The Leafs earned their third straight victory with a 6-2 win on home ice against the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday, despite being outshot 34-26.
The Leafs earned their third straight victory with a 6-2 win on home ice against the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday, despite being outshot 34-26.
The Toronto Maple Leafs extended their win streak to three games on Wednesday, taking down the Los Angeles Kings at Scotiabank Arena, 6-2. Jumping out to a 3-0 lead after 20 minutes of play, the Leafs held on in the remaining 40 minutes with everything seeming to click offensively. Here are six game notes from the win.
Auston Matthews Scores First Goal as Captain, Records Three-Point Night
On Monday, Matthews said it was “just a matter of time” before his scoring touch would return. Two days later, he scored his 200th career home goal and his first of the 2024-25 regular season. Before finding the back of the net on Wednesday, beating former teammate David Rittich, Matthews had 16 shots on 30 shot attempts.
Despite fanning on the original shot, Matthews had some firepower on the shot that did go in, scoring blocker side on a rocket from the slot. Mitch Marner and defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson assisted in the play.
After he scored his first of the new year, more production followed as Matthews also recorded two assists on the power play goals from William Nylander and John Tavares, bringing his point total to three in the new year. In addition to his three-point night, Matthews also registered four shots on goal.
“Like I said, it's going to go in eventually, and then that's going to get on a roll,” Matthews said on Monday.
Postgame, Matthews reiterated this when he said, "It always feels nice. I mean, you want to contribute every night. It's not going to go in every night," he explained. "So, you know, it's good to see one fall and a little bit of a weight lifted off your shoulders a bit. And you just go out there and play and compete."
Bobby McMann Strikes Twice, Ties for Team Lead in Goals
With Nylander scoring his third goal of the season, McMann’s two-goal effort ties him for the team lead. The 28-year-old got the party started on Wednesday, opening the scoring 6:54 into the first period as Max Domi fed him in the slot – albeit a delayed reaction as numerous Kings players clogged up the crease.
With under three minutes remaining in the first period, McMann took a slick feed from Nylander, who showed tremendous poise as he entered the offensive zone, and buried his second of the night blocker side.
In three games, McMann has three goals. His contributions gave the Leafs a comfortable 3-0 lead heading into the second period. The organization signed the forward to a two-year contract extension in March with an average annual value (AAV) of $1.35 million per season. It’s safe to say, they’ve gotten what they bargained for so far.
Head coach Craig Berube has plenty to be pleased about after scratching McMann on opening night, claiming “there was more there” as McMann was the odd man out a week ago. When asked about this process, McMann reflected on how he's been able to push himself over the last three games.
"Just trusting that it's part of the process and it's part of the game," McMann said following the 6-2 win. "There's guys that are playing well, there's a lot of good players on this team and maybe some guys fit better in certain scenarios than others and just knowing that my opportunity would come.
Against the Kings, The McMann - Domi - Nylander line was productive, recording a combined six points: Domi (2A), Nylander (1G, 1A), McMann (2G). McMann nearly returned the favor to Nylander, but the Swede failed to capitalize on a breakaway in the second. McMann also recorded three hits, tied for third-most on the team.
On his line's success against the Kings, McMann said, "I think we were just skating. We were hard on pucks, pushing their D back, trying to get first touch a lot. And then obviously playing with two really good guys that were able to make plays and fortunately a couple times in the back of my net.”
Defense Turns Into Offense
In a dominant win over the Kings, it seemed that the Leafs were getting contributions from everyone. For the most part, offensively, the forwards did their job and defensively the blueliners did theirs. But Morgan Rielly, McCabe, and Ekman-Larsson chipped in offensively as well.
McCabe had a handful of ‘heads up’ plays, contributing a secondary assist on the opening goal of the game (McMann) and a primary helper on a designed deflection goal from Rielly eight minutes into the middle frame. Coming up the wall, McCabe had a strong no-look pass right on the tape of Rielly, which beat Rittich on the glove side.
Ekman-Larsson, perhaps the most active Leafs defenseman in the offensive zone through their four games, continued his production on the scoresheet. He added two assists, one on Matthews’ first goal of the season and another on McMann’s second while also throwing four shots on goal.
Collectively, the Leafs received five points from their back end: McCabe (2A), Ekman-Larsson (2A), and Rielly (1G).
Break Through on the Power Play, and Special Team Notes
To close out the second period, the Leafs broke through on a power play opportunity. Having two previous opportunities in the game, Nylander rifled home a wrister from the top of the circle with a Marner screen.
Nylander discussed the troubles on the power play, mentioning that as he and Tavares battled illnesses, it's been tough to get consistent reps with the full unit. Regardless, he's glad that it worked out Wednesday night.
"Obviously it’s been a little struggling before today," Nylander said. "We had practices where John was sick and then I was sick so we haven’t had the full unit going so it was nice for that to work today."
Now it will be about carrying that momentum forward. "Yeah, it's always good to get that going," Matthews said about finding success on the power play. "Obviously, it wasn't great the first couple games. Just trying to find a little bit. So anytime you see the puck goin in on the power play a couple times, you can take that momentum and just continue to build off of it."
