The Toronto Maple Leafs put on a show last night against the Anaheim Ducks. They won 9-2, which is significant because they typically struggle with these types of games. These types of games can bring teams together, help build character, and help them go on a run. It seems that all this team needed was some serious adversity, and they would come together and build confidence. This puts them in the perfect position to go on a run and lock up a playoff spot, which would help take some pressure off of the stars as well as give Brad Treliving the green light to buy at the deadline.
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In this game alone, we saw some milestones. Auston Matthews scored yet another hat trick, which brings him up to six on the season and ties him with Mario Lemieux for the most since 1995–96. It also marks the first time since 2009-10, when the Washington Capitals did it, that a team has scored a hat trick of hat tricks. It started with Bobby McMann against the St. Louis Blues, and then Matthews had back-to-back hat tricks against the Philadelphia Flyers and the Ducks. Matthews also set a new single-game career high in points with five points in a game. William Nylander also reached 500 career points with his first-period goal and assist. Lastly, Matthews and Mitch Marner have set the Maple Leafs record with the most points by a pair of teammates with 210; the record was previously held by Darryl Sittler and Lanny McDonald.
Matthews Scores 3, Again
Yes, you read that correctly. Matthews scored yet another hat trick, bringing his season total up to six. He has been lights out this season from the drop of the puck. At this point, if he doesn’t score at least one goal in a game, it’ll have fans shaking their heads. With this three-goal performance, he now moves up to 48 total goals on the season; unfortunately, he has played in 52 games, so 50 in 50 is out of the question. However, 50 in 53 is still really impressive, as is being on pace for 75 goals. During the game, he had MVP chants for him, which should spark some conversation regarding him potentially being the MVP this season. What would put him in that realm of players? Would it be scoring 70 goals and 100 points?
At points in this game, I caught myself smiling at the TV after he scored. He is so natural at it and makes it look easy; it truly makes it fun to be a Maple Leafs fan. For all members of Leafs Nation, we are watching what could be the greatest goal scorer in NHL history, but also potentially, if not already, the greatest Leaf of all time. It is something special to watch him night in and night out go out there and score goal after goal. Last night, Matthews also recorded his lowest ice time of the season; he played 14:52 and, in that time, managed to score five points, three goals, and two assists. Matthews could potentially hit the 50-goal mark against his hometown team, the Arizona Coyotes, in Arizona on Wednesday.
Overall Team Effort
Winning a game 9-2 doesn’t happen unless the Maple Leafs’ entire team buys in and plays hard from the jump and the Ducks start as flat as possible. Blow-out games of this calibre are fairly rare in the NHL because they require such a perfect combination of things to happen. When all aspects of the game go right, it tends to be rather embarrassing to be on the wrong side of the blowout. For the Maple Leafs last night, they had all 12 forwards engaged, and it showed. Whether it was Matthews and McMann scoring five goals between the two or Max Domi and Ryan Reaves getting involved physically, the forward group had it all. This game even saw Tyler Bertuzzi score for the first time in 20 games, which was followed by a nice tap on his shoulder by both Sheldon Keefe and Guy Boucher.
Again, these types of games can truly change the confidence of a team and make the whole group work as one. This was evident on the Bertuzzi goal; Matthews looked for him twice on the power play, and on the second time, he was able to deflect the puck into the net. Simon Benoit has been a part of the takeaway pieces for the better part of two weeks, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that he is back in this one. He has played out of this world; he has stepped up in the absence of Morgan Rielly due to his suspension. He typically has one hit in the game that is a true bone crusher, and he had two of those tonight. The last one came within the last five minutes of the game. It drew a reaction from the Ducks’ Sam Carrick, but within seconds, Reaves was in the middle of it. The Maple Leafs needed games like this one to come together as a group.
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The rest of the defence core was great tonight too. Timothy Liljegren had a great stick check that stopped a two-on-one for the Ducks that led to Nick Robertson’s goal late in the game. Martin Jones was also excellent tonight; he only allowed two goals and showed once that he is a calming presence between the pipes. Lastly, the coaching staff deserves some praise after last night’s game. Not only did they keep the pressure on the Ducks after Radko Gudas was running around causing havoc in the second period, They also let their top players rest and allowed some of the depth players to get more ice time and more chances to break scoring droughts, which in turn will help them gain confidence.
Overall, it was a great game to watch, and most likely an even better game to experience live and in person. Although the first 12–14 minutes of the third were slow, it was to be expected given the score of the game. The Maple Leafs have now improved to 17-5-2 without Rielly since last season, which is a shocking record but proves that their defence core can play well enough to win them games.
The Maple Leafs are next in action in a matinee game on Monday, Feb. 19, 2024, at 1:00 p.m., which will be a next-gen game.
