A furious third-period comeback erased two periods of lackluster play and a three-goal deficit as the Maple Leafs defeated the Penguins 4-3 on Monday night at the Scotiabank Arena.
After a close-checking low opportunity first 13:00 minutes, Pittsburgh broke the scoreless tie. Leaf defenceman Simon Benoit wiped himself out along the offensive end boards, leading to a Pittsburgh transition back up the ice. Sidney Crosby found a streaking Erik Karlsson, who roofed a shot over Toronto goaltender Anthony Stolarz to make it 1-0. The goal was the first of the season for the three-time Norris trophy winner.
Rookie Ben Kindel scored Pittsburgh’s second goal at the 17:56 mark of the first. Ryan Shea fired a point-blank range shot at Stolarz. The Leafs’ net-minder made the initial save, but the puck flew up in the air, and in an attempt to clear the puck, three converging Toronto players knocked into their own net. Kindle was the closest Penguin to the play and received credit for the goal.
The Leafs showed little urgency in the second, mustering only three shots and none within the first 10 minutes of the period. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh continued their attack, extending the lead to 3-0 on Kindel’s second goal of the game, a power-play tally at 11:50.
Toronto came out of the second intermission with a little more fire. William Nylander led the way, first, helping set up Auston Matthews for his seventh of the year, then filling the net with two of his own.
Matthews snuck behind the Penguins’ defence. Jake McCabe hit him with a stretch pass, and the captain buried a low shot past Pittsburgh goaltender Tristan Jarry to make it 3-1, 3:31 into the third. Just over a minute later, Nylander navigated around a crowd in front of the Pittsburgh net to beat Jarry with a backhand to close the gap to one, 3-2. About two minutes after his first, Nylander blasted home his second from just inside the blueline to tie the game 3-3.
The Leafs were not done. Bobby McMann, completed the comeback and put Toronto ahead with his third of his season. Nicholas Robertson drove the net, eluded a trio of Penguin defenders, and fired the puck at Tarry. McMann gathered the rebound and put it past the sprawling goaltender at 13:43 to make the score 4-3. The one goal advantage stood, and Toronto won their second in a row.
Up next: Toronto faces off against the Utah Mammoth on Wednesday night at the Scotiabank Arena.
