Following a loss in their season opener, the Toronto Maple Leafs (3-1-0) have now won three in a row. Their latest victory was a decisive 6-2 effort versus the Los Angeles Kings (1-1-2), giving them the top record in the Atlantic Division.
Toronto set the tone under seven minutes into the first period with a Bobby McMann tally. Max Domi and Jake McCabe put up the assists.
Less than two minutes later, captain Auston Matthews got his first goal of the season, with assists coming from Mitch Marner and Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Matthews put up the best goal total (69) that the NHL has seen since the 1990s in his previous campaign, so getting his first a whole four games into the season could be seen as a slow start. Perhaps he is finally heating up.
Late in the first period, McMann scored his second of the night on a brilliant feed from William Nylander and a secondary assist from Ekman-Larsson. This was the first game-winning goal of McMann’s career, taking him 18 tallies for one to finally be the one that put his team over the top.
THAT MANN IS DOUBLE DIPPIN’
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) October 17, 2024
(in style😎) pic.twitter.com/sABmB5daDN
In the second period, Morgan Rielly added to the fun with his first of the season. McCabe and Domi got the assists, making it two-point nights for the both of them. Domi’s fifth assist in four games puts him among the best producers in 2024-25 so far.
It took some time, but the Maple Leafs’ power play got its first tally of 2024-25 on the team’s fifth goal. Scored by Nylander and assisted by Matthews and Marner, that unit seems to be getting in a groove again.
The Kings answered with two third-period goals to make it 5-2, one from Alex Turcotte and the other from Kevin Fiala, but Toronto’s John Tavares put the cherry on top with another power-play goal with under three minutes left in the game. Matthews and Marner each got their third point of the game on that one.
Free-agent signing Anthony Stolarz was lights out for the Leafs, stopping 32 of the 34 shots he faced. For the Kings, it was a rough night for starter David Rittich (10 saves on 14 shots) and Pheonix Copley (10 saves on 12 shots), with the latter coming in to relieve Rittich in a subpar showing.
Next up, the Kings will stay in Canada to face the Montreal Canadiens in an Oct. 17 road matchup. Toronto will be back in action on their home ice against the high-flying New York Rangers on Oct. 19.
