Auston Matthews fires a shot during second period action on Monday.Sammy Kogan/The Canadian Press
Despite rallying from a three-goal third-period deficit to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 on Monday, there were few smiles to be found in the Toronto Maple Leafs dressing room.
Instead, relief and frustration were the themes of the day, particularly given the anemic start that the team had put forth, registering just eight shots through the first two periods and allowing Sidney Crosby et al. to take full control of the contest.
“It’s unacceptable,” said William Nylander, who scored two goals and added an assist in the comeback. “There’s nothing more to say.
“Our compete level was not there, losing every battle, losing every puck. So it’s what it comes down to.”
After seeing Crosby set up Erik Karlsson for the opening goal followed by another from rookie Ben Kindel to establish a 2-0 Pittsburgh lead, head coach Craig Berube was expecting a pushback in the second.
It never materialized. Instead Kindel scored again as the Penguins – who entered the game one point back of the league-leading Colorado Avalanche - appeared to be coasting to their seventh win in their past 10 games.
William Nylander lines up a shot on goal during the second period.Sammy Kogan/The Canadian Press
“The second period, I mean, they got the puck and did whatever they wanted with it, and we didn’t check anybody,” Berube said. “We didn’t knock anybody off the puck, and when we did get it, we gave it back to them, and they just kept coming back down our throats. I mean, it’s not good enough.”
Auston Matthews got the Leafs on the board in the third period with his seventh goal of the season, followed by Nylander’s two – with the three goals coming in just 3:24 – before Bobby McMann knocked in the game winner with 6:17 to play, netting a rebound after Nick Robertson forced a save from Tristan Jarry.
“We got that response in the third,” Berube said. “I don’t understand why we never got it right away in the second. That’s the frustrating part, you know, and that’s all mental for me.”
As the final seconds ticked away, Nylander almost got his hat trick but had the puck knocked off his stick as he was eyeing an empty net. Still, after missing three of the past four games with an ailment, Nylander rans his point total to 18 on the season, with 14 in his last seven games.
And Morgan Rielly, who had two assists, moved past Tomas Kaberle to claim sole possession of second place on the team’s all-time list of points by a defenceman. His assist on Nylander’s first goal was his 521st as a Leaf, leaving him trailing only Borje Salming’s 768 assists.
While Berube wouldn’t get into what was said in the second intermission, goaltender Anthony Stolarz, who made 34 saves in registering his third straight win and fifth win of the season, says it’s not hard to guess how that interaction went.
“Chief came in and just said a few things,” he said. “You guys can use your imagination for that so and everyone else kind of just echoed. We’re big boys, we’ve been around long enough, and we knew that that’s not our game.”
Sidney Crosby keeps the puck from Easton Cowan during first period play.Sammy Kogan/The Canadian Press
The fans certainly let the players know that their effort wasn’t good enough, booing the team off at the end of the season period.
But for those that stuck around for the final stanza bore witness to a rare piece of Maple Leafs history. Per NHL Stats, “Monday marked the fourth time in franchise history, and first since March 19, 1977 that the Maple Leafs rallied from a three-plus goal deficit in the third period to win in regulation.”
The last time was a 5-4 win over the Atlanta Flames, while the other two instances were a 5-4 win at Detroit on Dec. 8, 1946, and a 6-5 win against Detroit on Dec. 2, 1943.
“I’m proud of the way we fought back,” Matthews said. “But obviously you don’t want to put yourself in that position to begin with. So that’s definitely something that we want to clean up right away.”