There hasn’t been a lot that’s gone the Toronto Maple Leafs‘ way through the first two months of the season. They’ve grinded through injuries and poor play, and though there have been some encouraging signs as of late, the club has been unable to pull itself out of the gutter. The message from the coaching staff has been that they need to be more consistent with their effort, but that mantra can grow tiresome when the effort doesn’t lead to positive results. Despite their recent struggles, the Leafs continued to grind it out on the road in Columbus on Wednesday night, and their goaltender led the way as they were finally rewarded with a crucial two points.

The return of Auston Matthews, Matthew Knies, and Nicolas Roy was a welcome spark for the Leafs, but the reinforcements were unable to get going early in the game as the Leafs were forced to kill off three penalties in the opening frame. The Blue Jackets’ power play ranks near the bottom of the league, and the Leafs did well to withstand the early disadvantage, but it led to a disjointed bench for head coach Craig Berube, making it difficult for the Leafs to generate much in the way of momentum.

To their credit, the Leafs did their best to stick with it through the early penalty troubles, and they came out strong in the second period, as Max Domi looked to be finding some chemistry with Matthews. The newly formed third line of Roy, Nick Robertson, and Bobby McMann created pressure on the forecheck before John Tavares, William Nylander, and Easton Cowan came over the boards to generate a couple of quality chances of their own. The Leafs were unable to cash in on those chances, and it wasn’t long before the Blue Jackets went back the other way, with Zach Werenski jumping into the rush to beat Joseph Woll. The Leafs would catch a much-needed break, however, as Kent Johnson was ahead of the play by an inch, taking the goal off the board.

The two teams traded chances to begin the third, with both Woll and Jet Greaves holding their ground. Woll, in particular, was forced to make a number of highlight reel saves to keep the game tied before he was finally beaten by Werenski once again as Columbus took the first lead of the game with less than seven minutes remaining in the third period. It was a deflating blow for the Leafs, who had generated their share of chances while their own goaltender stood on his head in a game they desperately needed to have.

But adversity is nothing new for the 2025-26 Leafs, and they continued to push as the third period was winding down. With just over three minutes left on the clock, Tavares made a great second effort to keep a puck alive for Nylander behind the net, and Nylander found Cowan at the side of the net to tie the game. It was a pretty finish for the rookie forward, but the goal was the result of yet another hardworking play by Tavares.

It wasn’t smooth sailing from there, either, and Woll needed to come up big once again with a pair of clutch stops immediately after his club had drawn even. He was tested again in overtime, and his final stop of the game was his 35th of the night, before Nylander found some space at the end of a long shift and fired home the game-winner.

It was far from a picture-perfect performance by the Leafs on Wednesday night, but this is the exact type of win that can help a team pull itself out of a difficult stretch. There was a lot to like about the way they were able to create quality looks around the opposing net, and though Woll had to be their best player, the Leafs also did a good job of keeping a lot of shots to the outside.

When a team has struggled as much as the Leafs have so far this season, sometimes they just need an ugly one to right the ship. They still have a long way to go to get where they want to be, but they just needed something to feel good about at this point.