Maple Leafs report cards: Matthew Knies hat trick helps Toronto weather storm

By / / Sports / 6 minutes of reading


This was a must-win game with the regular season coming to its end and the battle for the Atlantic Division title getting murkier by the day.

The Toronto Maple Leafs did just that. They may not have finished the game in regulation, winning 4-3 in overtime Wednesday, but they secured both points in a tough game that could’ve seen the Tampa Bay Lightning complete a third-period comeback.

The start was exactly what the Leafs needed with their top line scoring twice in the opening five minutes. They took the game to Tampa and capitalized on mistakes made. However, a slow shift was brewing and the Lightning began taking back control. The shots evened up, though Tampa was getting the majority of shot attempts and some of their better ones hit the post instead of Stolarz.

The second and third periods were impressive in their own way. Tampa led the charge offensively while the Leafs buckled down and weathered the storm at five-on-five. The Lightning did get two goals on the power play, but the Leafs, especially the blue line, made a number of well-timed defensive plays in their own end to keep the majority of chances on the outside. And at the same time, Tampa’s best and most dangerous chances at five-on-five either went high or wide of the net.

The penalty kill was a different story. Tampa has its weapons but some miscues and poor decisions gave Oliver Bjorkstrand and Victor Hedman the opportunity to score. The power play remains a difference-maker for the Leafs, though their short-handed units allow teams to get back in the game.

Final Grade: B+

Unit reports

Matthew Knies – Auston Matthews – Mitch Marner: A

The top line set the tone for the night and Knies of course led the way offensively.

All three of his goals came from right in front of Vasilevskiy, with his second requiring a net-front battle to complete the sequence. Matthews was key in stealing and picking off pucks by the offensive blue. That led to both Marner and Knies’ goals. Matthews also felt the sting of a blocked shot on the penalty kill though luckily he was back on the ice to finish the third and get the primary on Knies’ game-winner.

Marner’s game-opening goal was impressive and with another three points, he’s even closer to hitting the century mark. His slap shot off the rush is becoming a habit for him and he nearly beat Vasilevskiy with it in the second.

Anthony Stolarz: A

Luck was on Stolarz’s side with all of those high-danger chances that hit the post for Tampa. However, he was steady for the Leafs as he kept the score as close as he could with what was working in front of him. Although the shots were relatively even at 31-28 in the Leafs’ favour, he faced 90 shot attempts and the Lightning really started to attack the front of the net in the later half of the game. His biggest save was in overtime, stopping Brayden Point on the breakaway.

Brandon Carlo – Morgan Rielly: B+

The pair combined for 11 blocks on the night. Rielly led all defencemen with seven, including five in the first period. Carlo had some well-timed blocks as well, including a block on McDonagh after recognizing he was screening Stolarz. Stolarz had to bail Rielly out after his overtime turnover, but all in all, it was a steady game from the pair.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson – Chris Tanev: B+

Block, check, box out, repeat. Ekman-Larsson has done a good job filling in for McCabe and the way he uses his stick to completely disrupt plays, or at least threaten to do so, was noticeable. Kucherov had a great chance to score off an extremely rare Tanev mistake and shot high. Ekman-Larsson didn’t get his stick on the puck, but he was close.

Simon Benoit – Phillipe Myers: B

Benoit stood out offensively, but especially defensively. The Lightning managed to get the Kucherov line on against his pair and he did a good job sticking to the assignment one-on-one.

Calle Järnkrok – John Tavares – William Nylander: B

Relatively even game for this line with little moments of flash. Nylander had a good look on Vasilevskiy but was stopped by the blocker and got another shot on net from Järnkrok in the second. Tavares went to the box for the team’s first penalty, and after the Leafs got the kill, he had a chance to extend the lead to three. It was also a much better night for Tavares in the faceoff dot, finishing the game at 80 percent with one of his wins leading to Knies’ second goal.

The line was more noticeable in the third. Nylander got an end-to-end rush for himself while the three almost connected on a tic-tac-toe play. Järnkrok is obviously the new addition to the line, perhaps for matchup purposes. He’s better than Holmberg defensively, but similarly gets in good spots to score and didn’t have the finish. That said, no one on this line scored.

Scott Laughton – Pontus Holmberg – Steven Lorentz: B

I liked what I saw from this line, especially the rush chances they created. Holmberg had one from Laughton after saucing a pass to him and it was Lorentz’s speed off the defensive-zone draw to attack the point that made it happen. Holmberg returned the favour to Laughton twice and almost got him a tap-in after trying to create a rebound off his shot. Laughton also had a well-timed block to rob Yanni Gourde from scoring into an empty net.

Bobby McMann – Max Domi – Nick Robertson: C+

The speed was there for the reunited third line. Domi had two scoring chances off his stick in the first: one for himself sending a backhand on net off the rush, and the second on an odd-man rush with McMann, who was stopped by Vasilevskiy.

Outside of that, the third line spent the majority of the game in their end chasing the puck and surviving extended minutes on defence. It was good to see them get the defensive edge at times when the whole team was focusing on that in the second. Robertson had a good sequence throwing a big hit on Gage Goncalves and disrupting his shot attempt seconds later.

Robertson and McMann finished the game with two shots apiece and more of what we saw in the third could keep them together.

Game Score 

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What’s next?

The Leafs are at home Saturday night for a clash against the possibly playoff-bound Montreal Canadiens at 7 p.m. on CBC.

(Photo of Matthew Knies: Mike Carlson / Getty Images)





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