After two extremely embarrassing periods that saw the Leafs outshot 15-1 in the first period and 27-6 after two, the team somehow came away with two points.
The Leafs had a much better third period and tied the game on a Pontus Holmberg short-handed goal after a wild sequence in front of Anthony Stolarz that saw the Leafs netminder make several key saves at a critical juncture of the game.
Carrying that momentum into a frantic overtime, Stolarz blockered a Devils shot out to the neutral zone where Matthews beat out Brett Pesce to the loose puck before beating Jacob Markström up high to give the Leafs the win.
Matthews had three previous breakaways and a number of chances throughout the game, but failed to score. His celebration after scoring in overtime showed both relief and elation after he finally managed to put one on the board.
Former Devils defenseman P.K. Subban happened to be in attendance for this one and was sitting glass-side and gave fans a unique view of Matthews' winner and his celebration.
In the moment, full of emotion, Matthews ended up celebrating right in front of Subban and pointed to him in the process which led to Subban capturing quite the photo of the three-time Rocket Richard winner.
Since returning from his undisclosed injury, Matthews has four goals and eight points and looks much better than he did to begin the season.
POLL | ||
DECEMBRE 11 | 2113 ANSWERS Auston Matthews Rubs Salt in the Wounds, Celebrates OT Winner in Face of Ex-Devils Defender Were you surprised the Leafs won last night with how badly they were out-shot? | ||
Yea, that was ridiculous | 1908 | 90.3 % |
No, they deserved the win | 205 | 9.7 % |
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