For the Toronto Maple Leafs, Tuesday night's win over the St. Louis Blues didn't look feasible in the first two minutes of the game. At the 1:50 mark, William Nylander swatted at the puck, and it went past goaltender Joseph Woll and into the Leafs' own goal.
While Blues' forward Nathan Walker took credit for the goal, Nylander's blunder didn't make anyone think this game would have a positive outcome. But don't say that to Steven Lorentz, who scored in the middle of the second period to put the Maple Leafs up 2-1.
When asked about Nylander putting the puck into the Leafs' own net, Lorentz said, “We almost just laughed it off. It was a sign of how things have been going for us lately, even the past [two] games we’ve lost by one goal even though it’s been a little self-inflicted. I think we almost rallied around it, said it’s early in the game and we just have to shake that one off."
Hey, if there was ever a way to get the best out of the Maple Leafs, a team that has struggled this season despite high expectations, it's to use adversity as a rallying cry. And Lorentz drove that point home. A fitting one, since Nylander scored the game-winning goal.
It has been one thing after another for the Toronto Maple Leafs
The Leafs have been dealt so many blows this season, from Auston Matthews getting hurt off a brutal hit to Chris Tanev, Nicolas Roy, Scott Laughton, and Anthony Stolarz all being key players listed on the injury report. Not to mention, goaltender Joseph Woll, who made 27 saves on Tuesday, had also been banged up.
So Nylander's "own goal" came at the worst possible time against a bad hockey team that the Maple Leafs needed to get a win against. Luckily, they took the high road, as Lorentz said. What jumped out more than anything else was his "early in the game" quip, because that's paramount for how the Leafs need to look at their current situation.
It's way too early in the season for the 2025-26 season to be a wash for the Maple Leafs
When the Maple Leafs take something negative like Nylander's own goal and spin it into something positive, saying it was "almost a rallying point," they proved that they're capable of at least keeping things afloat until this team gets healthier. And there is no reason to panic just yet in Toronto, with the Maple Leafs' 20 points clocking in at just five behind the division-leading Detroit Red Wings.
If and when things go haywire early in games, using it as a focal point and a reason to rally will pay dividends for a team that has a good coach in Craig Berube, and one that, when healthy, has some serious point producers like Auston Matthews, Matthew Knies, William Nylander, John Tavares, and Morgan Rielly.
And who knows? Maybe Nylander's "own goal" is the point when the entire season gets back on track for the Maple Leafs. If that happens, fans will look on that moment and laugh, all while pointing to Steven Lorentz, who said, "I think we almost rallied around it." It won't be long until we see if the Maple Leafs build off of what could be a momentum-shifter.