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 • 18 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 outwitted 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.
Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck thwarts Maple Leafs’ William Nylander during the second period on Thursday, March 11, 2021. FRANK GUNN/THE CANADIAN PRESS
“Elite talent,” Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said. “He’s a star. That’s what they do. The condition of his hand aside (a nagging injury), he was tired. Overtime shifts are difficult, just to have the energy to get up the ice to put himself in that spot … that’s big-time stuff.”
The goal was scored after a Jets slash broke the stick of Rielly deep in the Toronto end, with no penalty called. The defenceman raced to the bench and got a new cue and set up Matthews, who has 21 goals in 25 games, after getting the puck from Mitch Marner.
Two nights after Hellebuyck frustrated the Leafs in a 4-3 Jets win, the reigning Vezina Trophy winner was at it again. Not only did the Leafs have 72 attempts to the Jets’ 41, Toronto had 21 high-danger scoring chances. Winnipeg had five.
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“He made some incredible saves,” Matthews said. “We had some really good looks, some really good chances and he came up big.
“I’m proud of the way everybody really stuck with it.”
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The Leafs ended their three-game losing streak, the first time they had lost three in a row in regulation in the Keefe era. The Leafs and Jets will complete their three-game set on Saturday.
The match completed an impressive first half of the 56-game regular season for Toronto, as the Leafs have compiled a record of 19-7-2 and 40 points, and sit in first place in the National Hockey League standings.
“We’re in a good spot,” captain John Tavares said. “There are a lot of things we want to continue to get better at, but we came off losing three in a row with a big win by just staying with it.
“We want to build off this and get back to some of those games we’re controlling right from the get-go, really dictating play and putting the pressure on our opponents.”
Winnipeg tied the game 3-3 at 17:34 of the third 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.
Hellebuyck was lights-out through 40 minutes. The Leafs, however, were determined as they entered the third trailing 2-1.
Ilya Mikheyev scored Toronto’s third goal at 12:39, taking a pass from Alex Kerfoot, who was stationed behind the net. 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 when 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, most notably replacing Joe Thornton with Zach Hyman on the Matthews line.
Thornton was put with Tavares and Nylander, and Kerfoot was dropped to the third line with Engvall and Mikheyev.
On the fourth line, Kenny Agostino made his Leafs debut, skating with Jason Spezza and Jimmy Vesey. Travis Boyd was scratched.
The moves resulted in a Leafs goal early in the second, when Marner got a backhand past Hellebuyck at 3:14 after a Matthews tip.
Hellebuyck then buckled down. He stopped Hyman on a breakaway, got a glove on a TJ Brodie shot, denied Nylander at the doorstep and thwarted Marner despite having lost his stick.
In the midst of the Hellebuyck wizardry, Ehlers took a pass from Kyle Connor on a 2-on-1 and ripped the puck past Andersen. That came at 10:50 and restored a one-goal Winnipeg lead.
The Jets were up 1-0 at the end of the first, their goal by Ehlers coming after a Travis Dermott turnover in the neutral zone.
“You can’t give them free goals and you can’t make mistakes at bad times, but we were generating a lot,” Keefe said. “It just felt like a matter of time before it would go in for us.
“I thought Nylander had his best game of the season. He was outstanding. It was great to see him get rewarded with a goal.
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 have been really encouraged. At the same time, with the way the game had went, we easily could have been on the other side of this one and then it would have been difficult for us. How do you frame that? How do you stay with it?
“Our team has done a pretty good job in both games (against Winnipeg) and it’s good to get two points.”
tkoshan@postmedia.com
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