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Red Wings pull off last-second comeback, lose in OT to Leafs at Centennial Classic

MiHockey Staff

By @MichaelCaples – The storybook ending was inches away for Anthony Mantha.

After scoring the game-tying goal at the 19:58 mark of the third period of the NHL Centennial Classic outdoors in Toronto, he received a pass from Andreas Athanasiou just in front of the Toronto Maple Leafs goal with a minute and a half left in overtime. This time, goaltender Frederik Andersen got a pad on it.

Ten seconds later, Auston Matthews chipped a loose puck past Jared Coreau, and that was the game.

The Red Wings scored three goals in the final seven minutes of regulation at BMO Field during the NHL Centennial Classic to erase a 4-1 deficit and force overtime, only to fall 5-4 to the Maple Leafs once again in a marquee outdoor hockey game.

The two storied franchises have now met twice outdoors, with the Leafs prevailing in a shootout in the 2014 Winter Classic at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor and now in 2017 in overtime.

Mantha scored the Wings’ first and last goals of the evening, bracketed by tallies from Jonathan Ericsson and Dylan Larkin. The goals from Ericsson and Tatar erased a seemingly insurmountable lead for the Leafs, paving the way for Matha’s last-second goal – a goal on a scramble in front of the Toronto goal that required a video review for both time remaining and contact with the goaltender.

Captain Henrik Zetterberg assisted on three of the Wings’ goals, while Jared Coreau – making only his fourth career start – stopped 23 shots. Coreau, a Northern Michigan alum and Grand Rapids Griffins netminder called up because of Jimmy Howard’s injury, made two crucial saves for the Wings in overtime. First, it was a stop on a one-timer from Nazem Kadri and then on a breakaway try from Morgan Reilly.

Matthews’ game-winner was the USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program alum’s second of the night, after he had scored what seemed to be the ‘final nail in the coffin’ goal for the Leafs at the 12:05 mark of the third period to make it 4-1.

University of Michigan alum Zach Hyman also had two assists in the contest.