Domi breaks tie in 3rd, sparks Maple Leafs past Penguins to stop skid

Max Domi broke a tie at 11:35 of the third period, and the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-3 at Scotiabank Arena on Tuesday.

Domi, who also had an assist, carried the puck through the neutral zone with the teams at 4-on-4, got around Brett Kulak at the top of the left face-off circle and shot past Stuart Skinner’s blocker to give Toronto a 4-3 lead. The goal, Domi’s fourth of the season in his 34th game, ended a 23-game drought.

“That was nasty, flying, dipsy-doodling. It was a huge goal for us too,” Maple Leafs forward William Nylander said. “It was great, a lot of fun to watch.”

Bobby McMann scored into an empty net at 17:57 to make it 5-3, and Nylander added an empty-net goal at 18:36 for the 6-3 final.

Nylander had two goals and two assists in ending an 11-game goal drought, and Joseph Woll made 29 saves for the Maple Leafs (16-15-5), who had lost three in a row, all coming during a road trip when they were outscored 14-4.

“I thought our game got better after the first (period),” Toronto coach Craig Berube said. “Second period was really good. We scored tonight. That’s the difference. We scored goals tonight. It was good to see Willy do what he did tonight and other guys, Max too.

“[The win] is a boost. You’re going to have a better Christmas I guess, if you like Christmas.”

Bryan Rust, Rutger McGroarty and Anthony Mantha scored, and Skinner made 25 saves for the Penguins (15-12-9), who are 1-5-4 in their past 10. Sidney Crosby had an assist, giving him 1,080 in his career to pass Adam Oates for eighth in NHL history.

“The chances we gave up were big ones,” Pittsburgh coach Dan Muse said. “There was a lot we could have controlled to not allow those type of chances, and it ended up factoring in in a big way in the game.”

Pittsburgh appeared to go up 1-0 at 7:26 of the first period, but the goal was disallowed after Toronto successfully challenged for goaltender interference. It was determined that Justin Brazeau had pushed Woll’s pad before jamming the puck in during a scramble in the crease.

The Maple Leafs then went ahead 1-0 at 9:07. Nylander knocked down a pass attempt by Kevin Hayes at the defensive blue line and put a backhand past Skinner’s outstretched right pad on a breakaway.

“We didn’t play a bad game by any means,” Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson said. “We just got punished when we made big mistakes, and that’s what a good team does to you sometimes. They did that to us today. … Tough loss, one that probably looks a little more lopsided on the score sheet than it actually was.”

Rust tied it 1-1 on a breakaway at 9:51, taking a pass from Crosby in the neutral zone and scoring with a backhand past Woll’s blocker.

Matias Maccelli gave the Maple Leafs a 2-1 lead at 13:34. His shot from the left side deflected in off Penguins defenseman Parker Wotherspoon in the slot.

Woll kept it a one-goal game at 19:44 when he made a left pad save on Mantha’s slap shot from above the left hash marks after the forward intercepted Chris Tanev’s clearing attempt from behind the net.

“I gave someone a Christmas present in front. Luckily Joe snagged it away,” Tanev said.

Steven Lorentz pushed it to 3-1 at 7:38 of the second period. After stealing the puck from Karlsson in the defensive zone and going in on a breakaway, Lorentz jammed in a second rebound past Skinner’s outstretched left pad.

“I was telling ‘E.K.’ because I played with him in San Jose, he juked me out in the first period and I told him I’d get him back,” Lorentz said. “I was fortunate to strip him and I think he must have blown a tire because he’s pretty quick and I left him in the dust there.”

Muse said he felt the Penguins did not manage the puck well on several plays that led to goals.

“We got caught trying to make some plays in high ice,” Muse said. “Whenever there is pressure up high, [we] also [need to] have somebody else ready to back that up.”

McGroarty cut it to 3-2 at 11:43. He intercepted Troy Stecher’s clearing attempt and shot over Woll’s glove from above the right circle.

Mantha tied it 3-3 at 1:00 of the third, one-timing a pass from Wotherspoon at the point.

“It’s been tough,” Domi said, “but when you go through tough spells like this, it makes you stronger as a group and I think we did a good job of having everyone going tonight.”