Gets winner at 3:08 after McMann ties game with 4:27 remaining in 3rd period
TOR at WPG | Recap
WINNIPEG — Max Domi scored at 3:08 of overtime, and the Toronto Maple Leafs rallied from a two-goal, third-period deficit for a 4-3 win against the Winnipeg Jets at Canada Life Centre on Saturday.
“We found a way to regroup,” said Domi, who also had an assist. “I think that just shows the character in this locker room. We stuck together and played for each other, and then you saw that, that’s how good teams find ways to win. You’ve got to give credit to Winnipeg, they played a great game tonight. But we found a way to stick with them and get the huge two points we needed.”
Auston Matthews skated into the offensive zone on a 2-on-1 and fed a pass to Domi, who lifted a wrist shot over the stick of a sprawling Connor Hellebuyck for the game-winner.
“I was just waiting, just trying to wait and see what the ‘D’ wanted to do,” Matthews said. “He kind of came at me, and I just tried to flip it over to Domi and he did the rest. A really nice play to break up that puck by [Oliver Ekman-Larsson] to break up that play and get us down there on that odd-man rush.”
TOR@WPG: Matthews sets up Domi for overtime winner
Ekman-Larsson had a goal and two assists, Bobby McMann and Matthews scored, and Morgan Rielly had two assists for the Maple Leafs (24-16-8), who have points in 12 of 13 (9-1-3). Dennis Hildeby made 27 saves.
“[Hildeby] was unreal,” McMann said. “A couple scramble saves, desperation. He was no quit tonight. He was all over it. Really nice to see from him, and he’s consistently giving us a chance to win games here.”
Kyle Connor, Alex Iafallo, and Nino Niederreiter scored for the Jets (19-22-6), who had a four-game winning streak end. Vladislav Namestnikov had two assists, and Hellebuyck made 33 saves.
“It is exactly what we have to do, we have to continue to find ways but also find ways to get that second point,” Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel said. “At the end of the day, when you are trying to catch teams above you, you have to do it every night, there has got to be points… That is a game we should have finished off.”
Ekman-Larsson made it 3-2 at 5:58 of the third period when he took a cross-ice pass from Nicholas Robertson and buried a snap shot far side from the left face-off circle.
“[Ekman-Larsson] does it all for us every night,” Matthews said. “He kills, he runs the power play. He plays big minutes, he plays against top lines. He had a huge night for us. I was glad to see that goal, and then that sifter that Bobby [McMann] tipped, and then like I said, breaking up that fourth one to give us an opportunity to go down on an odd-man rush. He was unbelievable tonight.”
McMann tied it 3-3 at 15:33 of the third when he redirected Ekman-Larsson’s point shot through traffic.
“I thought (Winnipeg) had a lot of chances in the first,” Ekman-Larsson said. “We kind of stuck with it and battled through and got some looks there at the end. It’s a really good team effort on that one.”
TOR@WPG: McMann buries Ekman-Larsson’s shot to tie it in the 3rd
Iafallo put the Jets up 1-0 at 2:23 of the second period when he tipped a point shot from Logan Stanley from the edge of the left face-off circle.
“We know that they’re a big heavy team,” Toronto coach Craig Berube said. “They do a really good job of tipping pucks and getting into a battle around the net. But I thought our guys competed extremely hard tonight.”
Connor pushed the lead to 2-0 at 8:59. He skated the puck out of the right corner and roofed it over the left shoulder of Hildeby on the near side.
“We’ve just got to find a way to close those games (out),” Niederreiter said. “Obviously, we tried our best to block shots and make sure [Hellebuyck] sees most of the pucks. We’ve just got to continue playing more aggressive, don’t be afraid of making mistakes and don’t try to defend something when we don’t have to. That’s something we have to learn.”
Matthews cut the deficit to 2-1 just 23 seconds later at 9:22. Domi collected the puck behind the net and fed a pass into the slot to Matthews, who beat Hellebuyck on the blocker side.
“He was good all game,” Berube said of Matthews. “He was skating and attacking all game. He had his legs, and that line was really good for us. But it was a good team effort. I thought everybody contributed and did a good job tonight.”
TOR@WPG: Matthews whips in a wicked wrister off the post to put the Maple Leafs on the board
Domi said, “Every guy in this locker room believes [Matthews] is one of the best players in the world, we know that. He’s leading the ship, he’s our captain and he’s our best player, so he’s laying it on the line every night and leading the way.”
Niederreiter extended it to 3-1 2:28 into the third. Luke Schenn‘s slap shot from the blue line deflected off Namestnikov and rebounded off Hildeby in front, where Niederreiter then swiped the puck in for his first goal in 22 games.
“Everything is a lot harder when you lose hockey games,” Niederreiter said. “That’s the worst part about when you’re in a slump and you don’t score goals and you lose also. That makes things a lot more difficult. Lately, we’ve been winning hockey games, so that makes things easier on yourself to not worry too much about it. So it definitely makes things easier, but at the same time, it’s definitely mentally challenging.”
Winnipeg forward Jonathan Toews hit the post and crossbar when batting a rebound in the slot with 1:51 remaining in the third.
“I liked a lot of what we did, the compete level was there,” Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey said. “We had some looks, I thought, to make it, maybe get four on board for us at different points. I felt like we were maybe a little bit sitting back in the third at points in time. So obviously you want to keep attacking and not let them get into their offensive game. But just little things, like I said, we hit a post on that power play at the end. I mean, that’s a difference maker, little things like that. So we did a lot of good things. It just would have been nice to find a way to get two (points).”
NOTES: The Maple Leafs recorded their seventh third-period comeback win of the season, the second-most in the NHL this season behind the Golden Knights (eight). They also became the seventh team to rally from a third-period multigoal deficit to win multiple times this season. Ekman-Larsson has six points (one goal, five assists) in his past four games. … Matthews has six points (three goals, three assists) in his past five games.
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