The Toronto Maple Leafs put forth their best effort of the season on the backs of William Nylander and the rest of the superstars, as the Leafs beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-2 at Scotiabank Arena on Monday. Stolarz made 32 saves in his fifth start of the season, while Lightning netminder, Andrei Vasilevsky was pulled in the second period after allowing four goals on 14 shots. Both teams have a quick turnaround as they hit the road to take part in “Frozen Frenzy” on Tuesday night.
William Nylander Continues Hot Start
When the Maple Leafs play certain teams it’s almost always a close, hard-fought game. Tampa Bay, Boston, Carolina, New York Rangers, you know, the best of the best. If one side does dominate the other, it seems to usually be the Leafs who are dominated. On this night, it was the complete opposite. From start to finish, Toronto controlled play, and when the Lightning had any pushback at all, they got a key save, or timely block, and followed it up with a big goal.
William Nylander continued his terrific start as he scored two goals and three total points, pushing his season total to five goals and seven points. William Nylander scored his first of the game only four minutes into the first period, hammering a one-timer past Vasilevsky off a Max Domi pass. William Nylander’s second goal came on a 2-on-1 in the second period, beating Vasilevsky five-hole, and extending the lead to 3-1.
“I thought we came out pretty good,” William Nylander said. “Tampa came back a little bit in the first period, but then I think we played quick and got odd-man rushes the other way so it opened the game up. A great penalty kill and an unbelievable game by Stolarz making some huge saves as well to keep the lead”
William Nylander has scored 40 goals each of the last two seasons and has 222 total goals wearing the blue and white. He had 98 points last year, and after signing an $11.5 million per-year extension last season, the 28-year-old winger hopes to finally break the 100-point mark this year. Although it’s early in the season, William Nylander is on pace to do so.
Matthews, Stolarz Shine In Win
There have been many bright spots in the Leafs’ 4-2-0 start to the season. However, if someone said the play of Goaltender Anthony Stolarz is the brightest, no one would argue. The 30-year-old netminder is now 3-2 on the season after stopping 32 of 34 shots on Monday night. He has a 1.83 goals against average and a .938 save percentage through five games this season. As good as Stolarz had been before signing with Toronto, he has never been a true No. 1 goalie in the NHL. Two weeks into the season, most doubters are keeping their mouths shut for now.
“Just confidence and having that routine day in and day out,” Stolarz said when asked about how he feels about his game. “Working with Curtis Sanford (goalie coach) on a lot of things on our practice days, getting my rest, taking care of my body, and I’m just trying to make sure I make the most of this opportunity.”
Auston Matthews was held off the score sheet for the first three games of the season. Since then, he has scored in three straight games, scoring just as many goals. It seems like every night he could put two or three in the back of the net. Matthews had nine shots on Saturday, six on Monday, and has 28 shots on the season.
It is also of note that Matthews and his counterpart, Mitch Marner, have been getting lots of opportunities on the penalty kill, something that the two of them had never done together consistently until this year. The Leafs were 5-for-6 on the penalty kill on Monday, including a 5-on-3 in the second period that the Lightning were unable to take advantage of. The Leafs are now 11th in the NHL in that category, sitting at 84.6%.
Lightning Leave Ontario Without a Win
Up until Tampa Bay’s 5-4 loss to Ottawa on Saturday, Vasilevskiy was having a terrific start to the campaign, with a 3-0 record. Vasilevskiy has now given up nine goals in his last two games and was pulled on Monday after allowing four goals on just 14 shots. “It was just one of those nights,” coach Jon Cooper said when speaking about pulling his star goaltender. “I think I can count on one hand how many times I’ve pulled him in our careers together. ‘JJ’ (backup Jonas Johansson) hadn’t played all year, and to me it was time to get him in and give our guy a rest.”
Kucherov extended his point streak to five games to start the season, while Jake Guentzel’s four-game point streak has ended. The Lightning left Ontario on a two-game losing streak heading to New Jersey to play the Devils on Tuesday night.
Final Thoughts
Monday night’s win was yet another example of how this team is different under Craig Berube. Beyond that, this win is up there as one of the best all-around performances this squad has had in quite some time. Max Pacioretty scored his second of the season after being a healthy scratch for the previous two games, and will most likely get Tuesday off with the back-to-back. The Toronto Maple Leafs are in Columbus on Tuesday night to take on the Blue Jackets.
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