In one of the most eventful games of the season, the Toronto Maple Leafs rallied from 3-0 and 4-3 down to defeat the Boston Bruins 5-4 in overtime, thanks to Mitch Marner’s breakaway winner.

The Leafs survived a disastrous first 35 minutes thanks in large part to Anthony Stolarz. They dug deep to scratch out two points in the extra session, tying the game the second time with under a minute to go. Marner scored two goals, while Nick Robertson added a goal and a primary assist as the offensive heroes in the effort. Unfortunately, the team also lost Chris Tanev (and to a lesser extent, William Nylander) along the way due to injuries. There is much to discuss tonight.

Your game in 10:

1.    If you were a little late to flip on the television, you probably missed Boston’s opening goal, scored just 29 seconds into the game. The puck was in Boston’s defensive end, where Pavel Zacha made a pass off the wall into the slot for Mason Lohrei. The defenseman looked up ice and saw winger David Pastrnak releasing for the cherry-pick, with Jake McCabe late to read the developing danger and fall back with Pastrnak. Lohrei uncorked the stretch pass, fitting it underneath a diving McCabe and the outstretched body of Chris Tanev, allowing Pastrnak to speed in on a breakaway, where Pastrnak made no mistake.

As bad of an opening shift as that was, it wasn’t the only figurative punch that Toronto took in the game’s first few minutes. Not long after, Simon Benoit committed a horrific defensive-zone turnover, setting up a prime Boston chance that Stolarz was forced to stop. Adding literal injury to insult, Tanev was awkwardly crunched in the corner by Johnny Beecher, leading to immediate pain. A hunched-over Tanev slowly skated off and did not return to the game after his second shift. There is no update on his status other than that he left the building in a sling and will be evaluated soon. Fingers crossed for one of the Leafs‘ top two most important defensemen.

2.    The Leafs were given an opportunity to find their footing in the game by receiving the contest’s first power play after Boston was penalized for too many men on the ice. Toronto sent out their five-forward top PP unit and did little with the opportunity. They held the zone for a decent chunk of time but seemed hesitant to shoot. The second unit came on and generated a crisp zone entry, but an odd decision by Nick Robertson to pass the puck when he had a lane to shoot resulted in a turnover and a Brad Marchand rush the other way.

Once the game returned to five-on-five, Boston mostly continued to dictate play. A William Nylander turnover in the offensive zone sparked a 3v2 rush for Boston in the other direction, where Marchand faked out Benoit just enough to feed Lohrei driving the slot, who ripped a dangerous shot. Stolarz batted it aside, but the chances kept coming, as the Bruins headed to a power play not long after due to a Matthew Knies hold on Marchand.

The first good look of the Boston power play was for Toronto, as Pastrnak’s stick exploded into pieces on a shot and gifted the Leafs an odd-man rush going the other direction, a chance Auston Matthews placed off the iron.

Unable to even the game short-handed, Boston instead used the remainder of the PP to double the lead. With a new stick in hand, Pastrnak had the puck in the right circle and found an angle that could get it by the body and stick of Oliver Ekman-Larsson, a shot intended for a rebound or deflection in front. Stolarz made the save but said rebound popped up into the air, off the face of McCabe, down onto the ice, and then into the net, with a tap by the stick of Brad Marchand parked in front.

3.    The Bruins didn’t score again in the remainder of the first period, but it was almost as poor as the first 14 minutes from Toronto. They got another crack at it on the power play when Johnny Beecher grabbed Max Domi and headed to the box. The Leafs recorded just one shot on goal during the two minutes, and it was not a notable look, while Boston created two rush opportunities going the other direction, one of which they could not complete as Marchand just misfired on the pass.

Play returned to five aside, and the Leafs’ fourth line was gifted an opportunity via a Pastrnak defensive-zone turnover. Steven Lorentz held the puck with Alex Steeves sitting all alone in front, but Lorentz chose not to attempt a difficult pass. Instead, he cut to the slot and drew the defense in while Steeves leaked out to the side. Lorentz wound up for a shot that was blocked down.

