Maple Leafs blow two-goal lead in third but recover to defeat Senators
via NHL.com
Morgan Rielly scored the go-ahead goal for the Toronto Maple Leafs 9:12 into the third period of a 5-4 win against the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday.
“There were periods of the game where we felt really good about the way we were playing, but that being said, I think there were parts where we got away from our game plan a little bit,” Rielly said. “For the most part, there were some good things that happened, and the end result was obviously what you want.”
Rielly finished a give-and-go with Zach Hyman at the top of the crease after the Senators scored two straight goals early in the period to tie the game 4-4.
“[Rielly] made a great play skating and then got it to me,” Hyman said. “I just wanted to try to be like [Mitchell Marner] there. … I was just trying to get it backdoor, and it’s good [Rielly] was there and he put it in. I didn’t really think about it too much. I just wanted to put it in a space for him, he was driving hard.”
Hyman and John Tavares each had a goal and an assist, Andreas Johnsson and Auston Matthews scored, and Marner had two assists for the Maple Leafs (33-17-3), who have won three games in a row. Frederik Andersen made 39 saves.
Magnus Paajarvi scored two goals, Matt Duchene and Thomas Chabot scored, and Jean-Gabriel Pageau had two assists for the Senators (19-29-5), who have lost five straight. Craig Anderson made 25 saves.
“I thought we had momentum for a good portion of the game, but we made a couple mistakes and they made us pay, and that was all the momentum they needed,” Anderson said. “We came out flying in the third, got it back to 4-4, but we made a couple mistakes and they made good on their chances.”
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Mitch Marner hit the 45-assist mark for the 2nd consecutive season becoming the first @MapleLeafs player to record consecutive 45-assist seasons since Mats Sundin and Tomas Kaberle (2005-08), who each accomplished the feat in three straight seasons. #NHLStats pic.twitter.com/Pjr54cxXm1
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Leafs come out on top in tonight's back-and-forth fight.
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