Leafs Find Way To Win Against Penguins

The Toronto Maple Leafs were starving for a victory prior to the three-day Christmas break, and while their 6-3 win over the struggling Pittsburgh Penguins was far from perfect, the club is at the point where they will take the two points anyway they can get them, especially after the dismissal of assistant coach Marc Savard and the vote of confidence given to head coach Craig Berube by GM Brad Treliving. 

“I want to make it clear, I support Craig fully. When you go through the tough stretches, whether it be the coach or the manager, that’s part of the business.” Treliving said on Tuesday afternoon. “One of the narratives coming out there is a disconnect between the coach and I.. There isn’t a disconnect. We all have to be better. We all recognize that. But I think we’ve got a real good coach. We’ve got to just continue to work together with the players and find our way out of it”.

The Leafs circled the wagons against the Penguins on Tuesday afternoon, playing well early and taking a 3-1 lead on goals from William Nylander, Matias Maccelli, and Steven Lorentz, but Toronto allowed Pittsburgh to ties the game early in the third before Max Domi scored the game-winner with 8:25 left and pulled away with two empty netters. Joseph Woll made 29 saves for the victory, ending the Leafs three-game losing streak and pulling them out of the Eastern Conference basement. 

Nylander had his best night of the season, with two goals and two assists, ending his 11-game goalless drought, and Toronto was more stout defensively with the return of Chris Tanev, who played for the first time since being injured against Philadelphia on November 1, and Jake McCabe – who led the club in ice time (24:26) and went +5 in the contest. While the most important thing was two points, the play of Auston Matthews continues to be a concern. The Leafs team captain matched up against Sidney Crosby and limited him to an assist, but Matthews went without a point for the fourth straight game.

Toronto continues to be in a dire situation regarding their chances of getting back into the playoff race. The win has them six points in back of third place Tampa Bay in the Atlantic Division, and five points behind Florida for the final wildcard spot. The Leafs need to string together a lengthy win streak as Buffalo has done over the last two weeks to get within striking distance, but even after winning seven in a row, the Sabres are not in a playoff spot. That should illustrate how challenging the hole Toronto is in. 

After the Christmas break, the Leafs play at home against Ottawa on Saturday, and in the second of back-to-back in Detroit against the first-place Red Wings.