Nylander sparks Maple Leafs past Blues in OT to end skid

TORONTO -- William Nylander scored with 54 seconds left in overtime, and the Toronto Maple Leafs ended a five-game losing streak with a 3-2 win against the St. Louis Blues at Scotiabank Arena on Tuesday.

With two defenders on him, John Tavares fed Morgan Rielly out of the right corner with a short backheel pass before Rielly sent a cross-ice pass to Nylander, who deked around Dylan Holloway in the left face-off circle and tucked the puck past the outstretched right pad of Jordan Binnington.

“I think it was a nice win after the tough stretch we’ve had,” Nylander said. “Just battling and competing to grind out a win, it was nice.

“I think that’s what is needed to be a good team and to be able to win those kind of games. We were losing a lot of games, losing guys. That’s a lot of adversity right there.”

Jake McCabe and Steven Lorentz scored, and Joseph Woll made 28 saves for the Maple Leafs (9-9-2), who were 0-4-1 in their previous five. Nylander extended his personal point streak to 14 games (23 points; eight goals, 15 assists).

“It was pretty sweet, pretty nice to win at home with the fans like that,” Woll said after his first win of the season in his second start. “I always try to look around and take it in when we win like that, especially in overtime.”

Maple Leafs forward Matthew Knies was a late scratch with a lower-body injury that coach Craig Berube said has been lingering for a while. Berube did not provide a timeline for Knies’ return.

In addition to Knies, Toronto was without forwards Auston Matthews (lower body), Scott Laughton (upper body) and Nicolas Roy (upper body), defensemen Brandon Carlo (lower body) and Chris Tanev (upper body), and goalie Anthony Stolarz (upper body). Forward Sammy Blais left the game at 9:36 of the third period with an upper-body injury; Berube did not have an update on him.

Nathan Walker and Dalibor Dvorsky scored, and Binnington made 26 saves for the Blues (6-9-5), who are 0-1-2 in their past three.

“We did play with much more intention, we were much more physical and those things are good, but we need to start winning games,” St. Louis coach Jim Montgomery said.

The Blues went up 1-0 at 1:50 of the first period. Walker’s shot in the slot was blocked, leading to a loose puck in the air that Nylander inadvertently swatted into the net.

“We almost just laughed it off,” Lorentz said. “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. That’s the game of hockey -- you’re not always going to win three or four nothing. You might give up one early, so credit to our group for sticking with it.

“Everyone looked up and down the bench and we were just like, ‘Let’s take a deep breath here. It’s not the end of the world. We know how things are going, but we are going to bounce back.’”

Nylander said he shared a quick conversation with Woll after the mistake.

“I said, ‘Sorry,’” Nylander said. “He said, ‘It’s all good.’ I said, ‘Thank you.’”

Woll said he is impressed by Nylander’s ability to put a mistake like that behind him.

“That’s elite. His persona is kind of his superpower,” Woll said. “He’s able to stay pretty even-keeled. Whether or not he scores on our net or theirs, he’s pretty much the same.”

McCabe tied it 1-1 at 5:36 when his shot from the left point went over Binnington’s glove.

“I’m never going out there thinking I have to produce offensively. “That’s not my job,” the defenseman said. “It’s obviously nice when you do contribute and I want to make good plays when I do get the chance to, but it’s more important to keep the puck out of our net.”

The Blues killed off a double minor to Tyler Tucker for high-sticking Max Domi at 16:37 to keep the score tied.

Lorentz put Toronto up 2-1 at 9:32 of the second period when he took a pass from Blais at the inside edge of the left circle and shot past Binnington’s glove.

“It feels great to contribute on the score sheet even though that’s not what I’m known for,” Lorentz said. “I have those capabilities to chip in, but that play was all Sammy driving down the wall.”

Dvorsky tied it 2-2 on the power play at 13:18, scoring with a one-timer from low in the right circle off a pass from Robert Thomas.

“I think if we look back on it, a couple bounces here or there, we could be looking at a different outcome,” Blues defenseman Cam Fowler said, “but at the end of the day we have to find a way to start putting some wins in the win column here. No matter what it takes or how we have to do it, it’s a results-based game, so we have to find a way to start stacking some wins here.”

Woll kept it 2-2 at 17:40 when he sprawled to his left to stop Jordan Kyrou, who had cut across the top of the crease.

“It could have been easy for our guys to say, ‘Well, we’re all banged up, we’ve got nobody,’ but I didn’t get that at all,” Berube said. “Our guys competed really hard tonight. I’m proud of them and stuck together out there for the game.”

NOTES: Blues defenseman Justin Faulk played his 1,000th NHL game, finishing with two shots and three blocked shots in 21:57 of ice time. … Defenseman Troy Stecher made his Maple Leafs debut after being claimed off waivers from the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday. He was plus-1 with one shot and one hit in 13:31.