Toronto secured the extra point with an overtime winner from an unlikely hero, dampening the Penguins playoff hopes.
After clinching the playoffs a couple days prior, the Blue and White are trying to make up ground to steal second place in the division from the Florida Panthers, the team they are most likely facing in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
On the other hand, the Penguins are a team hungry for playoff contention, sitting one point back of the second wild-card team as of April 10. The Pens, despite the record-breaking effort from their captain Sidney Crosby, face missing the playoffs for the second time in as many years.
Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said before the game his team needed to keep up with the competition the Penguins were expected to bring.
“The challenge, of course, is going to be on us to match their urgency level,” he said. “Knowing that the other team is coming in here with a real purpose, and our purpose has to remain in playing a good, sound game.”
From the moment the puck was dropped, the desire from the Pens was evident as they were quicker to every puck, outshooting the Leafs 10 to five through 20 minutes.
The constant pressure ended up being too much as, with just under two minutes left in the first period, second-line right winger Rickard Rakell netted a spinning wrist shot that beat Ilya Samsonov’s glove side in the game’s first goal.
The second period was more even ice as the Leafs pushed back.
After an icing from a tired Pittsburgh group, the Leafs would strike with defenceman T.J Brodie finding third-line left winger Matthew Knies in front of the crease tipping the puck past Pens goalie Alex Nedeljkovic to even the score at one apiece.
As the period moved into its latter stages, penalties for the Blue and White would pile up. The Leafs killed off three minor penalties in the second, and five through the game.
The Leafs looked determined to find that go-ahead goal as the third period commenced.
An Erik Karlsson penalty about a minute into the third period gave Toronto their second powerplay of the evening, and they struck quickly.
A faceoff win from Leaf’s captain John Tavares went straight to Matthews, and he wired a shot that beat Nedeljkovic’s low glove side giving the Leafs a needed two-to-one lead.
The goal gave Matthews his 65th on the year, tying him with Alexander Ovechkin for most goals in a season by an active player.
The Penguins continued to fight and their efforts were rewarded with just over five and a half minutes left in the game.
A shot from the point caused a scramble in front of the Leafs net and Pens winger Drew O’Connor shoved home the rebound to even the game.
The next quarter period went back and forth, but neither team could find a way to change the score as the third period waned.
In overtime, both sides were determined to get that extra point.
With 1:30 gone in the overtime period, Toronto stole the game as Matthews found Jake McCabe streaking to the net and the defenceman slotted the puck past Nedeljkovic giving the Leafs a 3-2 victory.
The win also meant taking the season series for Toronto against former Leafs general manager, Kyle Dubas.
After the game, McCabe acknowledged the team was slow to start, but thankfully found their rhythm to get the job done.
“I thought our start was flat,” he said. “We responded well in the second. I liked our game to start the third, too. They (got) one by us but Sammy (Ilya Samsonov) was awesome all night for us so it was nice to get one back for him.”
Similarly, Keefe said his team showed great poise to muster the second point from the game.
“I thought we played a pretty good game, we didn’t give up very much,” he said.
“We didn’t get enough offence, and because we didn’t get enough offence we didn’t get the regulation win but I liked a lot of things about the game and then the overtime, I thought the guys handled that well, too, to get the second point,” Keefe said.
The Leafs now have 99 points, three points back of the Florida Panthers for second in the Atlantic division while the Penguins are tied with Detroit with 84 points trying to take the second wildcard spot.