Maple Leafs Complete Stunning Comeback With Four-Goal Explosion in One Period
Photo credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
Although it looked bleak for most of the game, the Toronto Maple Leafs stunned the Pittsburgh Penguins with a come from behind victory on Monday night.
For what started out as a miserable game for two and a half periods, the Toronto Maple Leafs were able to somehow find their footing and come out with a 4-3 victory against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
After having only eight shots through the first two periods, the Toronto contingent decided enough was enough.
Led first by Auston Matthews who finally looked the part of his elite self, they were then followed up by two quick goals from William Nylander before Bobby McMann sealed the deal.
Matthews' goal was classic Matthews too:
But it was Nylander, who was making his return after missing the last few games due to injury that really made the difference. First he deposited a loose backhand for the team's second goal, then wired a one-timer to make it three-all:
Finally, the player who was potentially going to be the healthy scratch, Bobby McMann. A lot of debate recently has been bandied about regarding his spot in the lineup but coming in clutch; he certainly was the right call on Monday:
By his reaction you could tell that he was happy to finally have gotten the monkey off his back.
Toronto was outshot 25-8 through the first two periods, but managed to put up 12 in the final frame. Anthony Stolarz was brilliant, stopping 34 of 37 shots meanwhile the Leafs face-off crew was elite, winning nearly 60% of their attempts.
Pittsburgh did have a very good game for the first two periods, not only outshooting the Leafs but also getting two goals from rookie Ben Kindel, who has been a surprise to start the season.
The key takeaway here is Toronto's defense didn't falter, and while the Penguins had some good chances, there was a relentless effort to keep them from getting high danger chances in the third.
Also shout out to Brandon Carlo who was gassed to high heaven at the end of the game but managed to block shots and prevent any scoring opportunities:
He also managed to say what we as Maple Leafs fans were all thinking after such a stunning comeback win:
The win will hopefully make the sting of the Blue Jays loss hurt a little bit less, and with the attention now focused on them, the Maple Leafs were at least able to give their fans a bit of hope after all.
The Maple Leafs will look to make it three in a row as they take on the Utah Mammoth on Wednesday in what will be Matias Maccelli's first game vs. his old team; that is, if he isn't a healthy scratch again.