Mitch Marner scored his second goal of the game in the final minute of overtime, and the Toronto Maple Leafs overcame a three-goal deficit to beat the Boston Bruins 5-4 on Tuesday night.
With goalie Anthony Stolarz pulled for an extra skater, Pontus Holmberg scored the tying goal for the Maple Leafs out of a scramble with 46 seconds left in regulation. David Pastrnak’s second goal had given Boston a 4-3 lead.
Pastrnak scored on a breakaway on the game’s opening shift to extend his career-best point streak to 15 games. The Bruins opened a 3-0 lead on Morgan Geekie’s power-play goal midway into the second period.
Morgan Rielly finished with four points, and Nick Robertson also scored for Toronto. The Maple Leafs won for the sixth time in seven games.
Stolarz, who made several clutch saves, including a stop in overtime, praised Marner for his resilience and remarkable play in overtime, which sealed the win.
“He’s someone who is a catalyst of our team,” Stolarz told Sportsnet’s Luke Fox afterwards.
“You look at him: He was out there for like a minute and a half, and instead of changing, he stays on in the D-zone there at the end. He’s not trying to cheat the game, and he knows that it’s his responsibility to stay there and play a defensive game. It’s late, and he ends up getting the change and making a good play. Gets off and gets back out there and scores the goal for us.
“Definitely something that was deserved by him for his two-way play tonight,” Stolarz added.
The Maple Leafs picked up the two points but may have lost a valuable member of their defence in the process. Chris Tanev left the game early with an upper-body injury and did not return. He’s expected to be re-evaluated on Wednesday.
William Nylander also didn’t play in overtime due to an undisclosed ailment.
“Something was bothering him,” head coach Craig Berube said, “So he didn’t go in the overtime.”
Calle Järnkrok (sports hernia) is travelling with the Maple Leafs for the first time all season and could make his season debut any day now.
“He’s close. He’s very close. There’s some things that have to be done with … you know, stuff,” said Berube.
Toronto travels to New York for a matchup with the Rangers on Friday.
