Only William Nylander, ever the polarizing figure, could score on his own net to start the game (amid a five-game losing skid for the team), then shrug it off to score the game-winner in overtime. It has to be a first in NHL history, to start with an own goal and finish with an OT winner.

I immediately thought back to the 2007 Maple Leafs, off to a brutal start to the season, hitting rock bottom when Bryan McCabe shot it into his own net in overtime in Buffalo. On McCabe’s own goal, at least he urgently needed to make a play on a puck dangling in the crease. I don’t even know how to attempt to explain this one from Nylander.

But you had to be reasonably encouraged (or maybe more relieved?) by the manner in which the Leafs responded to the ridiculous early 1-0 goal against. With the losing streak, the many key injuries, and the early St. Louis goal adding insult to injury, it would’ve been easy to throw their hands up. The Leafs, instead, were noticeably physical, established a forecheck and some zone time, quickly tied it up via Jake McCabe’s well-placed long-distance shot, and ran up a 9-4 shots advantage before a four-minute power play was drawn by Max Domi late in the first period.

The shot counter read 18-6 Leafs by the midpoint of the game, when they took the 2-1 lead via Steven Lorentz. It should’ve been more than 18 shots, given the Leafs had nine shot attempts on the power play that either got blocked or missed the net. They were then dealt another tough break on the PK after a stick broke, heavily contributing to the 2-2 goal.

We’ll get into the third period in the notes (not as good), but the Leafs did just enough tonight. Thanks to John Tavares’ grunt work very late in his shift and Nylander’s finishing in overtime, it was mission accomplished in a “get it done somehow, someway” type of game, knowing the injuries and surrounding circumstances. Finally, the Leafs can take a breath and hopefully get a body or two back in the lineup.

Post-Game Notes

– I shudder to think where the Leafs would be right now if not for John Tavares stepping up repeatedly in big moments throughout the first 20 games. Craig Berube nailed it when he said the effort/strength shown in a tired, outnumbered situation in OT — to scrum it, stay on it, and free up the puck for the goal with his skate — epitomizes the player.

I’ve written it in this space before, but a player entering his mid-30s, relinquishing the captaincy, taking a $7 million pay cut, and somehow actually getting better along the way doesn’t seem real. He’s up to 49 goals and 99 points in 95 games since the start of 2024-25.

– Passing on his opportunity in behind the defense was clearly a wild choice midway through the second period, but Jacob Quillan can skate, and he threw four hits in nine minutes of ice time in this game, the first of which made an impact; he dropped Philip Broberg, who is 6’4/210+, along the end boards on the forecheck early in the night. Coming right after the Leafs’ 1-1 goal (always important shifts in games), I liked the get-it-deep and get-on-the-body effort from Quillan, Dakota Joshua, and Steven Lorentz, who were on the ice together due to the recent power play.

Quillan is a bit of a fire hydrant who can move out there, and his ability to make some plays has begun to really emerge with the Marlies (12 assists in 14 games). He set up a good Rielly look on the same shift he passed up his scoring chance. He’s green, but there’s something to go on here.

– After spending time working on it in the morning skate, the Leafs’ power play (0 for 3) did a better job of gaining the zone and setting up in this game, and also clearly made a point of firing shots at will. They needed to get more of them through traffic and on goal, though. Of the 11 shot attempts on the first-period power plays, only two made it on net.

On the four-minute power play late in the first, they missed the net five times (Domi x2, Rielly, Cowan, Nylander), and Nylander saw four shots blocked. They did hit one post, via Calle Jarnkrok. Somehow, they left the four minutes with just one shot on goal.

– By my count, Max Domi has thrown a total of four blind passes for clearances on the power play over the last two games, in addition to missing wide on a shot that cleared the zone.

– Another mostly positive game from Easton Cowan, with a few learning moments along the way. Late in the second period, the momentum was against the Leafs after two straight penalty kills, one of which included the 2-2 St. Louis goal. They were struggling to find their footing in the game back at five-on-five, and just needed to get to the intermission with the game still tied at that point. Cowan can’t turn it over multiple times at the defensive-zone blue line, knowing the time/place.

– In the second period, Cowan almost scored a highlight-reel goal with a nice dangle followed by a half-shot that nearly handcuffed Jordan Binnington. In the shift that included that chance, Troy Stecher showed some of the little things he can bring to the table that could help this team on the backend. He quickly got back onto a dump-in retrieval and made a D-to-D play under pressure to diffuse the forecheck, then fired a nice stretch pass to get the team back onto offense a short while later. Five minutes into the third, he had another good shift where he quickly rounded the net with the puck, started the breakout with his feet, and advanced it quickly before joining the rush. He reversed a puck to get out of trouble and out of the zone a few minutes afterward. Just about every pass was cleanly tape-to-tape.

Stecher played just 13 minutes and change, but he was playing well and could’ve given them more. He isn’t a saviour or a game changer, but he has quick feet and does everything at a fast pace, which could come in handy on a blue line that has generally done everything too slowly and has consequently been bogged down by opposition forechecks.

– By far the biggest positive development so far this week is Joseph Woll’s first two starts of the season. He leaves this game with the hilarious stat line of 28 saves on 29 shots and two goals against due to the Nylander own goal, taking him up to a .934 save percentage. None of the five goals against in the two starts were remotely on him, as he’s made all the saves he should, plus a handful of big ones in each game; tonight, two on Jordan Kyrou in the second half of the middle frame stand out, in particular. One was a point-blank stop immediately after the Leafs’ 2-1 goal, and another was right after the Blues’ second power play late in the frame, when he made a huge sprawling save to his left as Kyrou cut across the crease (the Leafs might not have recovered from a 3-2 goal there).

Good, timely goaltending goes a very long way in restoring the confidence of any team, and we almost reached the point where we took it for granted last season. High-end goaltending is so critical to this team’s success, in particular, knowing its systems and style of play.

– The Leafs need to move Jake McCabe back to the left and away from Simon Benoit as soon as possible. His pairing with Benoit was out-attempted 19-7 tonight, with some big chances against (McCabe also took two penalties). Shot attempts are now 60% in favour of the opposition in their 110 minutes together, and they’ve been out-scored 7-4 as a pairing.

– It was a heads-up pass from Oliver Ekman-Larsson to spring Sammy Blais as the Blues scrambled for the far bench change in the second period, leading to the 2-1 Steven Lorentz goal. He didn’t earn an assist on the play, but OEL also did a nice job driving the puck up ice and setting the zone in deep before McCabe’s 1-0 goal. OEL is up to 12 assists, so he is about halfway to last season’s assist total in just 20 games. He’s also halfway to last season’s goal total and has 14 points in 20 games overall. Somewhat quietly, it has been a really good start for him.

OEL’s pairing with Rielly — which the Leafs have also turned to situationally for offensive-zone draws at times, even when not regularly paired together — is up 8-5 in five-on-five goals and has owned 60% of the shot attempts (significantly helped by their 80% offensive-zone starts).

– As much attention as the Leafs’ second periods have received for most of the season so far, the Leafs’ thirds have become a major concern recently. After strong finishes against Utah and Pittsburgh, they were filled in by LA and Carolina in the third period, gave up two in the third and lost in Chicago, and gave up a 7-1 shots run to start the third in a 2-2 game tonight, without generating much all period (one good look for McMann off the rush is most of what stands out). In the last six games (1-4-1), they’ve come out even over the first 40 minutes, but they’ve been outscored 7-1 in the third periods.

Game Flow: 5v5 Shot Attempts

Heat Map: 5v5 Shot Attempts

Game Highlights: Maple Leafs 3 vs. Blues 2 (OT)

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