The Toronto Maple Leafs entered their second game of the 2024-25 regular season coming off a tough 1-0 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday (Oct. 9) which dropped their record to 0-1-0, and were looking to bounce back and pick up their first win of the new campaign. One key matchup in this game was the coaches as the Maple Leafs faced their previous head coach Sheldon Keefe, who was relieved of his duties as head coach last season and ended up joining the New Jersey Devils, and were hoping to spoil the Devils’ home opener. In what was a strong 4-2 win, let’s look at some takeaways from yesterday’s (Oct. 10) game.
Matthews, Marner, Nylander Held Pointless
The Maple Leafs defeated the Devils 4-2 and improved their record to 1-1-0. However, one key takeaway from the game is that Auston Matthews, Mitchell Marner, and William Nylander were all held pointless. All three players are viewed as some of the most elite offensive forwards in the entire league, so for them to have zero points between them through two games is a little concerning for fans.
The Maple Leafs got the majority of their goals last night from depth players, as newcomers Max Pacioretty and Steven Lorentz got their first goals with their new teams, Bobby McMann got his first of the season, and John Tavares picked up the other goal. While it’s early in the season and it’s positive to see more players getting on the score sheet than just the ones who are always expected to do so, it will raise some eyebrows if they can’t snap out of their early-season slump next game.
Dennis Hildeby Picks Up First Career Win
With Joseph Woll out dealing with an injury as well as Anthony Stolarz needing a night off after having played the game before, goaltender Dennis Hildeby earned the opportunity to play in his first career NHL game. While he looked a little shaky at the beginning, his confidence grew as time went on. He stopped 22 of 24 shots, finishing the night with a .917 save percentage (SV%), only allowing goals from Jesper Bratt and Timo Meier.
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Hildeby had an impressive 2023-24 season playing in the American Hockey League (AHL) with the Toronto Marlies posting a 2.41 goals-against average (GAA) and a .913 SV%. He was drafted in the fourth round of the 2022 NHL Entry Draft at 122nd overall after an impressive showing in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL) with Färjestad BK. He has proven he can remain at the NHL level, but he may get pushed down the depth chart once the Maple Leafs are healthy between the pipes. Luckily, Hildeby has proven he can be a worthy backup to Stolarz in the meantime.
Is Lack of Physicality a Potential Concern?
The Maple Leafs decided to scratch Ryan Reaves and play McMann instead, leaving no real physical grinder in their lineup. While McMann was able to score and played a really strong game, they had a concerningly low amount of hits with just 11, compared to the Devils’ 31. Luckily, this didn’t affect the outcome of the game at all and they were able to pull out a huge win to build some momentum, but a lack of physicality could be worrisome to some fans. However, this shouldn’t be concerning to fans. It would be nice to see them pick up the physicality in the next game and increase the hit total, but this shouldn’t be a worry. As long as the other areas of their game are strong and the team is winning, nobody should draw attention to the low hit total.
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