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After the Maple Leafs’ dominant first period seized control of the game, they coasted off strong play from Anthony Stolarz to beat the LA Kings 6-2. 

The Leafs led 3-0 after the first period thanks to two goals from Bobby McMann and then, more or less, took their foot off the gas. Stolarz kept LA at bay as Toronto padded the lead in the second. Despite a pair of Kings goals in the third, the Leafs scored the final tally and took home a cushy 6-2 win.

It was a good night for the core players — Auston Matthews finally found the scoreboard, as did William Nylander, Morgan Rielly, and John Tavares — and a slump-busting night for the power play (two for four).

Your game in 10:

1.  The game got off to a bit of a choppy start, with the visiting Kings icing the puck twice in the first 30 seconds. But as soon as the game got a bit of rhythm, we were provided a glimpse of the success the Leafs would enjoy offensively in the first period.

Toronto’s top line split open the LA in-zone defense and set up a chance for Oliver Ekman-Larsson all alone in the slot, gloved by David Rittich. The Maple Leafs quickly went on the power play and created several good looks, although they were unable to score their first power-play goal of the season. Mitch Marner nicely set up John Tavares alone in the slot, but Tavares ripped the one-time shot wide of the net.

The power play ended when Morgan Rielly was called for a slash, but it was decent progress — progress that the Leafs seemed to build on once they killed off the ~90 second LA PP, thanks to a good block from Steven Lorentz. The Marner/Matthews tandem brought it home and killed off the penalty before Craig Berube sent his new-look middle-six line on the ice.

William Nylander circled back for a regroup in the neutral zone with the puck, which caught the Kings on a line change and allowed the Leafs to bring numbers into the attack against a scrambled LA defense. Jake McCabe lugged the puck up and flipped it to Max Domi, who directed the puck on net and produced a juicy rebound into the slot. Bobby McMann was there waiting and quickly fired the puck into the net to open the scoring.

Domi has been hearing it from Craig Berube for passing up shooting opportunities early in the season, and it’s probably no coincidence that he shot it on his first real opportunity of the game, creating the second-opportunity goal for McMann.

2.   The Leafs put the foot right back on the pedal up 1-0 as their top line produced the first goal of the season for their star goalscorer.

Ekman-Larsson, who has been really effective in the offensive zone through four games, held the puck at the point and deposited it down into the corner, where Marner was waiting. #16 dished it to the slot for Auston Matthews, who had room to wind up and shoot. Matthews actually whiffed on his first attempt, but the puck only rolled slightly, allowing him to rekindle possession and take another stab at it. In the meantime, Anže Kopitar slid by Matthews, challenging the first shot, which left Matthews open for his second rip. This one was the first signature Matthews shot of the season, a certified snap right by David Rittich in the blink of an eye.

It’s the same familiar shot, only this time with a C on the shooter’s chest.

3.    Down in a multi-goal hole, LA finally began to find their footing a little bit. They hemmed in the Domi line and began to stitch together a period of two or three minutes with the play pushed in their direction. The top line broke the momentum with a terrific shift that saw Matthews feed Marner, who set up Matthew Knies for a good chance, turned aside by Rittich to keep the game at just 2-0.

The game went to a TV timeout with the Leafs set to get an offensive zone draw, which saw Berube pull a bit of a wrinkle: putting out Rielly with OEL as an offensively-minded defense pair. The fivesome on the ice was not able to keep the puck in the Kings’ end, but it was not the end of the opportunity.

Toronto dug it out, broke it out (thanks to a nice play by William Nylander to tap the puck by a King), and quickly created a transition opportunity. Nylander consolidated possession and skated down the wing, entering the offensive zone and flipping a pass to Bobby McMann, who had one step on the backchecking Vladislav Garikov. McMann collected it and got it to his forehand, then snapped the puck by Rittich for his second goal of the period and third of the young season.

16 goals in his last 33 games for McMann is a noteworthy stat line — he puts himself in positions to score with his size and speed and takes advantage of those looks at a high clip. He’s not, or shouldn’t be, returning to the press box any time soon.

