The Maple Leafs made it two straight wins to start their trip out west, as a hat trick from William Nylander and additional goals from Bobby McMann, John Tavares, and Matthew Knies powered Toronto to a 6-3 win over the Calgary Flames.
Your game in 10:
1. Putting aside the overturned goals at both ends of the ice in the first eight minutes (both the correct calls upon review, one for goalie interference on Jonathan Huberdeau and the other for a high stick on John Tavares), the Maple Leafs largely dictated play at five-on-five to start this game, firing five of the first six shots on goal. Their best scoring chance fell to Bobby McMann, whose burst of speed torched Tyson Barrie for a chance in alone on the goal.
The Leafs were largely controlling the puck possession and zone time. Morgan Rielly, in particular, was noticeably involved offensively, pushing down the wall and firing pucks toward the net. Rielly fired three shots on goal in the first period alone — one would’ve been a primary assist if Tavares’ stick contacted the puck slightly lower than it did in front — which matched Rielly’s shot total from the previous six games combined.
The Leafs‘ period got off track when they ran into penalty trouble, though, as they took all three of the penalties in the period, and two of them overlapped each other for 1:53. A marginal Conor Timmins hooking call was followed by a puck-over-glass penalty from Jake McCabe.
The Leafs initially won the defensive zone draw on the first penalty, and while it’s hard to tell on TV if the angle on the D-to-D pass to McCabe from Tanev was favourable for it, it looked like McCabe had a chance to rip it along the wall for a quick clear on his first touch instead of trying to settle the puck down under pressure and ultimately fumbling it on his backhand. Either way, it led to a turnover and a point-blank chance for Nazem Kadri, leading to a scramble where McCabe then fired the puck over the glass.
Chris Tanev was excellent on the Leafs‘ kills, breaking up plays and blocking shots for three separate clearances, and he laid down a big block on the first Matt Coronato shot attempt before Coronato buried the second effort for a 5-on-3 goal. It was just too long of a two-man disadvantage, and it left the Leafs down 1-0 after 20 minutes despite a reasonably strong start to the game.
2. Matthew Knies’ excellent game started early in the second period as the Leafs got off to a bright start to the middle frame. The top line followed up the Tavares line for an offensive-zone faceoff after a Calgary icing, and Knies was an immovable object battling in front of the net after Toronto established a cycle. Mackenzie Weegar attempted to bump him off the puck in front of the net and handily got the worst of it; Knies hardly moved, and Weegar stumbled to the ice before sprawling out and tripping Knies.
On the subsequent power play, most of the top unit stayed out past the 1:30 mark — OEL changed on for Rielly, and McMann for Tavares — when Knies made a great play for William Nylander‘s first goal of the game. When Knies took a pass from Matthews off the wall into the middle of the ice, he took a few steps in and faked as though he was pulling it to his backhand to take on the defender. He then sent a slick, deceptive backhand pass across the slot to Nylander, who made no mistake with his one-timer at the back post.
"THAT WAS A ROCKET!"
Nylander 31st of the Season vs Flames courtesy of @Bonsie1951 and @Jim_Ralph pic.twitter.com/Mqe5ytFzj4
— Maple Leafs Hotstove (@LeafsNews) February 5, 2025
Knies is a brick shithouse on the puck, and when we pair it with that kind of skill — which he also flashed in Edmonton with great hands for his goal in tight on the power play — as well as some more experience and confidence in the league, we’re watching the emergence of the rare top-of-the-lineup power forward.
Combine it with the size, speed, and finishing of Bobby McMann; even though the core four is the same, it shouldn’t be underestimated how much two 6’2, 220+ pound power forwards who can skate, score (both 30-goal threats in their 82-game pace), and complement elite players transform the complexion of the team’s top six this season.
3. Pontus Holmberg drew yet another penalty just a minute later and now sits at two drawn penalties per 60 minutes — top five in the league among forwards with at least 25 games played this season.
The Leafs were clinical off the draw win by Tavares, as after a Rielly-Nylander exchange, they switched sides quickly from Rielly to Matthews, who found Tavares in some space in the middle. Tavares ripped a backhander off the post and in.
"BINGO! BANGO! BUNGO!"
