The Toronto Maple Leafs will take the momentum of a seven-goal outburst into their home game against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday night.
Toronto fell behind 3-0 to the host Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night before coming back to win 7-3, scoring five times in the third period.
“It was a big game for both teams,” Toronto coach Craig Berube said. “Montreal’s been playing extremely well and it showed in the first period, but we got our feet under us and started playing the right way and doing the right things. It was a great comeback win from the guys. Our goaltender led the way, in my opinion.”
Joseph Woll made 32 saves.
The Lightning are coming off a 5-1 home victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday.
Nikita Kucherov and Jake Guentzel each had a goal and two assists. Kucherov became the second Lightning player to reach 600 career assists; teammate Victor Hedman has 601 assists, reaching the 600 plateau in the previous game.
Kucherov extended his points streak to eight games (four goals, 10 assists).
“There’s not enough time to talk about what Kuch has meant to this organization and this league, quite frankly,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “He’s a generational player and hopefully we’ll get to see hundreds more of those. That’s just an elite player being special.”
The Maple Leafs also were doing something special in Montreal.
According to NHL Stats, the Maple Leafs scored seven unanswered goals for the first time since Dec. 16, 2023 in a 7-0 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins. They had scored seven or more unanswered goals three times previously in their long rivalry with the Canadiens, but not since 1942.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson had a goal and two assists to lead the Maple Leafs, who have won two in a row after losing three straight.
Auston Matthews had his first career short-handed goal in the third period after taking a four-minute minor in the first.
“Felt pretty good. I mean, (Saturday) wasn’t my best night, especially that first period,” Matthews said. “This has been a tough building for us in the last couple years, and that first period was tough. So, I think it’s just a testament to the guys we got in the room. There’s a no-quit mentality.”
Even when they were down 3-0 after one period, the Maple Leafs remained upbeat.
“A lot of positivity, honestly,” said Bobby McMann, who had a goal and an assist. “Recognizing that we weren’t playing our game, and we were not playing up to how we should be. Realizing that we’re a really good team, and we’ve shown it many times this year. And if we stick with our plan, we’re going to come out on top.”
The Lightning will open a four-game road trip on Monday having won three of four. They have lost twice to the Maple Leafs this season — 5-2 on the road on Oct. 21 and 5-3 at home on Nov. 30.
Tampa Bay was 2-for-3 on the power play against Detroit.
“I like our personnel,” said Darren Raddysh, who had a goal and an assist on the power play. “I think we’ve got a lot of good guys that can move the puck around and shoot. Whoever’s out there, I think is pretty confident to get the job done.”
–Field Level Media
