Maple Leafs rally for win against Canucks

TORONTO-- Tyler Bozak scored the game-tying goal and the shootout winner for the Toronto Maple Leafs in a 3-2 win against the Vancouver Canucks at Air Canada Centre on Saturday.

WATCH: [All Canucks vs. Maple Leafs highlights]
"Shootouts I've always been pretty comfortable in and done pretty well," said Bozak who is 17-for-43 in the NHL and scored the shootout winner in the sixth round of a 3-2 win against the San Jose Sharks on Thursday. "It's fun to go in those, especially when you get a chance to win it for the guys, so it's nice that went in."
Auston Matthews scored in the third period and shootout, and Frederik Andersen made 34 saves for the Maple Leafs (25-16-2), who have won two in a row.

"I thought they worked real hard, I thought the skated real good," Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said. "After one (period) I thought they were better than us, really probably until the 30-minute mark they were better than us. Our power play wasn't very good tonight but we found a way to win the game down 2-0, so it's a real big win for us."
Brock Boeser and Sam Gagner scored, and Jacob Markstrom made 34 saves for the Canucks (16-19-6), who have lost seven of their past eight.

"What I liked even after they tied it is we had a lot of pushback after that," Green said. "We had a lot of zone time in the last two minutes and could have won it 5-on-5. It's a shame someone had to lose this game, it was a really good hockey game."
Toronto scored twice in the third period to tie it 2-2. Matthews scored at 8:23 when he put a 2-on-1 pass from Zach Hyman by Markstrom's right pad, and Bozak tied it at 12:37 when he knocked down a long flip pass from Morgan Rielly, got to his rebound and shot past Markstrom's blocker.
"I was trying to land it for him, but it's tough," Rielly said. "I wasn't the best math student, so I don't think the angles added up there, but it was a great play by Tyler to pick it up and make a great play on the goal."
Travis Dermott had an assist on the goal for his first point in his NHL debut. The 21-year-old defenseman played 12:03, was plus-1 and had one shot.
Boeser gave Vancouver a 1-0 lead at 2:59 of the second period. He knocked down a clearing attempt by Maple Leafs defenseman Connor Carrick, allowing Canucks forward Thomas Vanek to get the puck. He passed to Boeser for a one-timer from the left face-off dot that beat Andersen to the blocker side.
The Canucks went up 2-0 at 6:34 of the third period on a 5-on-3 power play. Gagner took a pass from Henrik Sedin and shot over Andersen's glove.

Goal of the game

Bozak's goal in the shootout.

Save of the game

Andersen's save on Gagner at 19:30 of the third period.

Highlight of the game

Markstrom's save on Rielly at 17:57 of the second period.

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They said it

"I don't think the game changed. They had two individual plays that brought them back into the game. It was nothing that we didn't do. I think we had a few of these (efforts) lately, but when you're not getting the two points, it hurts. This is a game that if we walk away from it with two points, it's a great effort from us, but now it feels like we're losing ground in the standings." -- Canucks captain Henrik Sedin
"Whenever you get down and come back, it builds a lot of confidence within the group. It's not an easy thing to do, to come back in this league, so it's nice to be able to do that and build our confidence." - Maple Leafs forward Tyler Bozak

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Need to know

Canucks defenseman Chris Tanev left the game at 3:22 of the first period and after being hit in the mouth by a shot by Maple Leafs defenseman Roman Polak. … Matthews has scored in five of seven games since returning from injury on Dec. 23. ... The Maple Leafs are 11-2-0 when Bozak has a point.

What's next

Canucks: At the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday (7 p.m. ET; SN, RDS, NHL.TV)
Maple Leafs: Host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday (7 p.m. ET; NHLN, TVA Sports, TSN4, FS-O, NHL.TV)