Leafs-Canadiens takeaways: Woll outstanding, a tale of two games in thrilling comeback victory

The third period was the diametric opposite of the first, as the Maple Leafs roared back and dominated the game from there onwards. William Nylander raced away on a breakaway to tie the game, Ekman-Larsson provided the Maple Leafs with their first lead of the night on a point shot on the power play, then Auston Matthews scored the first short-handed goal of his career as an insurance marker. Steven Lorentz and David Kampf added late goals in the third period, and the Maple Leafs defeated their primary rival convincingly.

Kampf’s empty-netter was scored after this preemptive tweet, for what it’s worth! Ekman-Larsson received the team belt, awarded to Toronto’s best or most impactful player in a winning effort.

Here are seven takeaways from a thrilling 7-3 victory over the Canadiens

• Joseph Woll was tremendous throughout the evening, and he was the sole reason why the Leafs even had a chance at engineering a comeback. Woll made several terrific stops on Cole Caufield throughout the evening, especially in the opening frame, and punctuated the win with a sensational stop on Nick Suzuki. He was alert from the opening minute, making a great stop on a cutting Mike Matheson during the second shift of the game, and though you could put him at fault for Josh Anderson’s goal, he was otherwise tremendous. There are several players that can be highlighted in this space, but the comeback is only possible because Woll was terrific throughout the night, as the Canadiens didn’t capitulate, despite Toronto’s seven unanswered goals.
• Bobby McMann was Toronto’s best skater throughout the first two periods, followed by Oliver Ekman-Larsson. We’re proponents of advanced metrics and expected goals in this space, but if you’re relying on the charts to analyze the first 40 minutes of this game, it would be a narrow view to account for what happened. McMann’s speed and opportunism put the Canadiens on their heels and he looked off William Nylander to get Toronto on the board. He helped spring Nylander loose for a breakaway on the game-tying goal, and rallied the team back into the contest.
• Ekman-Larsson was opportunistic, getting pucks to the net and was richly rewarded with the game-winning goal. He tossed a clever shot from the point that Nick Robertson redirected for Toronto’s second goal of the contest and frankly, his offensive contributions make the 20 shots he was on the ice for null and void. As a reward, Ekman-Larsson received another primary assist on Steven Lorentz’s 6-3 goal. He was on the ice for six Maple Leafs goals, with one against, and was tremendous during the latter 40 minutes of the game.
• Nylander’s commentary this week was prophetic: good teams find their way out of this, and the Maple Leafs shook off their worst period of the year to run over their historical rival at a hostile venue. Montreal was the NHL’s hottest team entering Saturday’s game and Toronto effectively defused its foe in 40 minutes. He amplified a renewed second line when Pontus Holmberg swapped spots with Max Domi at centre, entering the second period and was buzzing around the Bell Centre, with a team-best seven shots. There’s a tendency to overreact in this market, but Nylander always had his pulse on the team.
• While we’re here: Holmberg deserves a ton of credit, isolated from Nylander. He was terrific on the penalty kill, he drove the net hard and he trusted his instincts, which is important. You can often watch Holmberg overthinking on the ice, and he’s at this best when he adheres to simple principles. An inspired showing from Holmberg, while fighting for his place in the lineup. Holmberg clearly deserved the in-game promotion over Domi, who was outright negligent defensively, before settling down in the third period.  This isn’t meant to be too harsh towards Domi: after all, he was on the ice for three of Toronto’s seven goals.
• Auston Matthews and Matthew Knies weren’t always at their best, but I’m throwing out the poor first period sample. Knies, Matthews and Marner were largely outplayed, and Matthews’ double minor for high-sticking threatened to end the game preemptively. Matthews still finished with the first short-handed goal of his career, Marner set it up, finishing with two assists, while Knies added a primary assist on David Kampf’s empty-netter.
• Ryan Reaves challenged Arber Xhekaj to a fight at the end of the first period and the Canadiens’ enforcer declined. We don’t want to delve too much into the unquantifiable in this space, but it very well may have given the Leafs a bit of a spark after a lifeless first period. Reaves finished with an 89 percent share of the expected goals, which simply doesn’t match the eye test — it’s a function of him driving the net while Steven Lorentz and David Kampf kept pucks alive. Reaves may stay in the lineup Monday, but Fraser Minten should be the priority.