Tavares 21st of the Season vs Flames courtesy of @Bonsie1951 and @Jim_Ralph pic.twitter.com/UJVjUUKzp8
— Maple Leafs Hotstove (@LeafsNews) February 5, 2025
The Flames are really struggling on the PK, but the Leafs’ puck movement was crisp and purposeful, they fired nine shots on goal on their three second-period opportunities, and the finishing on both goals by their star talent was excellent. The units are starting to roll with confidence; eight goals in their last 18 opportunities over the last eight games lead the league since Jan. 15 (44.4%).
4. Most of those recent power-play goals came from funneling pucks to the net with traffic for second opportunities — Knies and McMann in Edmonton, Knies against Tampa, Matthews against New Jersey, and OEL in Montreal (not a second opportunity in OEL’s case but a shot through traffic). Their shots-on-goal rate on the PP is way up over the last eight games — 76 shots adjusted per 60 (1st) compared to 50 per 60 (21st) over the first 45 games. Berube was a broken record about more pucks on net, and we can see why.
Tonight, in Marner’s absence, we saw some variety where they were making plays into the middle, running through Matthews (two power-play assists) on the half-wall.
The top unit shifts were closer to the 1:30 mark tonight. Berube made a point of taking the top unit off around the minute mark against Columbus and told the media afterward, “If they were getting some great chances and it was going well, I’d keep them out there, but it has to be earned.” It was earned tonight.
Quietly, Rielly has two assists in the last two games by way of the PP, and he moved it well up top in Mitch Marner‘s absence tonight; obviously, he’s not (or should he be) controlling and running it up top as Marner would, but he facilitated and kept things moving. It was nothing highlight-reel worthy, but for a player who is used to producing offensively, a few points can go a long way, confidence-wise.
5. Just a minute after taking control of the game on the power play, the Leafs ran into more penalty trouble. Simon Benoit went to engage Nazem Kadri in front of the net with a routine cross-check push, but with his eyes on the puck high in the zone, he misjudged it and caught Kadri too high with the stick. Steven Lorentz then took a sloppy one-armed high-sticking penalty 46 seconds later for another extended 5-on-3, leading to Weegar’s 2-2 goal.
Only the Timmins call was at all debatable of the five Leaf penalties in just the first 29:29 of this game. The Leafs needed to control their sticks better, and it’s extra frustrating when it’s bottom-pairing defensemen and fourth-line forwards not taking care of those details. In Lorentz’s defense, he has been really disciplined in general, with just two penalties taken this season (he hasn’t taken a single penalty in over 430 minutes of five-on-five play, which is quite something).
6. Lorentz also redeemed himself with an assist just six minutes later as the Leafs broke the game open with a pair of rush goals in the second half of the middle frame.
Coming off a Toronto power play drawn after a big Jake McCabe hit drew a Ryan Lomberg retaliation, Bobby McMann was on the ice with the fourth line in Ryan Reaves‘ place, and they were stuck in their own zone for a short spell. An off-the-mark pass to a pinching Tyson Barrie later, the Leafs were breaking the other way for a 3v1 featuring Lorentz, Kampf, and McMann.
Lorentz recognized his own limitations and the opportunity to get the puck to McMann with open ice, passing it off and getting it into McMann’s hands early. McMann, really good at ripping pucks far side on his off wing, made no doubt about this one with a frozen rope into the far corner.
"ROCKET MCMANN OFF THE RIGHT WING!"
McMann 16th of the Season vs Flames courtesy of @Bonsie1951 and @Jim_Ralph pic.twitter.com/wj9wT9bjfO
— Maple Leafs Hotstove (@LeafsNews) February 5, 2025
To further underline the earlier point, we can talk about the legitimate depth-scoring issues another day, but the Leafs’ six best forwards are really, really good. All six are legitimate 25+ goal scorers, and five are playing around a 30-goal pace or better over 82. Since the group returned to health against Edmonton (albeit they then lost Marner for tonight), the quality of the finishing on their looks has been excellent, as the rush/transition opportunities have spiked considerably.
7. I wish there were an easily accessible stat showing goals scored or created by a player 50+ seconds into their shift because William Nylander is surely among the league leaders year after year. When the puck turned the other way after a missed shot and bounce off the ref, you initially wondered if the unit would have enough gas to make anything happen nearly a minute into their shift. But Nylander found the extra juice to take charge and make it 4-2 Leafs late in the second period.
