Jake McCabe scored in overtime at 1:30, leading the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 3-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday night.
Auston Matthews, who leads the NHL with 65 goals this season, also contributed with an assist. Matthew Knies scored the other goal for Toronto, while Ilya Samsonov made 30 saves.
In overtime, McCabe received a pass from Auston Matthews after a slight confusion near Toronto’s bench between Mitch Marner and Tyler Bertuzzi, and scored his eighth goal of the season. “I was waiting to see what Mitch and Bert were going to do,” McCabe said. “Auston found me on the backside.”
Rickard Rakell and Drew O’Connor scored for Pittsburgh, which has been on a 6-0-3 streak over its last nine games, climbing back into playoff contention in the Eastern Conference. Alex Nedeljkovic had 20 saves.
Matthews put Toronto ahead 2-1 on the power play at 1:22 of the third period with his 65th goal. He has been on a hot streak, scoring six times in the last five games, and is aiming to reach the 70-goal mark with five games remaining in the season.
Matthews’ 65 goals matched Alex Ovechkin’s total from 2007-08, making him the highest-scoring active player and tying the NHL record set by Mario Lemieux in 1995-96.
“He’s going about it the right way,” said Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe. “He’s trusting that his ability is going to shine through — he’s going to be able to score — and however it works out in the end, I think he’ll be content.”
However, Pittsburgh tied the game with 6:42 remaining in the third period when Drew O’Connor scored his 14th goal.
The Penguins have made a strong comeback in the playoff race, sitting tied with Detroit for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference. They have been boosted by a nine-game point streak and some inconsistent performances from teams above them in the standings.
“Close game,” said Penguins captain Sidney Crosby. “We’ll look at this as hopefully an important point here down the road.”
Toronto killed off two Pittsburgh power plays in a quiet first period before Matthew Knies scored for the Maple Leafs early in the second period, tying the game at 1-1.
