Knee Jerk Reaction: Maple Leafs turn worst start to season into explosive comeback win

In their second NHL on Prime game of the season, the Pittsburgh Penguins came out of the gate and outscored the Leafs in every aspect. They controlled the puck on both sides, outplayed them and then outscored them, entering the third period with a 3-0 lead. The Leafs chased the puck for the entire first two periods and quickly looked like an early contender for the worst game of the season, which is saying something considering how poorly the month of October went by their standards. There came a point when “Let’s go Blue Jays” chants erupted from the stands, despite the fact that the Jays’ season ended Saturday.

Then came the third period, and a much-needed four-minute stretch where the Leafs scored three goals to tie the game thanks to a breakaway goal from Auston Matthews and two markers for William Nylander. Immediately after the third goal came what could have been a momentum-killing penalty from Sammy Blais, but the Leafs survived and eventually got a game-winning goal from Bobby McMann to lead them to victory.

There are two stars in this game for me, one obvious and one less obvious. Anthony Stolarz stood tall and gave the Leafs the stability they needed to get back into the game after fumbling the first two frames, and with the Penguins controlling the game in the final few minutes, he made a number of crucial saves and finished the game with 34 saves on 37 shots.

The less obvious star is Nick Robertson, who didn’t have a multi-point night like Nylander or Matthews, but he was the only player who had legs from the start of the game. When the Leafs were struggling to generate anything, he made things difficult for the Penguins when he didn’t have the puck, which is exactly why he keeps getting opportunities in the top six under Craig Berube. And he was ultimately rewarded with an assist for his work in setting up McMann’s game winner.

The Maple Leafs return to action on Wednesday night when they host the Utah Mammoth, looking for their third straight win.

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