What Did We Learn from Maple Leafs 5-4 OT Win Over Predators

A few moments into Tuesday night, Toronto Maple Leafs fans probably wondered whether this would be one of those games. Toronto fell behind Nashville 3-0. Steven Stamkos was doing Steven Stamkos things. Juuse Saros was stopping everything. And then, somehow, the Maple Leafs started pushing back.

By the time Auston Matthews scored with 14 seconds left in overtime, Toronto had erased the entire deficit and walked away with a 5-4 win. So what did we learn?

This Maple Leafs Team Can Push Back.

The easiest thing to say is that Toronto showed some resilience. But I think there's a little more to it than that. The Maple Leafs didn't suddenly start playing perfect hockey. They simply kept coming.

John Tavares got them started in the second period. William Nylander followed on the power play. Then Gavin McKenna scored his first NHL goal just 61 seconds after Stamkos had restored Nashville's two-goal lead. That goal felt important for more than the scoreboard.

McKenna had spent the first few games of his NHL career hearing about not having a point. Now he has his first goal, his first assist and, perhaps more importantly, a night he can simply enjoy. He also assisted on Tavares' goal, which means the rookie finished with two points. Not bad for a kid who had been told he needed to relax.

And Then There Was Matthews.

Matthews finished with a goal and three assists, then scored the overtime winner. That's three helpers in regulation and the winning goal when the game was on the line. But what I liked most was the way the game seemed to unfold around him. Toronto needed somebody to help pull them out of that hole, and its captain was right there. That's what stars are supposed to do.

Stamkos deserves plenty of attention, too. His two goals moved him to 626 for his career, passing Joe Sakic and Jarome Iginla on the NHL's all-time list. There's something pretty neat about watching one generation of stars still doing their thing while another one, McKenna, scores his first NHL goal.

And maybe that's the bigger lesson from this game. The Maple Leafs won't control every game. They're going to fall behind. Their young players will have rough nights. Their stars will be asked to carry some weight.

What matters is what happens next. Tuesday night, they pushed back. And 14 seconds before overtime was over, Matthews finished the job.