs also got goals from John Tavares and Ilya Mikheyev in the first of two games without their star centre Auston Matthews.
Matthews was suspended on Monday by the National Hockey League for a dangerous crosscheck delivered to Buffalo’s Rasmus Dahlin on Sunday.
It is the first time Matthews has been disciplined during his six-year career. The 24-year-old recorded his league-leading 45th goal against the Sabres and had scored in each of the five previous contests.
To replace Matthews, Tavares was promoted to first-line centre between Michael Bunting and Mitch Marner.
“Auston’s reputation and track record speaks for itself,” Tavares said. “He was just competing hard and something unfortunate happened.”
The victory against a quality opponent was a welcome change after a series of losses to teams with little or no hope of reaching the playoffs. Toronto had lost two in a row, four of its last six and was 7-7-2 in its previous 16 outings.
Dallas is in a battle for a wildcard berth in the NHL’s Western Conference and came in 14-7 in its past 21 games and 8-2-1 in its past 11 as a visitor.
Sandin netted his fifth goal of the season on Toronto’s first shot on net with 12:38 left in the first period. Mitch Marner and Tavares drew the assists. Tavares then tipped a shot by William Nylander past Jake Oettinger to boost the lead to 2-0 with 8:44 remaining before the first intermission. It was Tavares’s 20th of the campaign.
Kase scored on a power play early in the third and Ilya Mikheyev added an empty netter.
Oettinger was excellent in his 11th start in the past 12 games for Dallas. He allowed only the two early goals and a power-play marker by Kase in the third in a defeat that dropped his record 19-9-1. He was credited with 36 saves.
Kallgren is the fifth goaltender the Maple Leafs have employed this season, which ties a franchise record set in 1983-84. He follows Campbell, Mrazek, Michael Woll and Michael Hutchinson in Toronto’s net.
He made 14 saves in the first period and seven more on one power play early in the second. He was 15-8-1 with a .904 save percentage with the AHL Marlies before he was called up.
Keefe gave him the opportunity after Mrazek allowed four goals in a loss to the Buffalo Sabres in the Heritage Classic on Sunday.
The Maple Leafs improved to 38-17-5 and remain third in the Atlantic Division behind Florida and Tampa Bay. Dallas is 32-23-3 and fifth in the Central Division but only one point behind Vegas for the second wildcard berth in the West.
Kallgren was sharp from beginning to end. He limited the rebounds that have plagued his predecessors and denied pucks fired at him from in close and through traffic in a way that belied his lack of NHL experience.
He wasn’t thinking about a possible second start on Thursday.
“I was called up less than a week ago,” Kallgren said. “I am just trying to enjoy this day by day.”