The Maple Leafs broke their five-game losing streak Tuesday night, defeating the St. Louis Blues 3-2 in overtime at Scotiabank Arena.
William Nylander proved to be the hero, scoring the overtime winner, but the night did not start well for the Maple Leafs’ winger as he accidentally tipped a puck into his own net to give the Blues a 1-0 lead, 1:50 into the first period.
St Louis forward Oskar Sundqvist floated a backhand pass from behind the Leafs’ net that Nylander tried to knock down out of the air. Unfortunately, his swing directed the puck past goaltender Joseph Woll. Nathan Walker received credit for the goal.
The bad luck did not deter Toronto, and at the 5:36 mark, they were able to tie the score. Defenceman Jake McCabe snuck a seeing-eye shot under the crossbar and over the glove of Blues’ goalie Jordan Binnington to make it 1-1.
Toronto took the lead in the second period on Steven Lorentz’s second goal of the season. Sammy Blais powered down the boards, drew the St. Louis defence toward him, then twirled around and hit Lorentz with a perfect pass in front of the Blues’ net. Lorentz was too quick for Binnington, beating the sliding goaltender for the 2-1 lead at 9:32.
The lead was short-lived, however, as St Louis scored the equalizer just over three minutes later. Dalibor Dvorsky ripped home a one-timer on the power play, making it 2-2.
Neither team could score the rest of the period or in regulation, so off to overtime they went. With just under a minute left in extra time, Nylander found the back of his opponent’s net. John Tavares outbattled three Blues along the boards, kicked the puck free to Morgan Rielly, who cross-iced the puck to a driving Nylander. Willy dipped and dangled before beating Binnington with the game-winner.
Next up: Toronto will try to remain in the win column when they face off against the Columbus Blue Jackets, Thursday night at Scotiabank Arena.
