Steven Lorentz on Unexpected Referee Play That Gifted Maple Leafs the Win: 'I'll Take That...'

The play unfolded while Toronto was killing a penalty. Simon Benoit attempted to clear the puck, but his pass struck Sutherland, who had slipped while trying to avoid the puck. 

Instead of going down the ice, the puck landed in front of Lorentz’s field of view. Initially heading to the bench for a line change, Lorentz quickly reacted, gathered the loose puck, and fired a shot past Mackenzie Blackwood from the left face-off dot.

“I’m not too sure what happened with the ref,” Lorentz said. “I was trying to look to get a change, but then I saw him kind of go down a little bit and saw the puck squirt loose. 

"So I thought I might as well reroute and try and get a shot on net, and was fortunate enough to pick a corner, and the rest is history.”

The goal, which stood under NHL rules since the puck did not directly enter the net off the referee, gave Toronto a one-goal lead they would not relinquish.

Auston Matthews, after making history on Monday, opened the scoring for Toronto on the power play in the second period before Valeri Nichushkin tied the game minutes later. Joseph Woll preserved the win with 38 saves.

“I think it was just a gritty win,” Matthews said.

Following Wednesday's victory, the Maple Leafs are now tied with the Florida Panthers atop the Atlantic Division with 85 points and have won two straight after dropping five of their previous six games.

Toronto will play again on Thursday evening as they take on the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.