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TSN Toronto Maple Leafs Reporter

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TORONTO – It was midway through the second period of Saturday’s game against Montreal when the Maple Leafs reached a pivotal fork. Trying to claw back from a 3-0 first-period deficit, the Leafs had closed the gap to 3-1 when Frederik Andersen was under siege with a series of shots aimed at deflating Toronto’s hopes of a comeback.

However improbably, Andersen made four critical saves in the 10-second sequence, spurring the Leafs on to a wild 6-3 win over the Canadiens, and snapping their season-long three-game losing streak in the process.

“[Montreal] could have put the game out of reach [with another], but [Freddie] did a good job there,” said Mike Babcock of the turning point. “Sometimes as a goalie, three go by you, it’s hard to hold your composure and make the next save but I think he did a good job and that was a huge part of our success.”

Based on how the game’s first 10 minutes went, Toronto couldn’t have foreseen the predicament it would be in after 20. The Leafs dominated their visitors early, outworking, outskating and generally outplaying the Canadiens in every facet. But Carey Price came up with key stops, and Toronto got sloppy in its own end when Andrew Shaw took several whacks at a rebound before putting the Canadiens up 1-0.

Within minutes, Tomas Tatar had extended Montreal’s lead to 2-0, on a play set up by Frederik Gauthier’s neutral zone giveaway.

Another turnover, this time by Andreas Johnsson, led to Travis Dermott taking a tripping penalty, and Jeff Petry beat Andersen high glove 28 seconds into the ensuing power play to spot Montreal a three-goal lead after the first period.

“You have to worry about what you can control, and that’s what you do in the second period,” Andersen said of Toronto's mindset after the first, during which he faced 20 shots. “Once the first has been played, it’s done, can’t really do anything. We have confidence in each other we can score more than three goals; that showed today.”

Did it ever. 

Once Toronto got its first power play of the game early in the second period, Auston Matthews had the Leafs rolling with his team-leading 11th power play goal of the season.

The man advantage came up big again later in the frame when Tyler Ennis finished off a terrific feed from Patrick Marleau to cut the Canadiens’ lead to 3-2.

“The second goal was huge for us,” Babcock insisted. “Once we got it to within one, you’re set up for the third and it’s in your building. I like our team; I think we have a good hockey club. So, [at that point] for sure, we were in a good spot.”

Be that as it may, a little luck never hurt either, and William Nylander brought the Leafs all the way back in that final frame as the beneficiary of a freak bounce. Price had left his net to play the puck coming off the wall deep in his end when it took an unexpected turn towards Nylander, leaving the Canadiens’ net gaping for Nylander to fire into.

“I lost track of [the puck], and then it just bounced out,” Nylander said. “No one knew where it was, and then I was just able to put it in.”

To that point, Toronto’s top line of John Tavares, Mitch Marner and Zach Hyman had put together a strong game with good possession and chances. At the perfect time, they were finally rewarded when Marner’s playmaking and Hyman’s physicality around the net yielded a game-winning tap-in for Hyman off a Marner dish to make it 4-3.

Johnsson and Hyman would add empty-net goals to seal the victory for Toronto.

“Everybody contributed,” Hyman said of the victory. “It was one of our best team wins of the year. To be able to come back like that and have every line chip in, power play chip in, PK…able to bounce back and hold them, Freddie bounced back and shut the door for us. I think everyone did their job.”

"It's fun, but obviously it's been happening the last couple of games where we haven't been getting any wins," added Andersen. "It's nice to come back and not make the losing streak longer. It was great mental toughness by us in just kind of resetting and going hard in the second and third."

For the Leafs, the win meant a five-point cushion over Montreal for third place in the Atlantic Division, where they’re three points back of Boston with a game in hand.

There were some smaller wins along the way too, but Andersen's teammates all pointed his turnaround between the pipes in a 32-save performance as the biggest one.