"WILLY GIVES THE LEAFS A 2 GOAL LEAD!"
Nylander 32nd of the Season vs Flames courtesy of @Bonsie1951 and @Jim_Ralph pic.twitter.com/olW5YUj39n
— Maple Leafs Hotstove (@LeafsNews) February 5, 2025
It’s not a case of whether Nylander will beat the goalie 1v1 with his shot right now; it’s a question of where he will go with it and whether it will go post+out or go in.
The comment from Nylander that he has never seen Dustin Wolf play net and wasn’t going to bother with reviewing the tape on him got some play in the media before/during the game. It sounds cocky in one sense — he’s earned the right to be cocky — but it’s probably not that abnormal, and there is also likely a method to it for such a talented shooter with elite goal-scoring instincts. Nylander doesn’t go in with preconceived ideas about what he should do/where he should shoot when 1v1 with the goalie. He reads the goalie/situation and buries, and he probably wants to remain completely in the moment with his reads and instincts.
8. The Leafs all but put the game away five minutes into the third period when Auston Matthews jumped on a bad Calgary turnover in the neutral zone, went on a breakaway, attempted a deke, got turned aside, and the puck leaked out for Knies to finish off into the empty net. It was surprising the Flames did not challenge for possible goalie interference by Max Domi with the score at an out-of-reach 5-2, but it went uncontested for Knies’ 20th of the season, his first time reaching the milestone. Interestingly, the Leafs’ own video guys told Berube they wouldn’t have challenged it, either, probably based on incidental contact outside of the crease.
Knies 20th of the Season vs Flames courtesy of @Bonsie1951 and @Jim_Ralph pic.twitter.com/C5Xg9HnisB
— Maple Leafs Hotstove (@LeafsNews) February 5, 2025
It was a fairly quiet game for Domi overall as he filled in on the top line; he passed up one shooting opportunity in the first and ended up getting an even better look on the same shift that he fired high and wide (zero shots on goal in 14:49, as the goal-less slump hit 20 games). It was not all bad, and there were fewer glaring mistakes tonight over on the wing. His best moment was a nice backdoor feed for Knies that was nearly converted.
9. We mentioned in the last game review that McMann played a too-low 11 minutes and change despite scoring against Edmonton (on the power play), as Berube has bumped him down to L3 to help out the Domi/Holmberg-Robertson line. As the Leafs protected the lead late on against the Oilers, there were a few shifts where it was obvious McMann’s legs were a better choice over Pacioretty’s; for example, Pacioretty missed a shot at the empty net and laboured back to the zone as Evan Bouchard ripped one off the bar as the trailer.
McMann finished the second period tonight with a total of 6:50 in ice time despite scoring again in this game — an even lower full-game TOI pace. It was partly due to all the special teams time, but he’s a legitimate top-six-calibre difference-maker, and frankly, anything below 14-15 minutes is too low for him.
Sure enough, in the third period, Berube switched McMann onto L2 in place of Pacioretty, who contributed to the 5-3 Calgary goal and whose legs looked pretty heavy at times tonight. Pacioretty most often shouldn’t play the near-18 minutes he did against Edmonton and can’t do it night in and night out without a clear dropoff in play; until the Leafs make another addition up front, Berube is going to have to manage this with some fluidity to make sure McMann is in the proper range to get the most of him while still attempting to keep three lines somewhat credible.
Pacioretty ended up at 12:05 to McMann’s 13:38, as McMann played 6:48 in the third, which more or less tied his total from the first two periods combined. Pacioretty did pick up an assist on Nylander’s 4-2 goal (a nothing play, but an assist nonetheless), which snapped a 10-game pointless slump. He started with a point to prove in October and posted six points in eight games in the opening month, but post-Nov. 1, he produced just six points in his next 26 games. Less is more in terms of maximizing what is left in the tank, and some load management in a busy month of March is probably worthwhile.
10. I’ll let Joe Bowen take it away on the Nylander hat trick call:
8 YEARS LATER, ON THE SAME DATE, NYLANDER GETS HIS SECOND HATTY! courtesy of @Bonsie1951 and @Jim_Ralph pic.twitter.com/RruwE3fSdm
— Maple Leafs Hotstove (@LeafsNews) February 5, 2025
With that, Nylander is back on a 50-goal pace.