Over the opening three games of the season, the power play has been ‘stagnant’. With that, the Leafs have shuffled out different personnel in an attempt to find success and rediscover its rhythm. In practice this week, there was an emphasis on simplicity in their looks, which seemed to work on the goal. As the Leafs entered the offensive zone with 0:59 on the power play, it took them only eight seconds to find the back of the net.
Simple and easy.
Then again with under three minutes remaining in the third period, Tavares found the back of the net for the club’s second power play goal of the night. In a play that started with Tavares, it ended with him. Feeding the puck to Matthews on the side wall, the captain shuffled the puck to Marner in the slot – who passed it to Tavares, as he scored a nifty backhand over the glove of Pheonix Copley.
On the night, the Leafs went 2-for-4 with the man advantage, bringing their season total to 2-for-13.
From a penalty-killing perspective, the Leafs were a perfect 4-for-4, killing off all opportunities for Los Angeles – their first game not allowing a power play goal. Through four games, the Leafs have allowed three goals on 17 opportunities.
Berube was impressed by the special teams units, stating, "I thought our special teams were excellent," before adding specifics as to what he liked about the power play.
"They attacked and shot. We could have had one in the first PP. Auston had a great opportunity. We had a couple of real good opportunities that didn't click. But I thought they stayed with it," Berube explained. "Great. You know, they had way better movement and puck play tonight on the power play overall. Overall, I thought our special teams won us the game tonight and our goalie."
Timothy Liljegren Makes Season Debut
So much has been said about defenseman Timothy Liljegren over the past week and on Wednesday, the Swede made his season debut. Playing alongside Simon Benoit on the third pairing, he registered 13:55 of total ice time – the least among any Leafs defenseman by a wide margin.
Head coach Berube emphasized that he wanted Liljegren to play simple, harder, with intensity, and quicker while winning his one-on-one battles. It was his first appearance of the season, and it was never expected that he’d have a major role. Relatively speaking, he saw time on the penalty kill but it was a satisfactory performance and a good opportunity to find his footing again at NHL game-level speed.
However, he did take a cross-checking penalty in the second period, up 4-0.
Though the call was questionable, taking penalties in this current position won’t be a helpful burden. We’ll have to see how his role progresses after his first taste of game action in the 2024-25 season.
How Berube assessed the 25-year-old on Wednesday? Solid.
“He was fine. I mean, he's out there killing penalties. And he got, what, 14 minutes, five on five? I don't know what it was, the minutes. But, he was pretty solid.”
Anthony Stolarz Continues To Impress
As Joseph Woll remains out, Anthony Stolarz has stepped up to the plate – earning his second win of the season. Despite the scoreboard reading 6-2, Stolarz stopped numerous flurries and pushes from the Kings. When those pushes came, he had the answers. While leading 3-0 after the first period, Stolarz maintained the Leafs’ lead throughout the first half of the second period as Los Angeles brought immense pressure offensively.
Holding the Kings scoreless through the first two periods, Stolarz was only beaten cleanly on the first goal by Alex Turcotte. The second goal was a scramble in front and it rode the skate of Tavares.
However, Stolarz was excellent in the crease for Toronto again on Wednesday, stopping 32 of 34 shots and posting a .941 save percentage. Even when leading 5-2, Berube called a timeout to settle down and regroup as Stolarz continued to anchor the team as the last line of defense.
Tavares' late goal extended the lead to a 6-2 score and Stolarz continued to make key saves down the stretch, including this one in the final frame on Quinton Byfield – the save of the night.
Opportunity proved to be the biggest benefactor when the 30-year-old hit NHL free agency this past offseason and he’s gotten just that through four games this season. In his first three starts in the blue and white, he’s stopped 79 of his first 84 shots, recording a .940 save percentage over that span.
"It was probably the No. 1 thing for me,” Stolarz explained on Tuesday. “You obviously play this game to play games and get out there. And obviously with this team, the talent obviously speaks for itself. So for me, it was a pretty easy decision.”
And his play hasn't gone unnoticed to his teammates and head coach. Not only did Berube mention that he believed Stolarz was a major factor that won them the game, he also pointed out his calmness in the crease and its contagious impact.
"I think it's important. Not only for the goalie, but everybody. You know, body language is big and composure is huge," said Berube. "I thought Stolle had great composure tonight in net. That team, they shoot a lot of pucks from up top and they got traffic all the time, but he was really poised in the net tonight."
Nylander added to this sentiment by saying, "He’s a big boy back there. Obviously his demeanour’s huge. I mean, whatever situation it may be, he’s just solid back there and just, yeah, a tremendous goalie."
Time will tell when Woll returns, but the battle for the crease continues to intensify as Stolarz progressively strings together one strong performance after another.
As a team, the Leafs had seven skaters with multi-point nights against the Kings: Domi (2A), Ekman-Larsson (2A), Marner (3A), Matthews (1G, 2A), McCabe (2A), McMann (2G), Nylander (1G, 1A). Through four games, the club has only allowed seven goals in total and four even-strength goals.
The Leafs take the ice next against the New York Rangers on Saturday night at Scotiabank Arena. Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m.
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