Given the Maple Leafs’ speed, skill, and finishing ability up front — and generally how dangerous they’ve looked offensively early in the season — this was a stat that made absolutely no sense through 10 games:

This data was from before the San Jose game, and they didn’t score off the rush in that game, either.

Well, the dam burst in a big way in the second period in Columbus: four goals in under 10 minutes, all off the rush (one shorthanded, three at five-on-five), and the Leafs never looked back from there en route to a 6-2 win.

The night started with the Leafs conceding on the first shot of the game. A couple of defensive-zone turnovers led to an extended cycle shift for Columbus in which Zack MacEwen got a little lost in the d-zone coverage, leading to too much time and space for Jake Christiansen to measure his shot into the top right corner.

The Leafs spent around 7.5 of the first 20 minutes on the power play and only came away with one goal, off a good play by Auston Matthews in which he took the space available down low to step out front and shovel it toward Kirill Marchenko at the backpost, where it went in off the former Blue Jacket’s skate. When the referees made up a call on Morgan Rielly after a Blue Jacket fell over near him late in the Leafs’ fourth power play, you wondered if it might come back to bite the Leafs, given the way officials generally manage games and even up calls in this league.

Instead, the Leafs exploded offensively in their most troublesome period so far this season — the middle frame — and put the game to bed in just under 10 minutes.

The first Leaf goal was a really good play by Morgan Rielly to get the breakout started, join the rush, drop it to William Nylander, and run a legal pick on the defender, which Nylander executed brilliantly around with his shot through the bodies.

Less than a minute later, the top line of Cowan, Matthews and Roslovic broke through after linking up nicely early and often; a great five-Leaf passing movement was started by Raddysh and Cowan before Roslovic threaded a backdoor pass to Matthews for a classic Matthews finish.

The Cowan-Nylander late-PK duo was knocking on the door repeatedly over the last few games and finally broke through on a fantastic shorthanded sequence, started and finished by Cowan. After Cowan knocked a puck loose in the d-zone and took off, Oliver Ekman-Larsson spotted him with a heads-up stretch pass to send him away. On a rush with Nylander, Cowan confidently called his own number, using Nylander as a decoy and ripping one glove-side.

The scoring flurry was capped off by another pretty rush goal featuring another great Rielly sequence where he identified the opportunity to activate, took a really nice slip pass from Cowan inside the offensive blue line, and threaded a great backdoor pass to Jack Roslovic to finish off.

The Leafs went 18 minutes without a shot on goal once up 5-1, and gave up a flukey one that bounced in off Marchenko. It’s easy to tie it into the larger theme about their issues protecting leads, but it never really felt too dicey. They were also down to five defensemen and in the second half of a back-to-back. It was good to see Matthews step over the boards at one point, after a Blue Jackets 8-0 shots run, while Marchenko and Nylander were still on the ice and create a solid offensive-zone shift with those two to calm the waters.

It was also good to see Gavin McKenna play three shifts in the final ~nine minutes, including a good little play on the wall leading to Marshall Rifai’s first NHL goal, making it a 6-2 final on an all-around feel-good night in Leafland. Anthony Stolarz was also really solid down the stretch (and overall) after giving up a goal on the first shot of the night, successfully putting the Utah debacle behind him.

Many boxes checked for the Maple Leafs tonight, including their first pair of consecutive wins of the 2026-27 season.

