The Toronto Maple Leafs had this one in their hands early, then watched it slip away.
Toronto jumped out to a 3-0 lead on Thursday night at T-Mobile Arena, only to end up on the wrong side of a 4-3 overtime loss to the Vegas Golden Knights. Jack Roslovic, Easton Cowan and Nick Paul scored for the Maple Leafs, while Sergei Bobrovsky turned aside 40 of 43 shots.
And even with the ending, this was the kind of game that had something going on at every turn.
Toronto’s first period looked like a direct response to Tuesday’s mess against Nashville. Instead of digging out of an early hole, the Leafs came out flying.
Roslovic got them started just 34 seconds in, using his speed and shaky goaltending from Adin Hill to open the scoring. Cowan followed with a breakaway goal less than three minutes later.
Then Paul made it 3-0 five minutes after that.
For a while, it looked like the Leafs had completely flipped the script.
But Vegas started clawing back before the first intermission, with Mark Stone scoring late in the period. The Golden Knights carried that momentum into the second and erased the deficit quickly, tying the game four minutes into the frame. From there, Vegas controlled long stretches of play and finished the period with a 21-8 edge in shots.
The third period wasn’t as one-sided as the shot total suggested, but Toronto was still hanging on. Vegas outshot the Leafs 11-4 in the final frame, and Bobrovsky kept them alive with a string of big stops. He was sharp on all four Vegas power plays and made four more key saves in overtime before Jack Eichel tied it on a penalty shot.
Bobrovsky’s night stood out even without the win. Jim Hiller didn’t hide that afterward.
"We survived, in large part due to Bob," head coach Jim Hiller said after the game. "That's what great goalies do when you're off a bit like we were in the second."
Bobrovsky, who still hasn’t picked up his first win as a Leaf, didn’t sound rattled.
"I was a good hockey game," Bobrovsky said. "It's a big point for us on the road against a good team.
We had a good start then things kind of got away from us a little bit. Still, it's hockey, it's the NHL and it's a good league.
They're a really good team. So, it's again, it's a big point for us, and we just move on with our game and keep building."
The bigger picture after five games is starting to take shape, especially up front. Roslovic has been one of the early bright spots, bringing pace and energy with and without the puck.
Cowan has already taken a step forward. Gavin McKenna, a rookie, is still finding his way but has shown real flashes.
John Tavares and William Nylander have both had their moments, though that’s nothing new this early in a season. Auston Matthews has also been encouraging, even when the points aren’t piling up.
The back end, though, is where the concern sits.
Chris Tanev didn’t sugarcoat it.
"We need to be better and help Bob out," Chris Tanev said on Thursday. "We don't want to play like that and when we take four penalties, their skill guys get the feel of the puck."
Darren Raddysh and Morgan Rielly were caught on Stone’s goal late in the first, and Rielly was beaten again on the Eichel breakaway that led to the penalty shot. The Leafs’ defensive problems in this game fit a larger pattern through the first five.
Up front, Toronto looks like it’s moving toward something workable. On the blue line, the search isn’t over. From what John Chayka has shown so far, it wouldn’t be surprising if another piece arrives sooner rather than later.
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