The Toronto Maple Leafs needed overtime to edge the Pittsburgh Penguins at the PPG Paints Arena as they escaped with a 6-5 victory to extend their winning streak to five games in a row. Toronto now finds itself at the front of the Atlantic division and just six points behind the East-leading Washington Capitals in the standings.

The Maple Leafs managed to tally 46 wins last season, and now it seems that they are on the pace to surpass that mark as they have now rallied for their fifth straight win, which is the second-longest winning streak in the NHL right now behind the Tampa Bay Lightning’s eight in a row. It seems that Toronto is playing on a hot pace and may well be on the way to come up with an impressive push on the East heading into the final stretches of the campaign.

So far, Toronto is seeking to be the first Canadian team to win a championship in any North American sport since the Raptors did in the NBA back in 2019, and the second Toronto team to come up with the feat as well. This season may well be that big break that they are looking for quite some time now.

Winning Winnable Games

Since losing to their Canadian rivals in the Vancouver Canucks, the Toronto Maple Leafs would go on to win five straight, including this huge victory against the Penguins. The Maple Leafs took down the Carolina Hurricanes (6-3), Chicago Blackhawks (5-2), Boston Bruins (5-4), and the New York Rangers (3-2) before this win against Pittsburgh.

So far, it took overtime for the Maple Leafs to bring down the Penguins. A game-winner from William Nylander 1:00 into overtime proved to be the pivotal play that closed down the door against Pittsburgh as they rallied twice to claim a win in this game on the road. It was also the second overtime game they played in their last three.

“It’s good to win those games,” Nylander said of the massive overtime win for the Maple Leafs. “It’s the positive thing that you can take away from it. Even though we’re not playing great, we’re still able to win the game.”

Auston Matthews came up with a goal and an assist as he now logged 700 NHL points, while Matthew Knies managed to bring up a goal and an assist of his own to boost the Leafs. Joseph Woll also played a huge role in helping Toronto come up with a promising clutch defense with 29 saves, now winning eight of their last nine games as well.

A Big Night for Matthews

Aside from logging 700 points, Auston Matthews also scored his 390th NHL goal, which now puts him ahead of the legendary Darryl Sittler in Maple Leafs scoring history. He now eyes Mats Sundin’s record of 420 goals with the team while also logging a nine-game point streak, now standing at 13 points coming off two goals and 11 assists.

“It’s nice. It’s nice to be in the same sentence as a guy like Darryl Sittler,” Matthews said. “Obviously, a great Leaf. He paved the way for some of us out here today. So, it’s a big honor to be in the same sentence.”

Matthews now has 51 points on the season with 22 goals and 29 assists in 45 games and is +4 on his games as well. He is coming off a 107-point season in 2023-24 when he finished the campaign with 69 goals and 38 assists.