Maple Leafs News & Rumors: Woll, Rielly, Tavares & Nylander

In a game against the Washington Capitals on Tuesday night, the Toronto Maple Leafs rode the great goalie play of Joseph Woll to leave the US capital with a 4-1 win. In this game, the big guns were firing. Auston Matthews picked up his seventh goal of the season, with Morgan Rielly, John Tavares, and William Nylander also adding to the goal-scoring. 

However, it was Woll’s exceptional performance between the pipes that sent former Maple Leafs’ assistant and now head coach of the Capitals Spencer Carbery to his team’s fourth loss in five games. Interestingly, Rielly’s goal was the first score by a Maple Leafs defenceman this season. Tavares and Nylander also extended their impressive season-opening point streaks to six games. Both are having great starts to the season.

For readers who’d like to read a takeaway piece for the game, check out the link above where my THW colleague Michael DeRosa reviews this game from that aspect. My review will focus on the individual players who contributed to the win.

Item One: Joseph Woll Has Second-Straight Solid Game

In his second game in a row, Woll carried the team to the win. Although the 4-1 score seemed to announce a commanding victory, it was far from that. The Capitals had 37 shots, with a huge number of them being high-danger chances. Woll, who made 36 saves, was nothing short of spectacular.

The standout statistic was that he was able to stop Capitals’ superstar Alex Ovechkin 13 times. Only a late power-play goal allowed him to sneak free for a wide-open tip-in that finally broke through Woll’s defence. Once again, Woll was unflappable. He’s not only made the case for more starts; he’s made the case that he should – at least until proven otherwise – be the Maple Leafs’ starting goalie.

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In an interesting aside, Woll is the 170th different goalie Ovechkin has scored against. Ovechkin’s goal was his 300th on the power play and 3,000th power-play goal in Capitals history, giving him 10 percent of their franchise total.

Item Two: Morgan Rielly Scores His First Goal of the Season

Rielly scored a goal and added an assist during the game against the Capitals. The goal was his first of the season and came on the power play. It gave the Maple Leafs an early 1-0 lead midway through the first period. 

The 29-year-old Rielly snuck down low to take a pass from Timothy Liljegren at the right circle’s base. He beat Darcy Kuemper cleanly on the far side. Rielly also set up John Tavares’ game-winning goal early in the second period. On the season, Rielly now has one goal and four assists in six games, and two of those points have come with the man advantage.

Item Three: John Tavares Continues His Solid Start

Tavares extended his great opening-season run with another impressive performance. He added a goal to the Maple Leafs’ cause when he used his patented hand/eye coordination to redirect a pass from Rielly past Kuemper. The goal was Tavares’ third of the season (with seven assists) and maintains his season-long scoring streak of six games. That ties him with Nylander for the team’s scoring lead.

Tavares also had another strong night in the faceoff circle, winning over 70 (71.4 specifically) percent of the draws he took. On the season, he’s now taken 100 draws and has won 62 of them. He’s been dominant in that aspect of the game. 

Tavares’ early-season production has been beyond expectations. While he’s expected to slow down soon, what if he didn’t? He’s a demon deflector in front of the net. There’s no reason he can’t get a few more tip-ins before the season is over. I’m rooting for him to hit 90 points. His best season was in 2018-19, with 88 points. It was his first as a Maple Leafs player.

Item Four: William Nylander Still Hasn’t Been Shutout in a Game

Nylander is also on an impressive season-long scoring streak. He scored another goal on a great stretch pass from Matthews. Then, using his speed he swept around defender Nick Jensen to roof one past Kuemper. Like Tavares, Nylander’s scoring streak has now reached six games with a total of 10 points (evenly distributed between goals and assists at five each). 

In the background of all this success is the fact that Nylander has yet to sign a contract extension. It would seem thus far that betting on himself as his contract is expiring might be a wise move. His market value is soaring. There might be Maple Leafs fans who’d still like to see Nylander be traded, but they are likely keeping those thoughts to themselves right now. 

By the way, I saw a tweet during the game that Nylander and Tavares are the third pair of Maple Leafs teammates to record simultaneous season-opening point streaks of at least six games. Matthews and Rielly did it in 2017-18 and Lorne Carr, Gus Bodnar, and Sweeney Schriner did it even before I was born in 1944-45. Also interesting is that most of these ended (except for Matthews, who extended his to seven games in 2017) after six games.

Item Five: Auston Matthews Now Has Scored Seven Goals

Matthews continued his impressive performance, scoring a goal and adding his first assist of the season. His goal came later in the second period when he one-timed a shot from the left circle with the man advantage. It was his only shot of the game. 

In a testament to what can be done if you’re not desperately trying to mount a comeback, Matthews logged less than 19 minutes (across 19 shifts) in the game. Usually, his ice time has been over 23 minutes per game on the season. It’s nice for every player on the team when there’s a three-goal lead carried into the third period. The coaching staff can roll four lines and Matthews and Mitch Marner can get a bit of a rest.

Matthews, although he’s only 26 years of age, is already beginning to add his name to the record books as one of the greatest players in franchise history. With his goal, he now shares fourth place in team history with Dave Keon for road goals with an impressive total of 140. In addition, his 79 power-play goals tie him with Wendel Clark for the fourth most power-play goals in the team’s history. 

What’s Next for the Maple Leafs?

I also saw another tweet during the game that reported that Nylander had passed Phil Kessel to take over 19th all-time in Maple Leafs scoring (182 goals to 181). Nylander is one point shy of Wendel Clark for 18th in all-time points (441). 

By the way, Matthews is now in fifth place in Maple Leafs goal scoring. He should be able to pass Ron Ellis for fourth this season; and, if he doesn’t suffer an injury should move into second place behind Mats Sundin next season.