“We just chipped away, put our work hats on and got working,” Matthews said. “Little by little, we were able to get in their zone and make plays and capitalize on our opportunities, but it all started on a few big saves from [Freddie].”

And once the Leafs’ offence got going, they refused to be stopped. 

“We were really prepared, we really jumped, but it just goes to show you when you’re young sometimes when it’s a big game, you get a little off-kilter,” Babcock said. “We started great. We lost our composure; we can get it back. There’s lots of hockey left. It’s Saturday night. It’s in our house. Guaranteed win night, let’s win.”

 

Takeaways

Slow starts pile up

When it was all said and done on Saturday, the Leafs’ lack of execution in the first period didn’t cost them a much-needed victory. But that doesn’t entirely negate the disturbing trend that’s emerged.

This was the fourth straight game in which the Leafs failed to score in the first period of a game, and in their three prior outings, they didn’t score in the second frame either. Including Saturday, Toronto has been outscored 9-0 in the first two periods of their last four games, while being outshot 92-67.

Asked to explain why goals have been hard to come by early in games, Toronto didn’t have many answers but pledged to address the issue and what’s behind it.

 

Auston, the engine

Where Matthews went on Saturday night, so too did the Leafs' offence around him.

Putting a lacklustre individual performance in the first period behind him, Matthews was drastically better as the game wore on, skating better and increasing his physicality to match the Canadiens’ while generating more zone time for his line with Kasperi Kapanen and Johnsson.

In the third period, a visibly frustrated Montreal team became more chippy, and Matthews didn’t shy away from engaging. He got tangled up with Shea Weber along the wall at one point, in a heated battle for possession, and things got feisty when Matthews pushed back against the Canadiens’ captain and shoved him to the ice.

The uncharacteristic outburst galvanized the crowd and the Leafs, a show that they would defend against being pushed around as Montreal turned up the heat.

Assessing Matthews’ night as a whole, Babcock deemed his centre “exceptional,” and praised his determination and defensive play. Matthews finished with one goal, one assist and five shots on goal in 16:28 time on ice, with 53 per cent possession.

 

Mitch’s Milestone

Registering an assist on Hyman’s goal, his first point in three games, gave Marner 70 points on the season. That’s a new career-high for the third-year pro, achieved in only 61 games played.

 

Special team’s shakedown

The Leafs have tried for months to get their power play on track and have it be an essential part of their repertoire. In the win over Montreal, special teams as a whole played a more significant factor than it had in recent memory, providing Toronto with the momentum it needed to overcome its early deficit.

Matthews’ power play goal was the Leafs’ first in three games (0-for-6), going back to when Toronto last tallied two-man advantage goals on Feb. 14. It was also just the second time this season Toronto has been at 100 per cent on the power play in a game with multiple chances.

The Canadiens entered Saturday’s game with the worst power play in the NHL (12.7 per cent) and had gone 0-for-11 with the extra man in their last five games. Before converting on that first man advantage against the Leafs, Montreal hadn’t scored on the power play since the last time they played the Leafs on Feb. 9.

But Toronto’s penalty kill has been streaky of late, and Saturday was the third straight game they’ve given up a power-play goal. But often those units get better as a game goes on, and that was the case again on Saturday. When Johnsson was called for hooking with the game tied 3-3, the kill executed well, and kept Montreal from stalling the Leafs’ comeback hopes. The PK finished 3-for-4.

 

Blue and White Trending

Tracking Leafs’ trends all season long

Saturday was the fourth time this season the Leafs have erased a two-goal third-period deficit, behind Philadelphia (5) and Ottawa (7) for third-most such games in the NHL.

 

Next up

Toronto faces the Buffalo Sabres at home on Monday.

 

Last Word

“Just the way we won the game, coming from behind. I think it’s awesome. It’s a good feeling to be able to score that, to get the lead after being down 3-0 is pretty cool.” - Zach Hyman on scoring the game-winner for Toronto in a 6-3 win over the Montreal Canadiens