The Toronto Maple Leafs looked like quite literally the worst hockey team on earth through the first 40 minutes of Monday night’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. And they won the game 4-3.

In their second NHL on Prime game of the season, the Pittsburgh Penguins came out of the gates and outclassed the Leafs in every respect. They controlled the puck in both ends, they outshot them and subsequently outscored them, going into the third period with a 3-0 lead. The Leafs were chasing the puck throughout the entirety of the first two periods and it was quickly looking like an early contender for worst game of the season, which is saying something considering how poorly the month of October went by their standards. Hell, there came a point where “Let’s go Blue Jays” chants erupted from the stands, despite the Jays’ season ending on Saturday.

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

There are two stars in this game, to me, one of them obvious and one of them less obvious. Anthony Stolarz stood tall and gave the Leafs the stability they needed to claw back into the game after fumbling the first two frames, and as the Penguins controlled play 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 his legs from the start of the game. When the Leafs were struggling to generate anything, he was making life hard 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 eventually rewarded with an assist for his work setting up McMann’s game-winner.

The Maple Leafs will be back in action on Wednesday night when they host the Utah Mammoth, looking to secure their third victory in a row.