The Maple Leafs were outshot 25-8 in the first two periods before scoring four straight goals in a third-period comeback against Pittsburgh.
Before the Toronto Maple Leafs stormed back in the third period for a 4-3 comeback win against the Pittsburgh Penguins, they were being dominated, and it didn't seem a win was in sight.
The Maple Leafs came out flat. They were outshot, out-chanced, and thoroughly outplayed through the first 20 minutes. And as they glanced at the video board while skating off the ice after the opening period, they were staring down a 2-0 deficit.
With that being said, everyone inside Scotiabank Arena was expecting a different-looking team in the middle frame. Maybe the easy-to-love Toronto Blue Jays were still in the minds of many, but Toronto has been quietly stacking up wins.
The Maple Leafs needed to come out flying. But they didn't.
Two shots in the opening five-and-a-half minutes. Three in the period total. Instead of coming out and dominating the Penguins, Toronto skated around and really didn't do much more.
"I didn't think the first period was that bad," Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube said following the game. "But what upsets me is, we come out in the second period down 2-0. You think we're going to make a push, and we didn't. And they controlled the whole period with the puck."
Despite scoring two goals and adding an assist in the comeback, William Nylander wasn't happy with his team's play on Monday either.
"I mean, it's unacceptable. There's nothing more to say."
Berube has chalked up the Maple Leafs' early-season struggles to mental lapses (plus the newly-acquired players getting comfortable). He reiterated that on Monday evening after their comeback, all while expressing his frustrations.
When questioned about why his team didn't have a 60-minute effort, Berube didn't have an answer.
"I have no clue," he admitted.
"I don't have an answer for that right now. Like I said, the second period, I mean, they got the puck and did whatever they wanted with it, and we didn't check anybody. We didn't knock anybody off the puck.
"And when we did get it, we gave it back to them, and they just kept coming back down our throats. I mean, it's just, it's not good enough."
Nylander noted that Toronto's compete level wasn't up to standard.
"Losing every battle, losing every puck. It's what it comes down to," he said.
Ultimately, the Maple Leafs came back. Auston Matthews and Nylander led the way with three straight goals before Bobby McMann scored the game-winner with 6:27 left in the third period. But the two points aren't the key takeaway, and if you're the Maple Leafs, that's how it should be.
"I think the message is not as much as it was great to obviously come back and get the two points and have a great third period," Matthews said.
"I think the focus should more be so on the first two periods and why we lacked all those different things that got us down in the game in the first place. So that's something that we'll figure out. But we'll take the two points and move on and continue to try to build our game."
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