Only five of the Maple Leafs' 18 players were held without a point in their 7-3 win over the Rangers.
Only five of the Maple Leafs' 18 players were held without a point in their 7-3 win over the Rangers.
The Maple Leafs shined on Tuesday night under the bright lights of Madison Square Garden.
It was the second half of a back-to-back for Toronto, as they played the New York Islanders on Monday. That meant a few lineup changes, including Martin Jones getting the crease — his first ever start for the Maple Leafs — in Midtown Manhattan.
Matthew Knies was a late scratch because of an illness, so Toronto decided to run an 11 and seven lineup, with Max Lajoie as the extra defenseman and Bobby McMann slotting in for Ryan Reaves.
And the opening frame was all Toronto.
The Maple Leafs scored four goals in the first period, something they haven't done since March 11 vs. Edmonton. A good sign, too, was that it came during the second-half of a back to back.
Toronto hit a speed bump in the second period, which allowed the Rangers to get back into the game. New York scored two goals in under two minutes late in the frame.
But the Maple Leafs came back in the third, scored three more goals, and left Madison Square Garden with all the dads smiling. Here are a few observations from Toronto's 7-3 win over the Rangers.
Martin Jones gets into a rhythm
With Joseph Woll out of the mix with a high-ankle sprain, Jones got the call to fill in. And filling in he has.
Of all the signings Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving made this summer, this might just be the most important. Think about it: If Toronto hadn't found a goaltender in the offseason, they likely would've had to dip into their prospect pool to call up one of Dennis Hildeby or Keith Petruzzelli with Woll out.
Now, I'm not saying that would end up being a bad thing. But it would've been a scenario where you might've wished you had an experienced goaltender on your roster.
Luckily, the Maple Leafs do have Jones, and he had a miraculous night against the Rangers, stopping 28 of 31 shots on Tuesday.
You can't beat experience, and heading into this game, the 33-year-old goaltender who was starting for Toronto had 445 games of NHL experience. It clearly showed as Jones made several big stops for the Maple Leafs throughout the game.
He had a shaky second period, as did the rest of the team, but made some big stops in the third period to keep Toronto's lead intact.
Auston Matthews' four-point night
Once again, the 26-year-old has an impressive night in New York. The first goal of the game came from Matthews after a sweet individual effort from William Nylander to get through the Rangers' defense.
Matthews followed up that goal with three more points on the evening. One was a primary assist on Mitch Marner's second-period goal and the other came as a secondary assist, also on a Marner goal.
And finally, he found the back of the net late in the third period, for his 21st of the season.
That's nine points in the last five games for the 26-year-old center. It's already an impressive stat in itself, but what makes it more stunning is that seven of those points are goals.
Matthews now holds the lead for goals in the NHL with 21 on the season, two ahead of Nikita Kucherov.
Contributions from whole team
Matthews might've had a four-point night, but the entire Maple Leafs team contributed to the win on Tuesday.
Conor Timmins had a goal in the second period. His shot from the point had eyes and found its way behind Ilya Shesterkin. Mitch Marner had two goals on the night. The first came on a great feed from Matthews.
Another one of his goals came in the third period — a big tally for Toronto — as he tipped in Morgan Rielly's shot. Calle Jarnkrok also found the back of the net in the second period, making it a very high scoring game for the Maple Leafs.
David Kampf had an empty-netter, too, which secured the victory for Toronto. Only five of the Maple Leafs' 18 players (Tyler Bertuzzi, Nick Robertson, Bobby McMann, Simon Benoit, and Max Lajoie) were without a point on Tuesday in New York.
This was as dominant of a win that you could ask for from Toronto, aside from the second period. What should make it even more special for the team is that it comes on the second-half of a back-to-back, while there's an illness going through the group.
And now, with this win, the Maple Leafs are only four points back of the Atlantic Division-leading Boston Bruins.
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