After securing a 5-4 shootout win over the Calgary Flames on Nov. 10, the Toronto Maple Leafs looked to snag another two points against a red-hot Vancouver Canucks team. They were successful in their goal, as they defeated the Canucks by a 5-2 final score. This was a great performance from the Maple Leafs, and they will now look to carry over this momentum moving forward. Let’s now go over three main takeaways from the contest.
Samsonov’s Excellent Performance
It is not a secret that Ilya Samsonov has had a truly disastrous start to the 2023-24 season. His last start on Nov. 6 against the Tampa Bay Lightning was particularly a nightmare, however, as he allowed four first-period goals on 12 shots before being pulled. Due to this, the 26-year-old goalie was looking to have a bounce-back performance, and in the end, he indeed did.
Samsonov put together one of his best performances of the campaign, as he saved 31 out of 33 shots, equating to a .939 save percentage (SV%) on the night. Besides making a high number of saves, the 2015 first-round pick stopped several high-danger chances. Had he not been on his A game, the Canucks would have put up more goals, as they were hungry during this contest. However, Samsonov shut the door and was a big reason why the Maple Leafs got two points.
Following this win, Samsonov now sports a 3-1-2 record to go along with a .870 SV% and a 3.79 goals-against average in eight appearances. While his numbers are still not outstanding, they improved after this marvelous performance and will only continue to if he keeps this kind of play up.
Maple Leafs Get Great Secondary Scoring
For a good chunk of the season, secondary scoring was a pretty notable issue for the Maple Leafs. They were not getting much offence from their forwards outside of the Core Four, but as of late, that has been changing. Thankfully for the Maple Leafs, this trend carried over against the Canucks and was a notable reason why they won.
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Maple Leafs rookie Matthew Knies potted his fourth goal of the season with assists from Tyler Bertuzzi and Max Domi. Bertuzzi also recorded his second assist of the night on William Nylander’s second-period goal. Noah Gregor broke his cold streak and scored his second goal of the season, with Morgan Rielly and recent call-up Bobby McMann getting the assists. From there, Nick Robertson and Domi continued this early chemistry, as Robertson scored with Domi getting the assist. Then, for the club’s final goal, David Kampf finally scored his first goal of the season, while Gregor and McMann recorded the assists.
Seeing so many Maple Leafs forwards get on the scoresheet in this one was very promising. Gregor, Bertuzzi, Domi, and McMann all had multi-point nights, and this is something that the Maple Leafs are hoping to continue to see. If the Maple Leafs’ depth scoring continues to produce as regularly as this, they will become a much more dangerous team.
Nylander Just Can’t Stop Producing
As noted above, Nylander scored during this contest. With this goal, Nylander extended his franchise-record season-opening point streak to a magnificent 15 games. During this streak, he now has 10 goals to go along with 22 points. This is just spectacular stuff.
Nylander is continuing to have a perfect season in his contract year, and he is only raising his value in the process. The Maple Leafs need to find a way to keep him in Toronto, as he has easily been their best player all season.
Nevertheless, this was a huge win for the Maple Leafs. With it, they have improved to an 8-5-2 record and are now tied with the Detroit Red Wings for second in the Atlantic Division. Their next matchup is coincidentally against the Red Wings on Nov. 17, so this is going to be a big-time Original Six contest. Let’s see if the Maple Leafs can keep their winning streak alive against them.