The Bruins nearly closed the first period with a third goal on a play that began with a full-length clear. Pastrnak won the race to the puck with Morgan Rielly, deking around before getting the puck to Pavel Zacha. The back-checking Leafs, which included their top line, all congregated on the left side of the ice, where Zacha and Pastrnak were, leaving Morgan Geekie all alone on the backdoor. Zacha hit him with the puck, and Stolarz was forced to make a spectacular post-to-post save. He followed it up with a second save on Geekie’s next attempt and then a third save for good measure. It was one of those unsung moments that kept the Leafs in it.

4.     The second period could have been referred to as the Period of Maple Leaf Penalties, with the referees hitting Toronto with five separate minor penalties that shorthanded them, all in one period(!).

The first (debatable) one came when Domi cross-checked Matt Poitras after the whistle, starting a fracas. I thought this was a solid kill for Toronto — a couple of notable defensive plays by David Kämpf and otherwise surviving the danger of Pastrnak and Geekie on the opposite PP flanks.

Less than a minute after killing off that penalty, the Leafs went right back to the kill, with Pontus Holmberg getting called for a trip on Mark Kastelic in the offensive zone. This kill didn’t last too long, as Mitch Marner drew a (very soft) cross-checking penalty while on the PK more related to his blown skate edge than the cross-check assessed to Lohrei. That left us with a chunk of 4v4 play, which wasn’t terribly action-packed.

The teams skated five aside for just over two minutes before the Leafs were right back to the PK, a stretch that revealed an important lineup change. Matthew Knies was shifted down to the third line with Robertson and Domi, while Bobby McMann jumped up to the first line to skate with Matthews and Marner. Berube was soon to cut the bench down to three lines for the third period, and he attempted to find a spark/some new balance, with a forward pairing that has seen a little bit of time together here and there in the past, Knies and Domi.

As mentioned, the Leafs returned to the kill when McCabe was penalized for a check in front of the net (called interference). This penalty kill didn’t last long, with Boston winning the opening draw back and quickly setting up. Pastrnak from the high wall went down to Marchand along the goal line, who suddenly had a 3v1 down low and hit Elias Lindholm in the slot for a one-timer. Stolarz made the save, but the rebound kicked right past OEL to Morgan Geekie on the backdoor for the finish.

There was nothing Stolarz could do about this one, as the breakdown stemmed from Simon Benoit flexing way too far from his net; Marner was cutting off the top, and Matthews minded the bumper player, but Benoit shifted up so far up he actually stood next to Matthews, leaving the Leafs’ PK way exposed when a simple pass was sent down low. With Tanev leaving the lineup for an indeterminate length of time, Benoit is going to have to elevate several notches above his recent level of performance. The good news is that McCabe has shown he can effectively carry him in the past.

5.     The Geekie goal was scored at the exact midway point of regulation, 10:00 even on the clock. Boston mostly dominated the Leafs in the first 30 in a game that felt closer to 4-0 or 5-0 than 3-1. That feeling continued when Conor Timmins committed a horrific defensive-zone turnover right after the goal, creating yet another chance for Morgan Geekie and Pavel Zacha.

The Leafs were also struggling with turnovers high in the offensive zone, creating rush opportunities the other way for Boston. That reared its head again when Marner attempted a bizarre between-the-legs drop pass for Timmins that Pastrnak easily intercepted and sped away with. Credit to Marner for backchecking hard to nullify the chance, but it was emblematic of the game Toronto was playing to this point: sloppy, rife with turnovers, and at times lackadaisical against a more competitive Bruins team.

Despite all of that, the Leafs weren’t dead yet. Indeed, the door crept open ever so slightly as Domi won a faceoff back, and the Leafs took a shot that they quickly retrieved. They worked the puck over to Rielly, whose shot towards the net deflected off the body of Bruins defenseman Parker Wotherspoon (who was tying up Robertson as he fought to get to the front) and into the net. Toronto was on the board and very much still in the game.