Post-Game Notes

  • If I were to come up with reasons beyond just some bad finishing luck re: the Leafs’ lack of rush offense before tonight, it would be that they tend to stall out too often on breakouts through bad reads and sloppy puck movement off the backend, and it was hurting their ability to transition quickly onto offense and get the puck into the forwards’ hands for rush opportunities with the opposition caught. All the stuff needed to be really dangerous off the rush is clearly present on the roster. It was nice to see the Leafs put together a bunch of tidy breakout sequences leading to goals where they quickly broke pucks out in organized five-man units, catching Columbus out in transition. The Blue Jackets are a mess, granted, but still, this was an overdue explosion of rush offense that the Leafs were full marks for with their execution.
  • NHL EDGE has Jack Roslovic second in the NHL in shots on goal from high-danger locations. He easily leads the team in individual expected goals per 60 at five-on-five (1.08). When you pair the willingness to attack those areas with his speed and finishing ability, plus ample time with a rejuvenated Matthews, you get the nine points in 11 games to start after a goal and two assists tonight. I knew he could skate and finish, but the quality of some of the passes and give-and-gos he’s worked with Matthews and co. have been legitimately impressive. He’s known to start hot and cool off as the hockey ramps up, but the Leafs were betting on quick chemistry here as one piece of the larger build-Matthews-back-up project and have hit on that bet so far.
  • We’re 11 games in, the Leafs have taken 38 penalties (too many), and they’re dead even in goal differential in those shorthanded minutes after tonight’s shorthanded goal by Cowan. That’s completely bonkers. They are absolutely rolling, and John Gruden should head to the casino after his Calder Cup win followed by this record-setting heater at the helm of the Leafs’ PK. The structure and cohesiveness of the units has been very impressive, especially given the short camp and preseason, and it really helps when you’ve got so many experienced options that really take pride in that area of the game, from Sissons to Duhaime to Blueger to Paul to Stecher (and the list goes on). Stecher, in particular, has been an animal shorthanded with some really nice battles, blocks, and clears throughout the first 11 games, including more examples tonight. He also played 26:25 and finished plus-three.
  • This was a much-needed good game from Oliver Ekman-Larsson. He obviously set up the Cowan goal on the PK (where he has generally been good, despite the five-on-five issues), but he was also physically engaged and moving it much better. It’s a bit of a chicken-and-egg debate; his minutes have been down partly because he’s legitimately struggled, but he also started the season with a notably reduced role, which was a little unfamiliar and probably not ideal for finding his rhythm after limited camp and preseason reps. He clocked 23:20 tonight with Jake McCabe out for most of the game and picked up his first point of the season. It was just the second time in 11 games he finished in the plus territory. It sounds like Jake McCabe will be okay, but they really need this version of OEL going forward regardless.
  • I liked the decision to dress Marshall Rifai tonight (he ended up playing 19+ minutes, which certainly wasn’t in the pre-game plan, but good on him). It forces OEL onto his off side, but he has tons of experience there, and the Leafs need to give an honest look to options other than Nick Blankenburg. Rifai brings more size and physicality — the Leafs clearly lack enough of those elements back there when running Rielly, OEL, Stecher, Blankenburg, McCabe, Raddysh — while also bringing ample mobility; he just needs to keep it on the rails with his puck touches, which he mostly has in the limited sample. It’s absolutely bizarre that the Leafs have two defense goals through 11, and they’ve come from Rifai and Blankenburg.
  • Over a long offseason, probably too much attention was paid to the tantalizing idea of McKenna with Matthews and not enough to Cowan with Matthews. They outscored the opposition 7-3 together at five-on-five last season in a miserable year for the team while Cowan was still very green, and Cowan has grown rapidly before our eyes since late last season. His motor and anticipation without the puck, then skill to create with it, make pretty much everyone he plays with better (play around with the WOWY tool for the last two seasons for Matthews, Nylander, and Tavares to see for yourself), and now he’s brimming with confidence. He leads the team in on-ice xGF% and high-danger chances per 60. This is a massive development for the Leafs, how rapidly Cowan is ascending as an all-situations stud of a winger.
  • Couldn’t help but feel for Matthew Knies throughout the game. He was a good Leaf. We’ve beaten it into the ground already in this space re: the constant rumour mill around him, thinking he survived it only to be dealt on the eve of the season to Columbus of all places, etc. But the extra kick to the nuts is that it’s not like he was dealt for a player at another position, where he could sit there and say, “They’re understandably trying to balance their roster, and I’m a victim of that.” He got dealt for another winger who the Leafs think is significantly better than him. That’s got to be extra tough. But you could also see why the Leafs did it tonight, and throughout the early season so far. Knies is not moving particularly well or driving much offense for himself out there, whereas Marchenko is simply much faster and more dynamic. In an interview, William Nylander referenced the bad taste it left after Tavares’ return to Long Island went so sideways (that’s another level of emotionally charged, but still a relevant example), so it was good to see the Leafs show up for Marchenko on his big night.
  • A throwback-to-his-peak-prime, three-assist Morgan Rielly game tonight. He takes a lot of flak and some of it is definitely deserved, but he fully deserves his flowers tonight, so we’ll end on that simple note.

Game Flow: 5v5 Shot Attempts

Heat Map: 5v5 Shot Attempts

Game Highlights: Maple Leafs 6 vs. Blue Jackets 2

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