Max Domi battered Radko Gudas off the opening draw, and the Leafs battled back to overcome a two-goal third-period deficit to beat the Ducks 5-4 in overtime Monday night at the Honda Centre.
Less than two hours after the firing of general manager Brad Treliving, the Leafs hit the ice with revenge on their minds. Domi dropped his gloves three seconds into the game and pummeled Gudas, who seemed content to take his punishment for his knee-to-knee hit two weeks ago that ended Auston Matthews season.
Gudas remained a target throughout the night and became an early distraction, as Toronto seemed more focused on hitting him than playing hockey. Anaheim capitalized, opening the scoring at 6:43 of the first period when Leo Carlsson finished a cross-ice pass from Troy Terry, who had taken advantage of a fallen Jake McCabe to create the play.
The Ducks extended their lead to 2–0 at 9:46 on a power-play goal from Cutter Gauthier, his 38th of the season. Gauthier fired a shot from outside the right circle that fooled Anthony Stolarz and found the back of the net.
John Tavares responded for Toronto with a power-play goal of his own at 14:18, banking in a rebound past Ducks goaltender Ville Husso to cut the deficit to 2–1.
Anaheim restored its two-goal lead in the second period when John Carlson scored shorthanded at 11:33 to make it 3–1. However, the Leafs came alive in the third period, scoring three unanswered goals.
Matthew Knies started the comeback with a power-play marker at 6:55, snapping home his 21st of the season with a quick release under the bar. William Nylander then tied the game at 10:14 after Easton Cowan intercepted a pass in the Leafs’ zone and sprung Nylander on a breakaway. Willy did not miss beating Husso upstairs to make it 3-3.
Morgan Rielly put the Leafs in front for the first time, rifling a shot by Husso with three minutes left in the game.
The reeling Ducks managed one last push. With their net empty and only 1:39 left to play, Carlsson tracked down a bouncing rebound and flung the puck by Stolarz to even the score 4-4 and send the teams to overtime.
The extra frame was wild, with both teams having multiple chances to end the game, but just as a shootout seemed inevitable, Rielly found Tavares alone in front of the Ducks net. Tavares tapped in the game-winner with five seconds remaining to seal a dramatic 5–4 victory.
Toronto continues its West Coast road trip Thursday night in San Jose against the Sharks.
