In Toronto, the visiting Montreal Canadiens posted a three-goal fist period Saturday night.
The problem for them was the remaining 40 minutes of play.
Andrew Shaw, Jeff Petry and Tomas Tatar scored in the opening frame for the 3-0 lead.
The Maple Leafs responded with two goals in the second period from Auston Matthews and Tyler Ennis, both on the power play.
“We know that their power play is good, and I think we gave them too many opportunities on the power play obviously because they capitalized,” Canadiens captain Shea Weber said. “They’re good; you never want to give up goals on the penalty kill. They’re tops in the League for a reason. I know they struggled for a little bit, but they’ve got a lot of talent and guys who can make plays.”
Toronto completed the rally with four goals in the third period to stun the Habs in a 6-3 decision.
“It’s a good win for our team,” Toronto coach Mike Babcock said. “When it’s 3-0 and they’ve got to turn the music on loud because they’re scared what the fans will say, it’s not a good feeling. I thought we were really prepared, but it goes to show you when you’re young and it’s a big game, you get a little off kilter sometimes when you shouldn’t. Just steady on the rudder and get it done.”
The Maple Leafs improved to 37-20-4.
Frederik Andersen made 32 saves in the win.
“We’ve been through enough adversity as a group; we should understand how to handle it but tonight we failed,” Canadiens forward Brendan Gallagher said. “We didn’t do a good enough job. You get up 3-0, you should come away with a win.
“But like anything we’ve been through, the only choice we have to really learn from this and make sure it doesn’t happen again because it’s a pretty [lousy] feeling.”
Zach Hyman struck for two goals in the third period and William Nylander and Andreas Johnsson added single markers.
“The way that we won the game coming from behind, it’s awesome,” Hyman said. “It’s a good feeling. To be able to score that goal, to get the lead after being down 3-0, is pretty cool. What a win for us to end a losing streak, coming back like we did on a Saturday night against Montreal, it’s a good feeling.”
The Habs dropped to 33-22-7.
[WATCH: All Canadiens vs. Maple Leafs highlights]
Carey Price made 31 saves in the loss.
“We definitely had a great first period, but at the end of the day we might have got a little sloppy with the puck,” Price said. “We made a few bad decisions, and that ultimately what usually costs you the game.”
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