The Toronto Maple Leafs headed into last night’s game against the New York Rangers with a 2–2–0 record on the season. Coming off a dominant 7–4 win against the Nashville Predators, where Leafs’ rookie Easton Cowan picked up his first NHL assist, the Leafs were looking to continue their strong play.
Let’s take a look at the key takeaways coming out of last night’s 2–1 overtime win.
Anthony Stolarz is dialled in
For the last several years, I kept asking myself, “When are the Leafs going to get a goalie that can make big saves and steal a game?” The answer is clearly Anthony Stolarz.
After last night’s game, the team owes Anthony Stolarz dinner. Stolarz stopped 28 out of 29 shots in the goalie duel. Several times in last night’s game, the Leafs looked like they were barely hanging on.
Stolarz has shown so far this year, including in the preseason, why he deserves the four-year $3.75M extension he signed. He made several game-saving saves:
The defence did not do Stolarz many favours last night. The Leafs made several turnovers that resulted in quality scoring chances. There were several instances where the Leafs couldn’t clear the puck or could not clear the front of the net. But Stolarz shut the door:
Stolarz was so dialled in that he was stopping pucks without a mask:
With the absence of Joseph Woll, Stolarz is the de facto starter. So far, Stolarz looks like he’s up to the task and stole two points for the Leafs last night. If Stolarz can maintain his strong play, he would become the most reliable starting goaltender the Leafs have had since the days of Curtis Joseph and Ed Belfour.
Willy Styles is getting it done
Head coach Craig Berube called out William Nylander following the 3–2 loss against the Detroit Red Wings three games ago. Nylander responded with a three-point performance in the 7–4 win against the Predators, and recorded two points tonight, setting up both goals.
On the power play, Nylander set up the goal with a shot-pass to Matthew Knies for the deflection to score the Leafs’ first power play goal of the season:
On the overtime goal, Nylander made a beautiful pass to Auston Matthews under the stick of a backchecking Artemi Panarin for the easy tap-in for Matthews’ fourth goal of the season:
We know Nylander responds well to public criticism from his coaches, and he has looked dialled in since. On the season, Nylander has two goals and seven assists for nine points in the first five games.
Special teams
Heading into the year, one of the biggest question marks was the Leafs’ power play. Mitch Marner was a big part of the power play, and the Leafs’ man advantage was generally below expectations in the last decade.
Heading into last night’s game, the Leafs’ power play was zero-for-eight. Obviously not the start they were looking for. Fortunately, Matthew Knies scored on the power play. So far in the season, Knies looks poised to take the next step and become a star in the NHL. Let’s hope we can get more scoring from the power play going forward.
The Leafs killed all six penalties in last night’s game. Although Stolarz did have to bail the Leafs out a couple of times. On the season, the Leafs’ penalty kill is 86.7%, tying them for 13th in the league. The year is still extremely young, but Berube would probably be happy with the penalty kill effort last night.
On to the next
The Leafs won’t play the Rangers until March, the night before the trade deadline. The Leafs continue their homestand on Saturday against the Seattle Kraken. I would expect the Leafs to ice the same lineup. However, Cowan saw limited ice time in the third period after a couple of mistakes. Whether Berube will make any changes remains to be seen.