6.    The Rielly goal was the shot in the arm the Leafs needed, as they seemed to derive a little energy from it. Alas, they’d have to weather another penalty kill as Domi headed to the box again for throwing Matthew Poitras off of him — called roughing — but the Leafs got the better looks over the two minutes.

An embarrassing whiff from Lohrei at the point created a rush for Toronto’s PKers, with Lorentz speeding away on a breakaway and Kämpf a pace behind him. Seemingly not realizing it could’ve been a 2-on-0, Lorentz charged ahead for the solo breakaway, saved by Jeremy Swayman. After a change, Matthews and Marner went on an abbreviated 2v1 themselves, but Marner couldn’t find the intended pass to the trailer, Ekman-Larsson.

Though the Leafs didn’t score a SHG, they killed the penalty and maintained the momentum — momentum that they threatened to throw away again when Knies tossed the puck into the crowd in his defensive zone, leading to the automatic delay-of-game call.

This was the fifth and final time in the second period that Toronto headed to the PK. It was also the second one that ended due to a Boston penalty, as Oliver Wahlstrom was called for a high stick late in the PP. This created a bit of 4v4 time and then some PP time that carried over to the second.

Just as the first period had ended with a near Bruins goal, the second had the same ending, with Marchand getting a shorthanded breakaway, whiffing on the initial shot so badly it was an effective fake. The second try went off the iron, and the Leafs were only down 3-1 and headed to the third period with some PP time remaining.

7.    Critically, the Maple Leafs cashed in on the carryover power play early in the third — a huge swing in the game after the missed Marchand chance.

John Tavares passed it off the wall shortly after entering the zone, seemingly intended for Matthews. AM34 instead engaged with his checker and lifted the stick, allowing the puck to roll through both to Marner, who had two pass options to the right, with a few Bruins in between.

This is what is so special about Marner’s abilities; everyone else sees a couple of options on the menu, but he sees or creates a third or a fourth no one else sees or creates. Marner looked at the passing options and dragged the puck, leading every single person in TD Garden, including those on the ice, to assume a pass was coming, given Marner’s known tendencies. However, once the pass wasn’t there, Marner ripped the shot to the opposite side and completely fooled Swayman for a gorgeous goal.

Suddenly, it was 3-2 with a lot of time to play, and the Leafs fed off the goal. Holmberg found Tavares in the slot for a good look not long after and then Matthews nearly scored on a rebound. For the first time all night, Toronto was buzzing and overwhelming Boston, sensing blood in the water.

They drove play for nearly six minutes before finally breaking through, coming off a stretch pass by Rielly to Nick Robertson in behind the defense of Boston’s Andrew Peeke. Robertson had some space on the closing Lohrei, but he uncorked his wicked wrist shot, beating Swayman and improbably tying the game. We’ve seen Robertson opt for the shot along the ice a lot from this angle off the rush, but this time, he ripped it far side below the glove and just above the pad.

8.     After the Leafs tied the game, the euphoria seemed to wear off, and there was still a game to be won, something that the Bruins seemed to respond to much better. The period between the second and third goals was all Leafs, while the period that followed the equalizer was back to all Bruins. They strung a couple of good shifts together but were repelled by Stolarz and then broke through to regain control.

If tonight wasn’t Jake McCabe‘s worst game in a Maple Leaf uniform, it was certainly right up there; he was on the ice for a breakaway goal against, lost his dependable defense partner to injury, had an opposition’s goal scored off his face, took a penalty leading to a PPG against, and yet, his worst moment was still to come in the third period.

