Following a loss of their season opener, the Toronto Maple Leafs (3-1-0) have now received three in a row. Their newest victory was a decisive 6-2 effort versus the Los Angeles Kings (1-1-2), giving them the highest file within the Atlantic Division.
Toronto set the tone beneath seven minutes into the primary interval with a Bobby McMann tally. Max Domi and Jake McCabe put up the assists.
Lower than two minutes later, captain Auston Matthews obtained his first objective of the season, with assists coming from Mitch Marner and Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Matthews put up the perfect objective complete (69) that the NHL has seen because the Nineteen Nineties in his earlier marketing campaign, so getting his first an entire 4 video games into the season may very well be seen as a sluggish begin. Maybe he’s lastly heating up.
Late within the first interval, McMann scored his second of the evening on an excellent feed from William Nylander and a secondary help from Ekman-Larsson. This was the primary game-winning objective of McMann’s profession, taking him 18 tallies for one to lastly be the one which put his group excessive.
THAT MANN IS DOUBLE DIPPIN’
(in fashion😎) pic.twitter.com/sABmB5daDN
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) October 17, 2024
Within the second interval, Morgan Rielly added to the enjoyable together with his first of the season. McCabe and Domi obtained the assists, making it two-point nights for the each of them. Domi’s fifth help in 4 video games places him among the many greatest producers in 2024-25 to date.
It took a while, however the Maple Leafs’ energy play obtained its first tally of 2024-25 on the group’s fifth objective. Scored by Nylander and assisted by Matthews and Marner, that unit appears to be getting in a groove once more.
The Kings answered with two third-period targets to make it 5-2, one from Alex Turcotte and the opposite from Kevin Fiala, however Toronto’s John Tavares put the cherry on prime with one other power-play objective with beneath three minutes left within the sport. Matthews and Marner every obtained their third level of the sport on that one.
Free-agent signing Anthony Stolarz was lights out for the Leafs, stopping 32 of the 34 photographs he confronted. For the Kings, it was a tough evening for starter David Rittich (10 saves on 14 photographs) and Pheonix Copley (10 saves on 12 photographs), with the latter coming in to alleviate Rittich in a subpar exhibiting.
Subsequent up, the Kings will keep in Canada to face the Montreal Canadiens in an Oct. 17 highway matchup. Toronto shall be again in motion on their dwelling ice towards the high-flying New York Rangers on Oct. 19.
