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Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins (Amy Irvin / The Hockey Writers)

Maple Leafs’ 3rd Period Comeback Leads Them Past the Penguins 4-3

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers
By Spencer Lazary | Last updated Nov 3, 2025 10:25 PM ET

The Toronto Maple Leafs and Pittsburgh Penguins meet for the first time of the 2025-26 season tonight on Prime Monday Night Hockey.

The Penguins come into this game as the second-best team in the Metro Division and are looking to continue collecting points early in the season. As for the Maple Leafs, they are in a three-way tie for last in the Atlantic Division and need to build off the strong game they had against the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday.

It is a battle of stars. Who will win? Find out below in the game recap.

Game Recap

1st Period:

The first period started with a good amount of pace through the first five minutes. There were barely any stoppages, which got both teams into the game quickly and helped speed up the pace. The first real scoring chance of the game came just shy of the 12-minute mark when Sidney Crosby picked off a pass and chipped it over the blue line to Evgeni Malkin, but he redirected it wide. After that, both sides traded chances but the game remained scoreless.

Erik Karlsson broke the ice with 6:52 left in the first. He got a beautiful pass from Crosby, who sent it across the ice. That allowed Karlsson to walk in and rip it over the shoulder of Anthony Stolarz for his first goal of the season. After a power play (PP) chance, the Maple Leafs failed to score. Moments later, the Penguins found the back of the net again but it was reviewed to confirm it was a good goal. After the review, the goal stood, giving Pittsburgh a 2-0 lead, which they took to the intermission.

2nd Period:

The second frame was easily one of the worst periods of the Maple Leafs season. They looked very disconnected, turned over a ton of pucks, and couldn’t get traction. The Penguins worked hard to expose that. They used their speed to get into the offensive zone and remained there for most of the period.

The Penguins carried play for almost 12 straight minutes in the second, and it resulted in Ben Kindel scoring his second goal of the game, pushing the lead to 3-0. After the goal, the Maple Leafs looked like they were just skating around chasing pucks with no real pushback. Closer to the end of the second, the Maple Leafs generated a few on-the-fly chances but couldn’t capitalize, and the period ended with them down 3-0, booed off the ice.

3rd Period:

As the third period started, the Maple Leafs were looking to turn things around and at least score a goal. They had eight shots after 40 minutes, and within the first two minutes, they had two. It did not take long after their surge in play. Auston Matthews, someone who had been quiet for much of the game, broke behind the Penguins’ defensemen off a faceoff and beat Tristan Jarry through the five-hole to cut the lead to two.

Auston Matthews and William Nylander of the Toronto Maple Leafs (Jess Starr/The Hockey Writers)

Quickly after that, William Nylander caught a flying puck in the offensive zone and backhanded it over Jarry to cut the lead to just one with less than five minutes into the frame. In a crazy turn of events, Nylander sent a long-range shot that beat Jarry to tie the game at 3-3. After Craig Berube stacked the top line, the momentum swung, allowing Toronto to score three goals in a span of 3:24 to take the lead. The Maple Leafs didn’t stop there. Bobby McMann buried a second effort to give them a 4-3 lead in a shocking turn. The Penguins pulled their goalie with just over two minutes left, but had no luck and Toronto took the game 4-3.