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TSN Toronto Maple Leafs Reporter

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TORONTO – Barely past the halfway point of the first period on Saturday night, the Maple Leafs were controlling play but still staring down a 2-0 deficit against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Only hours removed from a disappointing overtime loss to Detroit, Toronto could have folded over in frustration.

Instead, that’s when they began to thrive.

The Leafs responded with three unanswered goals, terrific individual performances and strong goaltending down the stretch to cap a 3-2 comeback over the Penguins, and take the season series between the teams 2-1.

“We just kept working,” said Zach Hyman, who scored the game-winner for Toronto. “We were playing pretty well and then they got that power-play one, [Sidney Crosby] put it in a perfect spot. [But] we were playing well and stuck with it. It’s important when you’re playing a good team you don’t give them anything.”

Hyman was one-third of the unit designated to give as little as possible to Crosby’s line with Dominik Simon and Jake Guentzel. Along with John Tavares and Mitch Marner, reunited after two games apart, that trio held Crosby’s group to zero even-strength points and earned a 59 per cent possession edge as they accounted for a goal and an assist (by Marner).

Patrick Marleau was also essential to slowing Crosby and company down in the faceoff circle. On one draw, right after an icing in the second period, Crosby lamented being “cleaned out” by Marleau in the dot before he set up Travis Dermott’s game-tying goal. Marleau finished at 64 per cent in the circle.

“I thought we had a real good matchup,” said Mike Babcock. “Tavares with Hyman and Mitchy were dialed in and really skating. With [Jake Muzzin] and [Morgan Rielly] on the back, I thought we had a good fivesome. It was good hockey. We were fortunate that we were able to keep on top of them and keep them out for the most part.”

That was critical for all of the Leafs’ offensive units to have success, one night after they failed continuously to do exactly that against Detroit. Their letdown on Friday was the Leafs’ first game back after their bye week, and it was clear the team’s pace and skating was markedly slower than necessary to have success.

It appeared briefly on Saturday that Toronto was in for another long night against the Penguins. Crosby capitalized on an offensive zone penalty to Connor Brown with an early power-play goal, rifling a hard shot over Garret Sparks' glove.

Later in the first period, Teddy Blueger, playing in just his third NHL game, made it 2-0 Penguins with a quick strike, high-glove again past Sparks.

The common thread on both goals was the Leafs’ inability to clear the zone and giving Pittsburgh multiple chances on Sparks, a frustrating trend for Toronto in recent losses.

“When it got 2-0, they had blown two by you, it’s easy to get a little bit rattled,” Babcock said. “I don’t think [Sparks] did at all. I thought our team at that point really thought we were playing well, we had the puck a lot, but we were down 2-0 so we just stayed the course and were able to get it done.”

Matthews started the offence rolling with his third goal in as many games, picking up some loose chance next to goaltender Matt Murray and cutting Pittsburgh’s lead to 2-1 before the end of the first period. That was Matthews’ third goal in as many games, marking his first extended goal scoring streak since returning from a shoulder injury on Nov. 28 and scoring in three straight games.

In the second, Dermott fired a seeing-eye point shot through traffic to tie the game 2-2. Having already earned an assist on Matthews’ goal, Dermott recorded the first multi-point game of his season in what Babcock deemed one of his best outings of the year.

Before the end of the middle frame, Hyman would give the Leafs their first lead of the night with a goal from his backside, a product of Hyman’s relentless work ethic around the net.

“Everybody seemed to have their legs tonight, especially early on,” Matthews observed. “That’s always a key for us, playing fast and not giving them space, especially against a good team like that with star players that are very good . . . just being on top of them and using our speed can definitely make it hard on them.”

Crucially for Toronto, the victory gave them a blueprint to build off. The last six weeks haven’t been kind to the Leafs, as evidenced by their 5-7-1 record since returning from Christmas break. But with 31 games to play in a sprint towards the end of the regular season, being able to hold a playoff-positioned team at bay in a tightly-contested one-goal game was a confidence-booster, with elements the Leafs will want to carry forward.

