Finding different ways to win has been a hallmark of Craig Berube&#8217;s Toronto Maple Leafs this season, and after sticking with it for an overtime win in a tightly contested game against the New Jersey Devils on Thursday night, the Leafs battled back in a different way to steal two points from the surging Montreal Canadiens.
From the opening faceoff, the Bell Centre was rocking in a matchup between the Original Six rivals, and the home crowd seemed to energize the Canadiens, who took it to the Leafs in the opening frame. The Leafs struggled to match their pace in the early going, and the Canadiens took an early lead on a delayed penalty.
Despite Joseph Woll&#8217;s best efforts, the suddenly scorching Habs looked like they were ready to run away with the game after a pair of late goals put them ahead 3-0 after twenty minutes. A three-goal deficit has proven to be a more daunting task for this year&#8217;s Leafs than it was for past iterations, but after they showed signs of life in a back-and-forth win over the Devils, they proved on Saturday that they&#8217;re still capable of kicking it into high gear to mount a furious comeback.
The Leafs found their legs in the second period, and after Bobby McMann got them on the board nearly midway through the frame, they went at the Canadiens with a sense of urgency in the offensive end that we haven&#8217;t seen enough of this season. Nick Robertson made it a game again with a power play marker late in the second, and it was all Leafs from there.
First, it was William Nylander with an outstanding effort to earn himself a breakaway goal. Then it was Oliver Ekman-Larsson who gave the Leafs their first lead on the power play before Auston Matthews scored his first career shorthanded goal to make it 5-3. Steven Lorentz salted it away on a gorgeous setup from Ekman-Larsson, and David Kämpf added an empty netter for good measure.
It was the Leafs&#8217; big guns who took charge on Thursday against New Jersey, but it was a complete team effort in Saturday&#8217;s comeback against the Canadiens, as Toronto managed seven unanswered goals from seven different players. Following an ugly three-game stretch, the Leafs have answered some lingering concerns with a pair of impressive comebacks, one fuelled by their stars and another by committee as the team continues to search for consistent secondary scoring.
On top of the offensive outburst, Woll was outstanding, even in a game where he was beaten three times. The score could have been even uglier after the first period if not for him, and he shut the door the rest of the way, making several highlight-reel saves to allow his team the opportunity to take over the game and come away with two points.
Sure, Berube and the Leafs would prefer to start the game a lot better and not have to chase things offensively, but it isn&#8217;t going to be perfect every night, and it&#8217;s important that the Leafs can still lean into their strengths with a group of talented offensive players when they need to. Finding a way to balance Berube&#8217;s defensive system and north-south brand of hockey with the dynamic skill his lineup possesses remains the primary objective for the rest of the regular season, and that skill showed up in a big way for the Leafs on Saturday night.
Good teams find ways to win when things aren&#8217;t perfect, and it wasn&#8217;t perfect for the Leafs on Saturday by any means, but the way their offensive attack has come alive in the last two games is an extremely encouraging sign for a team that has struggled to score far too often this season.

Finding different ways to win has been a hallmark of Craig Berube's Toronto Maple Leafs this season, and after sticking with it for an overtime win in a tightly contested game against the New Jersey Devils on Thursday night, the Leafs battled back in a different way to steal two points from the surging Montreal Canadiens.

From the opening faceoff, the Bell Centre was rocking in a matchup between the Original Six rivals, and the home crowd seemed to energize the Canadiens, who took it to the Leafs in the opening frame. The Leafs struggled to match their pace in the early going, and the Canadiens took an early lead on a delayed penalty.

Despite Joseph Woll's best efforts, the suddenly scorching Habs looked like they were ready to run away with the game after a pair of late goals put them ahead 3-0 after twenty minutes. A three-goal deficit has proven to be a more daunting task for this year's Leafs than it was for past iterations, but after they showed signs of life in a back-and-forth win over the Devils, they proved on Saturday that they're still capable of kicking it into high gear to mount a furious comeback.

The Leafs found their legs in the second period, and after Bobby McMann got them on the board nearly midway through the frame, they went at the Canadiens with a sense of urgency in the offensive end that we haven't seen enough of this season. Nick Robertson made it a game again with a power play marker late in the second, and it was all Leafs from there.

First, it was William Nylander with an outstanding effort to earn himself a breakaway goal. Then it was Oliver Ekman-Larsson who gave the Leafs their first lead on the power play before Auston Matthews scored his first career shorthanded goal to make it 5-3. Steven Lorentz salted it away on a gorgeous setup from Ekman-Larsson, and David Kämpf added an empty netter for good measure.

It was the Leafs' big guns who took charge on Thursday against New Jersey, but it was a complete team effort in Saturday's comeback against the Canadiens, as Toronto managed seven unanswered goals from seven different players. Following an ugly three-game stretch, the Leafs have answered some lingering concerns with a pair of impressive comebacks, one fuelled by their stars and another by committee as the team continues to search for consistent secondary scoring.

On top of the offensive outburst, Woll was outstanding, even in a game where he was beaten three times. The score could have been even uglier after the first period if not for him, and he shut the door the rest of the way, making several highlight-reel saves to allow his team the opportunity to take over the game and come away with two points.

Sure, Berube and the Leafs would prefer to start the game a lot better and not have to chase things offensively, but it isn't going to be perfect every night, and it's important that the Leafs can still lean into their strengths with a group of talented offensive players when they need to. Finding a way to balance Berube's defensive system and north-south brand of hockey with the dynamic skill his lineup possesses remains the primary objective for the rest of the regular season, and that skill showed up in a big way for the Leafs on Saturday night.

Good teams find ways to win when things aren't perfect, and it wasn't perfect for the Leafs on Saturday by any means, but the way their offensive attack has come alive in the last two games is an extremely encouraging sign for a team that has struggled to score far too often this season.

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