4.  Los Angeles came out of the gate with their hair on fire to start the second period. Play was decisively tilted to the Toronto defensive zone as the Kings were able to cycle with relative ease and were dead set on tossing every puck at the Maple Leaf cage.

LA had good success at getting them on net, racking up shot after shot, and while those shots weren’t terribly threatening, the scrambles that ensued did create some looks. More importantly, the Kings were more aggressive in the retrieval battles, winning loose pucks to support more pressure. In just the first 4:17 of the second period, LA outshot Toronto 9-0(!) in that span, but ironically, it was a shot that didn’t hit the net that was their most threatening look — a shot wide of the cage that kicked out the other side with the net exposed for Andre Lee. A good tie-up from David Kämpf saved a rebound goal, but LA was getting closer.

The one thing that stood out from this segment was Anthony Stolarz’s steadyness in goal. The goalie’s size and calmness are apparent in the way he plays the position, absorbing pucks and keeping the play in front of him. He’s steady and doesn’t swim much at all, exhibiting sharp puck tracking and decent rebound control. The Leafs didn’t expose him to a high volume of A+ chances during this stretch, but Stolarz also ensured that the zone time didn’t spin out of control and give the Kings an ounce of daylight. That was quietly important.

5.   A Mitch Marner pass to set up an Auston Matthews chance was Toronto’s first chance of the second period, coming some six minutes in. That finally snapped the Leafs out of the sleepy start to the second period, and it wouldn’t be long before the next Maple Leaf goal.

They stacked a couple of productive shifts together and then let a pair of defensemen go to work on offense. McCabe received the puck along the high wall from Domi at the blue line and scanned the zone for a passing opportunity. He found one with Morgan Rielly making a cut into the slot, and McCabe made a fabulous pass to Rielly, who deflected the puck past the glove of Rittich.

Goal #4 for the Leafs was a back-breaker — an ever-expanding Toronto lead wiped away all those minutes of constructive play for the Kings. It was also the fifth point from a Leafs defenseman in the 28 minutes of game action, and moved the McMann – Domi – Nylander line to 3-0 at 5v5 in the game.

6.    The Leafs went to their second power play, a delay of game call on Mikey Anderson, after growing the lead to 4-0. This was a far worse man-advantage than their previous one, struggling to get set up as the Kings showed why they were among the NHL’s top PK teams a year ago. LA applied pressure across the ice, disrupting Toronto’s entries and pressuring the puck in the zone to force turnovers and get quick clears.

With the PP killed off, it was the Leafs’ turn to kill a penalty after Timothy Liljegren (playing his first game of the season) went to the box for crosschecking. This Toronto’s kill wasn’t as impressive as Los Angeles’, but it was a fine showing of PKing as the Leafs had a bounce-back night on the kill.

We should briefly talk about Liljegren, who played just 13:55 in his return to the lineup. The other five defensemen in the lineup all played at least 18:38 (McCabe), with OEL leading the way at 21:00, so it’s notable that Liljegren was way behind the pack.

I honestly had few notes on Liljegren, with few moments of note offensively, and he was only noticeable in the defensive end for the penalty and getting pushed around a bit in board battles. It wasn’t the sort of performance he was probably looking for if he wants to be a regular contributor in Craig Berube’s lineup, and also probably not the outing that the Leafs wanted if they are trying to showcase him to potential suitors. Rust is certainly a factor, since Liljegren hadn’t appeared in a game in nearly two weeks (his last was the preseason game on 10/3), but Liljegren’s ice time reflected the conundrum he’s found himself in (and will need to fight his way out of if he remains in Toronto): not much trust from the coaching staff, while competing on a deeper blue line with a better complement of left-right duos, more special teams options, and more credible puck movers.

7.    Toronto closed out the second period with another goal, but McMann deserves another mention even though he didn’t score this one. McMann set up Nylander for a breakaway chance, which Phoenix Copley (inserted a few minutes earlier for David Rittich… reason uncertain) denied. Then McMann followed the play up by hammering Mikey Anderson with a crunching check that got Scotiabank Arena to its feet — yet another excellent McMann shift.

