Matthews plays overtime hero as Maple Leafs solve Hellebuyck
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Buds snap three-game losing streak to close out first half
Author of the article:
Terry Koshan
Publishing date:
Mar 11, 2021 • 23 minutes ago • 4 minute read • 
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Maple Leafs’ Auston Matthews (left) is congratulated by teammates Mitch Marner ((centre) and Morgan Rielly after scoring the game-winning goal during overtime against the Winnipeg Jets in Toronto on Thursday, March 11, 2021. Photo by FRANK GUNN /TORONTO SUN Article content
As it turned out, the Maple Leafs weren’t cursing Connor Hellebuyck’s name well into the night for the second time in 48 hours.
On Thursday at Scotiabank Arena, the Leafs finally got the better of the Winnipeg Jets goaltender, scoring twice in the third period and then in overtime to win 4-3.
Auston Matthews scored the deciding goal at 59 seconds of the extra period, taking a pass from Morgan Rielly and lifting the puck high over Hellebuyck with a backhand.
Toronto outshot Winnipeg 36-26 through three periods and had the only shot in overtime.
The Leafs snapped their three-game losing streak, the first time they had lost three in a row in regulation in the Sheldon Keefe era.
Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck thwarts Maple Leafs’ William Nylander during the second period on Thursday, March 11, 2021. FRANK GUNN/THE CANADIAN PRESS
The match completed the first half of the 56-game regular season for Toronto.
Toronto has compiled a record of 19-7-2 and 40 points and sits in first place in the North Division; the Jets were in third with a record of 16-8-2 and 34 points.
The Leafs and Jets will complete their three-game set on Saturday.
Winnipeg tied the game 3-3 with Hellebuyck on the bench in favour of an extra skater, when Paul Stastny deflected a Nikolaj Ehlers shot past Frederik Andersen at 17:34.
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Toronto appeared to be on the way to another frustrating conclusion thanks to Hellebuyck, the reigning Vezina Trophy winner.
Hellebuyck was lights out through 40 minutes, this after he was the difference in a 4-3 Jets win against the Leafs on Tuesday.
The Leafs, however, were determined as they entered the third trailing 2-1.
Ilya Mikheyev scored the go-ahead goal at 12:39, taking a pass from Alex Kerfoot, who was stationed behind the net. The play began with a nifty no-look pass from Pierre Engvall to Kerfoot, and Mikheyev, who has had glorious scoring chances in seemingly every game, let his joy show after his fourth of the season.
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The Leafs tied the game at 6:31 of the third, scoring their second goal on their 31st shot.
Captain John Tavares turned Jets defenceman Derek Forbort inside-out and then passed to William Nylander, who quickly snapped a shot Hellebuyck.
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Keefe shuffled his lines toward the end of the first period and went to some more re-tooling to start the second.
Joe Thornton has looked slow recently playing with Matthews and Mitch Marner, and Keefe replaced Thornton with Zach Hyman on the line.
Thornton was put with Tavares and Nylander, and Kerfoot, who had produced next to nothing on the left side of Tavares, was dropped to the third line with Engvall and Mikheyev.
The moves resulted in a Leafs goal early in the second, coming when Marner got a backhand past Hellebuyck at 3:14 after a Matthews tip.
Hellebuyck buckled down. He stopped Hyman on a breakaway, got a glove on a TJ Brodie shot, stopped Nylander at the doorstep and thwarted Marner despite having lost his stick.
In the midst of the Hellebuyck wizardry in the flurry of Leafs high-danger chances, Ehlers took a pass from Kyle Connor on a 2-on-1 and ripped the puck past Frederik Andersen, scoring with a shot that few goalies in the NHL would have stopped.
That came at 10:50 and restored a one-goal Winnipeg lead. Hellebuyck made 13 saves in the period.
The Jets were up 2-1 at the end of the first period, their goal coming after a Travis Dermott turnover in the neutral zone. Dermott gave the puck to Pierre-Luc Dubois, who fed Ehlers on a 2-on-1.
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Andersen couldn’t react in time as Ehlers beat the Leafs goalie to the glove side.
At the other end, Hellebuyck stopped all 10 Toronto shots in the frame. His best stop came early, spreading across his crease to deny Nylander on a clear-cut breakaway, which came about after Nylander blocked a Forbort shot at the Leafs blue line.
The game featured the Leafs debut of Kenny Agostino, who was on the left wing on the fourth line with Jason Spezza at centre and Jimmy Vesey on the right.
Signed by the Leafs in July 2019 to a two-year contract, Agostino, a veteran of 85 NHL games with five teams, played in his first NHL game since April 2019.
“With Agostino, he’s a guy that has worked really hard, and really waited for an opportunity to play, has never complained, just continued to work,” Keefe said. “He has been a real leader and one of, if not the best, and most consistent players down with the Toronto Marlies.
“When we signed him in the organization, he was coming off a full season in the NHL and and hasn’t really had his chance here yet.
Matthews will be in Maple Leafs lineup, Agostino to make debut: Keefe 
TRAIK-EOTOMY: Is Frederik Andersen good enough to win the Maple Leafs a Stanley Cup? 
MAPLE LEAFS MID-TERMS: Professor Hornby was in a generous mood with his halftime grades “I haven’t liked what we’ve got out of our fourth line in the last little while … a fresh body in on forward might inject something into the group.”
Travis Boyd was scratched after playing in 16 of the past 17 games.
tkoshan@postmedia.com
twitter.com/koshtorontosun
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