Being immersed in their rich franchise connections to Sweden appears to have bolstered the Toronto Maple Leafs.
After reading the starting lineup in the dressing room before Friday’s clash against the Detroit Red Wings, the Toronto Maple Leafs all-time points leader, Mats Sundin, dropped the puck for the ceremonial faceoff before Sunday’s game versus the Minnesota Wild.
Earlier in the week, much of the team watched the documentary on the Leafs legendary, trail-brazing defenseman Borje Salming.
Friday brought a dramatic, comeback victory over the Red Wings. Sunday saw the Leafs go to overtime, before winning 4-3 against the Minnesota Wild. The Leafs are a team still trying to find itself, but many positives can be taken from the Leafs participation in the NHL’s Global Series.
Toronto Maple Leafs: Happy Homecoming For William Nylander
The star status of homegrown William Nylander was prevalent throughout this trip. He responded by leading the Leafs to their comeback victory on Friday and, fittingly, he was an overtime hero on Sunday.
He assisted on Auston Matthews’ first-period goal to extend his season-opening points streak to 17 consecutive games. That moves Nylander into the top ten for streaks to start a season.
In a game where the Leafs should have cruised to victory, he saved face for the team with another dazzling individual effort on the game-winner. There is no doubt he has been the Leafs best player this year and an early-season Hart Trophy candidate.
Nylander dazzled once again versus the Wild, but the re-emergence of the Leafs top line was a welcome site.
Matthews’ power play marker stopped a mini drought and the line also added two other tallies. Matthew Knies provided an excellent screen in front on Morgan Rielly’s third-period goal. Knies scored in the first at even strength.
The Leafs had a sluggish start to the game but rebounded to lead 2-1 after the first. In the second, penalty trouble led to them being outshot 11-5 by the Wild.
The encouraging part for the Leafs was that they successfully killed off all three second-period penalties. This after keeping the Red Wings off the board while playing shorthanded four times on Friday.
The Leafs penalty killing has been dreadful to start the year but was key in taking two victories in Sweden.
Another positive development during the Global Series was the play of the Leafs goaltenders. Both Ilya Samsonov and Joseph Woll started a game and came away victorious, a needed boost of confidence, especially for Samsonov.
Against the Wild, Woll made two critical saves. With less than a minute left in the second period, he stymied Kirill Kaprizov to maintain the Leafs lead heading into the third period.
Then, early in overtime, he gave the Leafs a chance to pull out the victory by stoning Joel Eriksson Ek before Nylander’s winner.
The win over the Wild also saw the Leafs defense joining in on the offense. Rielly scored and Mark Giordano added an assist on Knies’ goal when he smartly joined the rush.
Concerns remain. Closing out a two-goal, third-period lead should not be as difficult as the Leafs made it, but the trip to Sweden resulted in four important points in the standings.
The Toronto Maple Leafs and Sweden continue to have a mutually beneficial relationship.