As for the goal that was scored, Nylander was getting redemption for that missed opportunity a few moments earlier. The Leafs went on the power play after a dazzling shift from the Toronto top line, showing their skill, speed, and physicality while zipping the puck around the offensive zone before Matthews drew a holding call.

This third power play opportunity was fairly clunky yet again, but once they finally got it set up, they cashed in. Nylander received a lateral pass at the right point, skated to the top of the faceoff circle and uncorked a sweet shot top corner by Copley.

5-0 Toronto, and despite a large stretch of the period played in their end, the Leafs won the second period 2-0 on the scoreboard.

8.    The Leafs got right back to a sleepy start to the third period. This time, it cost them a goal, coming with the fourth line on the ice. They were passive in the neutral zone and flat-footed on the backcheck as Andre Lee slid it over to Alex Turcotte in the middle, who had too much time and space to shoot it past Stolarz’s glove.

It was a pretty poor night from the Leafs’ fourth line, who created almost no offense while ceding a goal and some other chances against, but it also has to be taken in the context of score effects setting in. All four Toronto lines were lethargic and uninterested to begin the third period with a large lead in hand, and it showed on this goal.

9.     It continued to show as the next few minutes went along in similar fashion. McCabe was called for a penalty that seemed like it should’ve been matching minors during an awkward battle with Lee, putting the Leafs right back on the defensive. They didn’t do much to obstruct the puck movement of Los Angeles but did kill it off.

The pressure didn’t stop there, as the Kings got a flurry of chances shortly after the penalty expired, with the Leafs just thankful to clear the zone before the opposition stepped right back on the gas. Eventually, the Kings cashed in on another one of these opportunities.

Pontus Holmberg was lackadaisical in possession in his own zone and failed to clear the puck — a bit of a theme with him in the early going of the season — and just as they had been doing for two periods, LA tossed it on net. Stolarz came out and made the save, but as several bodies jammed away at the puck, some combination of the Stolarz blocker and the skate of Tavares deflected it across the line.

That was the second tally of the period, coming with 10:57 to go. The score now sat at 5-2, and shots were 10-1 in LA’s favor at this juncture, and it was clear that Craig Berube was not a big fan of the second consecutive period with a flat start. He called a timeout and laid into his team to try and get them going before things could get truly dangerous in what seemed like a decided game. It seemed to work for a bit, but then another soft defensive shift gave Brandt Clarke room to drive the net, Ekman-Larsson took a crosschecking penalty on the rebound, and LA now had the opportunity to make it a game.

They weren’t able to take advantage, as this was a strong kill from the Leafs that helped put the game away. The best chance of the two minutes went to the killers; Marner and Knies got a 2v1 opportunity where Marner thought pass for too long before getting denied by strong work from Clarke.

Still, the penalty expired, cementing a very nice 4/4 night for Toronto’s PK. I know there was some concern about the Leafs’ PK through three games due to the percentages, but I do like the way things have looked to this point and tonight was the best showing so far this season. Something to continue to build on.

10.    Killing off the penalty and preserving the three-goal lead seemed to let the remaining air out of LA’s balloon, and the last 6.5 minutes trickled by without much excitement before an ever-dwindling Scotiabank Arena crowd. The one bit of action came when another penalty was called, this one a slashing call against Kyle Burroughs with 4:02 remaining. The Leafs scored their second power-play goal, this one less of an individual effort as Matthews got the puck off the wall to Marner, who found Tavares camped in front of the net, where he flipped a backhander by Copley.

The Leafs are now 3-1-0 on the season, with a +7 goal differential that ranks near the top of the NHL. They’ve played very solid team hockey, even if they eased off the pedal with the three-goal lead tonight. The Maple Leafs were very strong when the game was competitive and then sleepwalked through the rest of the game, leaning on their dialed-in goalie and game-breaking skill to make sure the game never returned to real competitiveness.

In the grand scheme, this was a fine showing (even if the underlying metrics won’t look pretty), but I like that Berube was not satisfied with coasting to the finish and sent a bit of a message. This part of the season is about building winning habits.

Game Flow: 5v5 Shot Attempts

Heat Map: 5v5 Shot Attempts

Game Highlights w/ Joe Bowen & Jim Ralph Commentary

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