On an eventful night back in Toronto, the Toronto Maple Leafs scored three in the third period to eventually beat the Anaheim Ducks 5-4 in overtime at the Honda Center. John Tavares, Matthew Knies, William Nylander, and Morgan Rielly scored for the Maple Leafs. Anthony Stolarz made 28 saves on 32 shots.
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Leo Carlsson, Cutter Gauthier, and John Carlson scored for the Ducks, while Ville Husso made 23 saves on 28 shots.
Max Domi Delivers On Promise
In case you somehow missed it, on March 12 in Toronto, Ducks captain Radko Gudas delivered a season-ending knee-on-knee to Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews. The Maple Leafs, who were losing at the time, found a way to grind out the win. Other than that, there was no retaliation or retribution for Gudas and the Ducks, and that lack of response has been a topic of conversation ever since.
After the game, Max Domi made a point to look towards Monday’s game.
“Pretty angry. Not happy,” Domi said after the Maple Leafs’ 6-4 win over the Ducks earlier in the month. “You never want to see anyone go down like that, especially the captain, one of the best in the world. You don’t like to see that. But I think we kind of put it to bed now; I think we answered the bell in the third period. But I’m certainly not happy about it, and we play them in a couple of weeks.”
Before the game, it was all that the city of Toronto was talking about, which is an indication of how meaningless this contest really was for the Maple Leafs. Twitter was a buzz when the starting line of “tough guys” was revealed (Domi, Simon Benoit, Brandon Carlo, Michael Pezzetta, and Dakota Joshua), and predictions of who was going to take on Gudas filled the timeline. It took all of zero seconds after puck drop for us to learn that it was Domi who was going to drop the gloves.
In addition, Domi fought Pavel Mintyukov in the second period, and both Pezzetta and McCabe went after Gudas in the middle frame as well. All three Maple Leafs were given 10-minute misconducts.
We all knew it was coming, and it’s good to see the Maple Leafs follow the code of the game and hold Gudas accountable. Sure, it would have been nice to see it when Matthews went down, but seeing this kind of thing take place well after the fact is nothing new in the NHL. At the same time, it still feels like window dressing on a lost season.
That being said, everyone knew what was expected from the Maple Leafs, and they followed through on that. Maybe that is something that can carry through to next season. Maybe.
Maple Leafs Outlast Ducks Yet Again
For the second time in as many meetings against the Ducks, the Maple Leafs overcame a 3-1 deficit to come back and win the game. In the first meeting, they were practically skated off the ice before the Matthews injury. On Monday, they were always in the game, even when the score seemed lopsided.
The Maple Leafs were down 3-1 entering the third period, and even though they were competitive throughout the night, it didn’t necessarily feel like the Ducks were going to cough up the lead.
The comeback started at 6:55 of the final period with a power-play goal from Knies. Less than four minutes later, Nylander tied the game with a beautiful shot on a breakaway for his 26th of the season.
In my last post-game article, I lamented the defensive ineffectiveness of Rielly. Well, on Monday, he was almost the hero. Rielly scored the 4-3 goal with exactly three minutes left.
In typical Maple Leafs fashion, that lead lasted all of 81 seconds before Carlsson tied the game up once again.
Then, it was Tavares who was the overtime hero with just five seconds left in the extra period.
This game was not pretty for the Maple Leafs. It was filled with turnovers and sloppy play, especially in their own end, and specifically in the first two periods. It might not matter in the big picture of what this season has become or what the future holds. But as a hockey fan watching a standalone game, it was really refreshing to see the Maple Leafs push through an emotional and mistake-filled hockey game, and against a division-leading team no less.
Up Next For the Maple Leafs
The Maple Leafs finish up their California swing against the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night and the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday night, before taking on the Washington Capitals at home next Wednesday.
