Another Maple Leafs win against the Tampa Bay Lightning, this one the third in three meetings this season.
A pair of goals by Matthew Knies and another strong outing by Joseph Woll sent the Leafs to a 5-3 victory on Monday night at Scotiabank Arena.
Toronto now has a five-point lead on the Florida Panthers for first place in the Atlantic Division.
Our takeaways from the Leafs’ 30th win in 48 games in 2024-25:
NO BUDGING KNIES
Knies has 18 goals and with each game that goes by is gaining confidence.
The potential for the big 22-year-old to become an effective power forward has been clear for a while. Knies is taking advantage and continues to lock down his spot on the top line with captain Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner.
“Body and physicality and understanding what he does out there as a player,” Leafs coach Craig Berube said in reference to Knies’ growth as a player. “He forechecks, gets loose pucks and goes directly to the net and gets all of his goals around the net, for the most part.
“He understands that Mitch and Auston will do the thing with the puck and the D are going to shoot. He’s at the net front all the time.”
There is little that opposing teams can do to budge the 6-foot-3, 227-pound Knies from that area. And when he gets the puck, he has the hands to complete the package.
We saw that on both of his goals on Monday. Late in the second, he took a pass from Marner and beat goalie Jonas Johansson from in tight; in the third, he had success on the power play when he moved to his forehand to score after corralling a rebound while being checked by Tampa defenceman Nick Perbix.
“He’s been a force for us all season long,” Matthews said. “He is such a big guy and he’s got such a tremendous skill set. The more experience he has had, the better he continues to get and the more comfortable he feels in his own body.”
Playing in the final year of his entry-level contract, Knies, a restricted free agent, will be line for a substantial raise. That shouldn’t be an issue for the Leafs. Young players with Knies’ size and skill set are not particularly common.
And he fits what Berube seeks.
“He wants us to play a simple and fast game, and I think that’s what my game is to a T,” Knies said. “I just try to play for him and learn as much as I can from him.”
CATCHING A BREAK
The reason for William Nylander’s ability to get breakaways is fairly simple, Matthews figured.
“He’s really good at cheating for offence, and I mean that in the best way possible,” Matthews said. “He reads the plays and is very fast, his IQ, the way he reads the play and is able to get behind you. Nobody does it better than him.”
So it went on Monday, when Nylander, again, scored on a breakaway.
After some fine defensive work in the Toronto end by Morgan Rielly and Steven Lorentz, Nylander gathered the puck, skated in alone on Johansson and fired the puck into the net before the goalie could react.
“What makes him so good is he doesn’t really have a go-to type of thing,” Woll said. “He is reading the goalie and that’s what makes him special. Whatever you are showing him, he’s going to take.”
Nylander, cool as ever, had little interest in going down an insightful path after the game.
How does he know when to break and what is he seeing that tells him it’s safe to go?
“I think it’s just instinct in the moment, I guess,” Nylander said.
Nylander has 28 goals. Only the Edmonton Oilers’ Leon Draisaitl, with 33, has more this season.
“His ability with his stick and his feet are high end,” Berube said. “And some of the things I see him do are pretty incredible.”
No argument here.
A FOR EFFORT
Leave it to Nylander to sum up the Leafs’ three-game winning streak, which comes after a three-game losing streak, this way: “It doesn’t matter. It’s three games.”
That’s how Nylander put it in his short media scrum afterward.
We will say this. Considering the opponent, the Leafs had to be feeling good about themselves as they headed out into the cold January night.
After victories against Montreal and New Jersey, the Leafs added to their point total against an Atlantic Division rival that had won three of its previous four games.
The Leafs’ big stars came to play. The Matthews line combined for eight points (Marner and Knies with three each and Matthews with two) and there was Nylander’s goal.
Tampa’s Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point and Jake Guentzel failed to make a similar impact.
“They have stepped up, for sure, and done the job, and we need them to,” Berube said of his bold-face players. “They’re the leaders, the top players, and they have to lead the way. I think we’re getting there right now.
“Overall, I liked our game. That’s a really good team over there. I thought we checked well, did a lot of good things. Pretty solid effort from our team.”
In each of their three wins against Tampa, the Leafs have scored five goals.
“I feel like there’s a little rivalry between us two teams,” Knies said.
“Always feels like a little playoff series when we play, so it’s good for us to get that win and keep that confidence.”
X: @koshtorontosun