Heading into last night’s game against the division rival Tampa Bay Lightning, the Toronto Maple Leafs sat atop the Atlantic Division and second in the Eastern Conference with 60 points. The team was coming off a huge win, where they erased a 3–0 deficit against the Montreal Canadiens scoring seven unanswered goals, all by different players.
The Maple Leafs looked to extend their two-game win streak, which has been characterized by better forechecking, dump, chase, and grind, and a power play that has actually scored. The Lightning was also looking to extend their two-game win streak and create separation in the standings for what is a logjam of teams competing for a playoff spot.
Let’s take a look at three storylines coming out of last night’s game.
The two-headed scoring beast continues to dominate
Auston Matthews had a noticeable jump and energy to his game tonight. He looked fast, laid the body, and led by example as a captain does. In his last 10 games, Matthews has nine goals and six assists for 15 points. Matthews is now on a four-game goal streak as he opened the scoring in last night’s game.
Matthews also picked up an assist on Matthew Knies’ first goal of the game, in the dying seconds of the second period. The first line of Mitch Marner, Matthews, and Knies is clearly clicking:
The other head of the two-headed scoring beast is William Nylander. Mirroring Matthews’ goal totals in the last three games, Nylander scored in last night’s game making the game 2–0, thanks to good work by Morgan Rielly to get the puck to Nylander:
This marks Nylander’s 27th goal of the year, putting him in a four-way tie for second in league goal-scoring. Nylander is on pace for 46 goals, which would be a new career high after back-to-back 40-goal seasons.
The defence continues to be a rock
Head coach Craig Berube shuffled the defence around ahead of tonight’s game, pairing Oliver Ekman-Larsson with Chris Tanev and Morgan Rielly with Jake McCabe on his off-side.
This worked out quite well. The first period was an absolute masterclass by the Maple Leafs in their zone. When the Lightning would dump the puck in, the Maple Leafs defender would collect the puck, make a good first pass to the forward at the half boards, and then the forward would pass it out, simple as that.
Jake McCabe and Tanev, in their respective pairs, allowed Ekman-Larsson and Rielly to handle the offence. McCabe finished the night with a team lead of three blocks and had key clearing plays while on the penalty kill. Tanev continues to be as advertised with his smart defensive awareness, including literally saving a goal:
The Maple Leafs’ defence has been more active on the offensive side of the puck in recent games, which is a common criticism of the Maple Leafs back end this year: it doesn’t generate much offence. The Maple Leafs’ defence as a whole was joining the rush to create offensive zone opportunities and getting more pucks on the net from the point with traffic in front.
Both Ekman-Larsson and Rielly picked up an assist each in last night’s games, each extending their point streaks to two games. If the Maple Leafs’ defence can continue to contribute offensively, it gives Craig Berube another tool in his toolbox come playoff time.
Woll and steady wins the race
Although the final score was 5–3, and Woll finished with a .900 SV%, Woll was steady. Two of the goals against were tips in front of the net, and the other goal was a result of perfect precision passing by the Lightning.
Lost in the score was that Woll made key stops when he had to, like this big save on Zemgus Girgensons sliding left to right in the first period:
While Anthony Stolarz was on the ice a few days ago, the first time since his knee procedure, Woll has been holding down the fort in his absence. With the level of goaltending Woll has provided this year, as well as already tying his career high in games played with 25, all for under 800K, Woll has so far held up his end of the bargain.
Onto the next game
The Maple Leafs are 4–0 on Amazon Prime, a good indicator that Amazon should stream all Maple Leafs’ games. What’s good about this recent three-game win streak is that the Maple Leafs look like the identity that Berube is trying to change—clogging up the neutral zone, hard on the forecheck, and dump-and-chase hockey.
The Maple Leafs play again on Wednesday against the Columbus Blue Jackets who are fighting for a wildcard spot in the crowded East.