“It’s just having everybody skating and working hard and I think we’re not forcing plays like we might have been before,” said Marleau.  “We’re getting pucks in deep and grinding the other team down. To see [guys like Marner] putting his body on the line [blocking shots], it makes you look at yourself in the mirror. Everyone should take a page out of his book. We need a lot of that.”

Takeaways

Slow to Spark

In his back-up role, Sparks doesn’t get many chances to be a difference-maker for Toronto. And early in Saturday’s game, it didn’t look promising that Sparks would be a positive factor in the Leafs’ outcome.

The 25-year-old was skittish in the first period of his last start, back on Jan. 18 in Florida, and was plagued by the same issue on Saturday. Sparks was down early on Crosby’s opening goal, leaving the top corner of his net open for the Penguins’ captain to pick. Minutes later, Blueger beat Sparks with a savable shot, over his glove again. He got a little help from Nazem Kadri shortly thereafter too, when another shot beat Sparks but Kadri corralled it with his skate just before it crossed the goal line.The goaltender calmed down after that, standing tall on a series of short-handed chances by the Penguins on Toronto’s first power play attempt. 

While Toronto mounted its comeback in front of him in the second period, Sparks was increasingly solid and more efficient in the crease, not getting caught out of position like he was in the first. In the third, when Pittsburgh was pressing for an equalizer, Sparks was especially sharp, making a stand-out post-to-post sliding save in that frame.

In the end, Sparks was the difference-maker Toronto needed him to be, finishing with 28 saves for a .933 save percentage.

Rielly rolls along

In only 51 games this season, Rielly matched his career-high in points at 52 when he tallied an assist on Hyman’s go-ahead goal. Rielly hit that benchmark for the first time last season, doing it over 76 games.

Including Saturday’s totals, Rielly now sits second among NHL defencemen in points, first in goals (13) and fourth in assists (39).

To bolster Rielly midway through his breakout campaign, which has already drawn Norris Trophy buzz from all corners of the league, the Leafs went out and brought in Muzzin via trade with Los Angeles last Monday, to give Rielly a top-pairing partner to play with.

The addition of Muzzin has thus far moved Rielly to his off-side on the right, but in their two games together so far [,] Rielly and Muzzin have been happy to switch off sides and explore how they work best as a tandem.

Speaking of Muzzin, he was quickly establishing himself as a fan favourite during his home debut with the Leafs on Saturday. The 29-year-old put a big body check on Guentzel in the first period that drew thunderous applause from a Leafs’ faithful that has hardly seen that type of physicality all season from Toronto.

However long it takes for Muzzin and Rielly to build up a strong rapport, both players are showing their somewhat disparate styles can be a great complement to one another.

Keeping up with Kapanen

At various points this season, Kasperi Kapanen has played on every line for the Leafs. But playing with Matthews as his centre, like he did on Saturday, seems to give Kapanen a noticeable boost.

Always among the fastest skaters on the ice, Kapanen looked more confident and effective offensively flanking Matthews and Marleau, speaking to the chemistry he’s found with Matthews since they were first united in Toronto’s third game of the season.

Whatever the reason for a shift in Kapanen, he was a one-man wrecking crew at times against Pittsburgh (the same team that drafted him in the first round of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft). On a single sequence, he’d gain the zone, split Pittsburgh’s defence and put a quality shot on net. His dynamic skating ability is matched only by Marner in the Leafs’ offence, and he repeatedly beat Penguins needed defenders to pucks in their own end.

His efforts didn’t result in any points for Kapanen on the scoresheet, but he demanded Pittsburgh’s attention on Saturday, and helped open up space for Matthews and Marleau to go to work down low as well.  He finished plus-two with a team-high five shots on goal.

Blue and White Trending

Tracking Leafs’ trends all season long

Toronto is the only team in the NHL to have not lost a game they were leading after two periods (23 wins)

Next up

The Leafs continue their three-game homestand on Monday against the Anaheim Ducks.

Last Word

"I think it's just letting [Leafs general manager] Kyle [Dubas] and management handle that with my agent and find something that works. It's no secret there's a cap, so try to find something that works for both sides. I'll leave it to them."

-  Auston Matthews on reports his contract talks with the Leafs are starting to heat up. The 21-year-old will be a restricted free agent on July 1, and is said to be working towards a five to six year extension in Toronto.