Tracking back into his own end while the Bruins went for a change, McCabe was only pursued by Geekie and had a few options around him. The clear and obvious play was a far-side rim to a wide-open Holmberg, but McCabe hesitated, cut backward, got pinned to the boards, and turned it over right to Pastrnak. That created a mini-2v1 down low, with Conor Timmins forced to take the pass, leaving Pastrnak and Stolarz alone. For the second time in the game, Pastrnak won the battle and beat Stolarz.

9.    The Leafs now had 9.5 minutes to try to tie this game again. They remained rather scrambled in their own end, but they did create opportunities going the other way. Nylander set up Tavares for a solo look, but Tavares seemed to have little in the tank tonight and got almost nothing on the shot. Tavares did set up Robertson later on, leading to a strong Swayman save. Boston’s goalie made another stop on Matthews, who had a mini-rush set up by Swayman, and Matthews hit the iron after a failed Bruins clear not long after.

The core four were starting to knock on the door, but the depth scorers shone through as heroes for a third straight game since the 4 Nations break. The Leafs lifted Stolarz for the extra attacker with several minutes to go, but their top guys held the puck for so long that they were too tired to play the entirety of the closing sequence. Thus, a line change left a motley crew of characters on the ice with under a minute to go in a one-goal game. Of the depth scorers’ many contributions since the break, coming up big in such a critical situation — down a goal in the final minute in Boston, with the stars tired — is the biggest feather in their cap.

Nick Robertson flew down the wall to nicely win a dump-in away from big Nikita Zadorov on the forecheck, skated down below the goal line, and fed a cutting Pontus Holmberg, who kicked the puck to his stick and lifted the puck up and over the shoulder of Swayman through a mass of bodies to tie the game — easily the best quality finish of his six goals this season (four of which have come in the last three games, two of which were empty netters and one of which was an own goal).

Robertson and Holmberg are two nice stories since play resumed, with Robertson scoring twice on Sunday and now chipping in a goal and an assist tonight, both huge ones in the third period. Holmberg has now scored in each of the first three games since the break, having scored more goals in the last three games than he did in the entire prior 43 games combined. For a Leafs team that was starved for depth scoring, they provided it tonight.

10.     A chaotic game deserved a chaotic overtime, which we received tonight. McCabe made a dangerous play knocking a puck out of the air that would’ve led to a Marchand breakaway had it gone awry, while Marner nearly scored an incredibly acrobatic dangle in tight on Swayman. Toronto played the entire overtime session without one of the most obvious go-to 3v3 forwards, William Nylander. He was seen on the bench without his glove, seemingly dealing with an ailment to his wrist or hand.

Thus, it was a lot of Matthews and Marner to finish this one off. Mason Lohrei attempted a dangle swooping in on Stolarz, but the big goalie stood his ground and made a big save. Morgan Rielly helped advance the puck ahead, and then Matthews poked it by the backtracking Lohrei to spring Marner for a breakaway. This time, #16 finished it off, deking Swayman out and sliding it by his right pad into the net to deliver the Leafs an improbable 5-4 victory.

Rielly collected an assist on the goal, giving him a four-point night (1-3-4), and he now has eight points in seven games since the Leafs went out on their Western Canada trip — a very welcome (and critical) development for a Leafs team starving for his offensive leadership off the backend.

Put together, this was a wild game. The teams scored nine combined goals, and Natural Stat Trick recorded them combining for 9.51 expected goals across the full game, reflecting the high-event nature. The Leafs didn’t play a particularly great 60-minute game, but they were also playing their third in four nights with two travel days in between, while the Bruins had been off since Saturday night, sitting at home and resting. Boston is also desperate for points to keep their season alive in the wild-card chase, so I will not discount this win, especially on a night when Tampa Bay and Florida also won. The Maple Leafs are still in first place in the Atlantic, and the trade deadline stakes are coming more clearly into focus — only now with some new injury question marks entering the mix.

Game Flow: 5v5 Shot Attempts

Heat Map: 5v5 Shot Attempts

Game Highlights w/ Joe Bowen & Jim Ralph

 

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