William Nylander scored at 4:06 of overtime and the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the visiting St. Louis Blues 3-2 Tuesday night to end a five-game losing streak.
John Tavares started the play when three Blues converged on him along the boards. He kicked the puck to Morgan Rielly, who passed to Nylander who made a series of nifty moves before stuffing the puck into the goal.
Jake McCabe and Steven Lorentz also scored for the Maple Leafs. Joseph Woll, making his second start of the season, recorded 27 saves.
High-scoring Toronto forward Matthew Knies (lower-body injury) was a late scratch.
Nathan Walker and Dalibor Dvorsky scored for the Blues, who have lost two straight.
Jordan Binnington stopped 26 shots in the opener of a five-game road trip for the Blues.
Walker was given credit for the goal at 1:50 of the first period when Nylander inadvertently batted the puck into his own net.
McCabe flicked a fluttering point shot through traffic that found the top right corner to tie the game at 5:36 of the first.
The Maple Leafs took the lead at 9:32 of the second period. Lorentz had just left the bench on the transition and was unchecked when he accepted a pass from Samuel Blais and scored from the left circle.
St. Louis tied the game on a power play at 13:18 of the second. Robert Thomas made a cross-ice pass to Dvorsky who scored on a one-timer from the right circle. McCabe was serving a tripping penalty.
Woll was kept busy late in the second period and made at least one key save to keep the game tied entering the third.
As the game wore on the Maple Leafs were having trouble getting the puck out of their own end, which has been a recurring problem. However, they were able to hold off a Blues’ power play opportunity early in the third period.
Blues defenseman Justin Faulk played in his 1,000th career game. He is playing in his seventh season for St. Louis after eight in Carolina.
–Field Level Media
