Auston Matthews scored the deciding goal in the shootout and the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the visiting Anaheim Ducks 4-3 on Wednesday night.
Matthews beat John Gibson to start the second round of the tiebreaker after Toronto's Jason Spezza and Anaheim's Trevor Zegras each scored in the first round.
William Nylander, Mitchell Marner and John Tavares each had a goal and an assist, and Matthews had two assists for the Maple Leafs, who scored all three of their regulation goals on the power play. It was Toronto's first home game after finishing a 3-2-1 road trip by defeating the New York Islanders 3-1 on Saturday.
Sam Steel had a goal and an assist, and Jakob Silfverberg and Vinni Lettieri each scored once for the Ducks, who are 1-0-1 after the first two games of a five-game trip.
The Ducks trailed 3-1 after Tavares scored his 16th goal of the season at 16:08 of the second period. But Silfverberg cut it to 3-2 at 17:21, and Lettieri's goal at 13:23 of the third made it 3-3.
Gibson made 41 saves to help Anaheim earn a point. Jack Campbell finished with 17 saves for Toronto.
Toronto allowed an early goal but led 2-1 after one period.
Steel was credited with his fifth goal of the season 2:46 into the game. After Campbell mishandled a rebound, Pierre Engvall tried to clear the puck from the crease but it bounced into the net off teammate Jason Spezza's skate.
Morgan Rielly set up Marner for his 10th goal of the season on a power play at 17:18. Marner scored on a one-timer with Troy Terry serving a hooking penalty.
Toronto took a 2-1 lead at 19:21 when Nylander converted a pass from behind the net by Tavares for his 17th goal of the season. Anaheim's Greg Pateryn was off for cross-checking.
Tavares put Toronto up by two when he scored on a shot from the left circle at 16:08 of the second period with the Maple Leafs skating 5-on-3.
Silfverberg left the penalty box to join the rush after a Toronto turnover and scored his third of the season on a rising shot past Campbell's glove, and Lettieri tied it when he deflected Kevin Shattenkirk's point shot past Campbell for his fifth goal of the season.
Toronto defenseman Timothy Liljegren (undisclosed) left the game in the first period and did not return.
--Field Level Media
Anaheim | Toronto | |
Sam Steel 2 | Points | Mitchell Marner 2 |
Sam Steel 1 | Goals | Mitchell Marner 1 |
Sam Steel 1 | Assists | Auston Matthews 2 |
N/A | Power Play Goals | Mitchell Marner 1 |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
John Gibson .932 | Save Percentage | Jack Campbell .850 |
John Gibson 41 | Saves | Jack Campbell 17 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Anaheim | 20 | 3 | 0-2 | 1-4 | 8 | 27 |
Toronto | 44 | 4 | 3-4 | 2-2 | 4 | 45 |