3 most impressive players from Toronto Maple Leafs' 6-5 overtime win over Pittsburgh Penguins feat. Matthew Knies

The Toronto Maple Leafs won their fifth consecutive game, 6-5, in overtime against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday afternoon at PPG Paints Arena. The Leafs improve to 38-20-2 (78 points) with the win, while the Pens drop to 24-29-10 (58 points) in defeat.

The Maple Leafs have come out of the 4 Nations break on fire, winners of all four games heading in Sunday's game. They carried that momentum into Pittsburgh and took care of business in a wild affair against the Penguins.

Toronto got off to a quick start, taking advantage of multiple turnovers and breakdowns by the Penguins. Max Domi and Conor Timmins capitalized to give the Leafs an early 2-0 lead. However, things flipped quickly. Cody Glass and Rickard Rakell scored 1:02 apart to tie the game at two.

Sidney Crosby then ripped a no-look wrister through the five-hole of Joseph Woll to give Pittsburgh the lead. 3-2 Pens is where we stood after one period of play.

The middle frame was just as wild. Auston Matthews tied the game early in the period on a five-hole snipe. After 10 minutes of action without a goal, we saw a frantic final five minutes of the second.

Crosby fed Bryan Rust, who deked past Woll to regain the Penguins' lead. That didn't last long as John Tavares buried a breakaway goal to tie it at four. To cap off the craziness, Matthew Knies picked off an Erik Karlsson pass and raced down the ice to rip home another breakaway tally with just 0.1 seconds on the clock. 5-4 Maple Leafs heading into the third.

If you thought things would settle down to end the game, you were wrong. Rakell tied the game with a backhand goal just 10 seconds into the final frame. The game finally settled down from that point onwards as the score stayed 5-5 for the remainder of regulation and we got overtime in Pittsburgh.

Overtime was relatively uneventful until William Nylander threw a long-range shot past Joel Blomqvist... one he'll want to have back. Toronto beat Pittsburgh in a 6-5 overtime thriller.

NHL: Toronto Maple Leafs at Pittsburgh Penguins - Source: Imagn

The Toronto Maple Leafs will return home to take on the San Jose Sharks on Monday night. The puck drops at 7:30 p.m. ET at Scotiabank Arena.

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3 most impressive players from Toronto Maple Leafs' 6-5 OT win over Pittsburgh Penguins

#1. Matthew Knies

Matthew Knies was a workhorse on Sunday afternoon. He registered two points (one goal, one assist) along with four shots on goal, two blocks and a hit in 18:30 minutes of action.

Knies' goal was a tremendous individual effort to beat the buzzer on a breakaway goal. It was another strong performance in what's been a strong season.

#2. William Nylander

William Nylander enjoyed the back-and-forth action. He produced two points (one goal, one assist) and was a +1 rating in 18:48 minutes of ice-time.

Most importantly, he scored the overtime game-winning goal to secure a Maple Leafs win. It's what we've come to expect from Nylander.

#3. Auston Matthews

The Maple Leafs captain had a strong afternoon. Auston Matthews scored one goal and racked up six shots on goal in his 21:14 minutes played.

It was Matthews' first non-empty net goal in his last 10 games. A welcomed sight for the captain and Leafs fans, they'll hope this sparks a scoring spree.