Maple Leafs recover, defeat Golden Knights in shootout

LAS VEGAS -- William Nylander scored in the first period and had the lone goal in the shootout, and the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 4-3 at T-Mobile Arena on Tuesday.

Jack Campbell made 31 saves for the Maple Leafs (23-8-3), who held on after entering the third period with a 3-1 lead and extended their point streak to six games (5-0-1).
It was Campbell's 18th win this season, an NHL career high. He went 17-3-2 for Toronto in 2020-21.
"All year long and every single night, he gives us a chance to win," Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews said of Campbell. "He came up really big for us tonight and just like he has all year. We've got full trust in him every time no matter what the situation is, we know we've got him back there."

William Karlsson and Alex Pietrangelo scored in the third period for the Golden Knights (23-14-2), who are 1-2-2 in their past five, each at home. Robin Lehner made 15 saves.
They do not play again until Monday, at home against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Vegas had two games, at the Edmonton Oilers on Friday and at the Calgary Flames on Saturday, postponed due to attendance restrictions in Canadian cities because of COVID-19 concerns.
"At least for me, the physical side is important. You have to take care of your body," Pietrangelo said. "Take a couple of days to relax and enjoy yourself, but for me, it's a good mental break. We've played a lot of hockey here, it feels like."
Nylander scored in the third round after Campbell made saves against Evgenii Dadonov, Chandler Stephenson and Jonathan Marchessault.
"I just try to see what the goalie is doing," Nylander said on his shootout winner. "You have a couple of moves that you have in the back of your hand and try to stick to one depending on what the goalie is doing. I just tried to see what he gave me and kind of got it up there on the glove side."

It was the second consecutive game the Maple Leafs did not protect a multigoal lead in the third period; they led 4-2 before losing 5-4 in overtime at the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday.
"We should be a little aggravated by how we've let these leads slip away here in these two games and take that aggravation and turn it into motivation," Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said.
Nylander gave the Maple Leafs a 1-0 lead at 1:24 of the first period, going backhand to forehand and tucking it past Lehner's left skate after receiving a cross-ice pass from defenseman Morgan Rielly.
Keegan Kolesar tied it 1-1 on the power play at 13:00 of the first. Dadonov's pass from behind the net deflected off Alex Kerfoot's skate, and Kolesar jammed the loose puck under Campbell's glove.
Matthews scored his fifth goal in five games to give Toronto a 2-1 lead at 11:43 of the second, and Ilya Mikheyev made it 3-1 at 16:46 on a rebound of Wayne Simmonds' shot off the boards.

Karlsson cut it to 3-2 at 1:34 of the third period with a backhand near the crease, and Pietrangelo, who played 32:30, tied it 3-3 with his first goal in 10 games at 11:48 during a 5-on-3 power play.
Vegas was without defenseman Shea Theodore, who was placed in NHL COVID-19 protocol before the game.
"I knew I was going to play a lot with some people out," Pietrangelo said. "I thought, collectively as a group, we did a real good job shutting them down. I know they scored three, but we did a pretty good job as a whole."
NOTES: Matthews scored in his eighth straight road game, tying the Maple Leafs record (Daniel Marois, 1989-90; Frank Mahovlich, 1960-61; Babe Dye, 1920-21). … Toronto forward Ondrej Kase had an assist in 20:40 after being unavailable Saturday because of an undisclosed injury. … Vegas forwards Nolan Patrick and Nicolas Roy were also placed in COVID-19 protocol. Forwards Jonas Rondbjerg and Jake Leschyshyn and defenseman Daniil Miromanov were recalled from Henderson of the American Hockey League. … Stephenson had an assist to set an NHL career high with 36 points (10 goals, 26 assists); he scored 35 in 51 games last season.