Domi ties it early in 3rd for Toronto; Tolopilo makes 39 saves for Vancouver
Maple Leafs at Canucks | Recap
VANCOUVER — William Nylander scored in the shootout in his return from injury, and the Toronto Maple Leafs ended a six-game skid with a 3-2 win against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena on Saturday.
Nylander, who missed the previous seven games with a groin injury, scored on a backhand deke in the first round of the tiebreaker before Auston Matthews, who was stopped on a penalty shot with 1:14 left in overtime, scored the clinching goal in the second round.
TOR@VAN: Matthews, Nylander score as Maple Leafs win in shootout
Matthews cut in off the right wing both times, but after being stopped by Nikita Tolopilo cutting across the crease to the blocker side in the extra period, he deked back the other way and lifted a backhand past Tolopilo’s outstretched glove in the shootout.
“I came down with an idea what I wanted to do, and it obviously didn’t work out but coming down that first time, I was just going to stick to my guns, but I thought there was some room there on that glove side,” Matthews said. “Luckily, I got that second opportunity in the shootout, and I didn’t want to make that mistake twice.”
Max Domi scored the tying goal early in the third period, and Nicolas Roy also scored for the Maple Leafs (25-21-9), who had lost eight of nine (1-6-2). Joseph Woll made 28 saves.
“Big to get back in the win column,” Woll said. “And I thought an unbelievable third period by us, really setting the tone for the rest of the game, overtime, and two big goals by our big dogs in the shootout and that’s a great win. From here on out, we need every game pretty badly, so it’s going to be playoff mindset.”
Tom Willander and Jonathan Lekkerimaki scored for the Canucks (18-31-6), who have two wins in their past 17 games (2-12-3). Tolopilo made 39 saves.
“I thought we had a bit of a rough third,” Willander said. “They did a good job keeping pressure, but I think effort was there. I think a lot of guys battled hard today.”
Lekkerimaki gave Vancouver a 1-0 lead at 1:55 of the second period after receiving a pass off the left boards from Liam Ohgren and snapping a quick shot short side over Woll’s blocker from the top left hash mark. It was Lekkerimaki’s first goal since the season opener on Oct. 9 in his 11th game of the season.
TOR@VAN: Lekkerimäki nets big wrister to open scoring
Elias Pettersson appeared to extend the Canucks’ lead at 5:59 from the right face-off circle on a quick low shot, but Toronto successfully challenged for goaltender interference when video review confirmed Vancouver forward Conor Garland made contact with Woll in the crease, preventing him from recovering for the shot.
Roy tied it 1-1 at 13:34 after Nicholas Robertson spun off Canucks defenseman P.O Joseph along the right boards before passing to Roy inside the top of the right circle for a one-timer that went past Tolopilo low on the far side. It was his first goal in 16 games.
“He’s playing with confidence,” Roy said of Robertson. “If you are open, he’s going to find you — a really good skater and he’s making plays all over. So really good pass on that play.”
Willander put Vancouver ahead 2-1 at 14:45, joining the rush for a cross-ice pass from Evander Kane off his skate to his stick before firing a shot back the other way under Woll’s blocker from just outside the right hash marks.
“I just try to follow the rush up and Kane made an amazing pass,” Willander said.
TOR@VAN: Willander drills one home after joining the rush
Toronto defenseman Morgan Rielly left with an upper-body injury at 14:45 of the second period and did not return. He will be reevaluated on Sunday, according to coach Craig Berube.
Despite being down to five defensemen, the Maple Leafs outshot the Canucks 18-5 in the third period and 5-4 during a back-and-forth overtime.
“As far as the five guys stepping up, I think in the third period we really didn’t give up much,” Woll said. “So they did a great job and that’s from the forwards all the way through the back end, we really locked it down I thought.”
Domi tied it 2-2 at 2:32 of the third period after a scrambled face-off in the offensive zone. Domi retrieved the puck out of a battle and quickly snapped a shot from just below the left dot that hit Tolopilo in the right shoulder before bouncing up off his back and in.
“Proud of the guys,” Domi said. “We all stuck with it, emptied the tank tonight and I mean, it’s a hard league, best league in the world, so it’s not easy to win. And when you’re in a funk like that, takes every guy, and we certainly had everyone going tonight. It’s a big win.”
TOR@VAN: Domi drills the puck home off the face-off
NOTES: Matthews’ assist on Domi’s goal was his 20th of the season, making him the fifth Maple Leafs player to post 10 consecutive seasons with that many since the start of their career. The others are Dave Keon (15), Reilly (13), Mats Sundin (13) and Borje Salming (12). It was also Matthews’ 248th career third-period point, passing George Armstrong (247) for the fourth most in team history. Mats Sundin (341), Darryl Sittler (317) and Keon (281) round out the top three. … It was the Maple Leafs’ first win in Vancouver since Dec. 10, 2019.
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