The Toronto Maple Leafs appeared to be in cruise control Saturday night against the Detroit Red Wings, opening the third period with a commanding 7-2 lead.
Then, chaos ensued.
The Red Wings swiftly potted four unanswered goals in the opening 5:21 of the closing frame, and breathless back-and-forth action saw the final score read 10-7 in favor of Toronto.
"I don't even know if I can really put it into words," superstar Auston Matthews said, according to The Leafs Nation's David Alter.
"I've never played a game like that, I don't think in junior and youth hockey. It was pretty crazy, the whole period, right? Obviously not a position or situation we'd like to be in. But I think just the way that we responded when shit hit the fan and some big goals to get our lead back and stuff like that. I don't really have words for that third."
Linemate Michael Bunting, who had five points in the win, had similar feelings.
"It was crazy," Bunting said, according to Sportsnet's Luke Fox. "It wasn't that fun to be a part of because we were getting scored on, and then it was fun again. It was up and down emotions."
Saturday's high-octane clash featured the most goals in a single game since the Philadelphia Flyers and Winnipeg Jets combined for 17 in October 2011, per NHL Public Relations.
The outing also marked the first time the Maple Leafs recorded 10 goals in a contest without a power-play tally since 1947 and their first time hitting double digits outright since 2007.
Each pulled their netminders as the pucks continuously poured in, and the Red Wings yanked both Alex Nedeljkovic and Thomas Greiss at different points. The 17 goals scored on 4.8 expected between the two teams marks the worst combined goalie performance since the NHL began event tracking in 2007, according to MoneyPuck.
Despite the theatrics and near monumental collapse, Toronto head coach Sheldon Keefe is focused on the positives from the opening 40 minutes.
"I thought we played an excellent game," he said. "I mean, let's not let the craziness of the third period take away from the fact that we played an excellent game. Even in the third period with all of that nonsense."
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