The Toronto Maple Leafs got back into the win column, snapping a three-game losing streak, and the Winnipeg Jets are no longer undefeated.
Winnipeg came into the game as the hottest team in the league, and the last undefeated team before losing to the Toronto Maple Leafs in a very entertaining Monday night game.
After tonight's win, the Leafs have completed their first ten games of the season, going 5-4-1 (Record from NHL.com). The Leafs had lost four of their last five games, and were happy to avert disaster with a very strong 6-4 victory that sounds a lot closer than it was.
While the game felt chaotic at times, going into Winnipeg and beating them with how well they're playing right now is impressive. The Leafs played a very strong game, going up 4-0 before the Jets power-play prevented it from becoming a laugher.
John Tavares hat trick pushes the Toronto Maple Leafs over the Jets
The story of the game was how great the big guys played for Toronto. Specifically the second line of Pacioretty, Tavares and Nylander.
Tavares will get most of the headlines after scoring a hat trick but Max Pacioretty had a fantastic game. Both Pacioretty and Tavares were exceptional on the forecheck and caused chaos in front of the net which led to two of the goals Tavares scored.
Nylander was also excellent tonight. He had a goal and two assists, one being a great no-look, backhand pass to Morgan Rielly that left Rielly all alone for his goal.
The top line of Knies, Matthews and Marner was also very good tonight. Knies grabbed another goal after a very impressive forechecking shift from the whole line. That leaves Knies with five goals through ten games and a good start to the year (Stats from NHL.com).
The team played a very simple game today when they were at their best. During a great first period, they played very effective dump-and-chase hockey with a strong forecheck. That led to two first-period goals and they played a very similar way for the first half of the second period. That play took them to a commanding four-to-nothing lead.
Where the Leafs got in trouble was when they got too pretty with the puck which led to turnovers and failed breakouts.
They also got into penalty trouble which cost them almost every time they took a penalty. The penalty kill has been solid this season but tonight it was a disaster. The Leafs went 2/4 on the penalty kill and also allowed a goal with a six-on-five during a delayed call (special steams stats from NHL.com).
The Leafs' power play has been a huge topic so far this season because of how bad it has been. Today, Berube split up the first power play unit and spread out the talent. Although they didn't score on their two opportunities tonight, it did look better. The puck movement was strong, and they got some looks. It's a work in progress, but I think there is something there with this setup.
Overall this was a very good game from the Toronto Maple Leafs. They doubled the Jets in shots and scoring chances, and nearly tripled them in high-danger chances. The score was close because of penalty trouble and some garbage time hockey that didn't go the Leafs way. Their team was in fact very solid however, with all five of their non-empty net goals coming 5v5, and while the third period wasn't exactly great, they entered it with a 5-2 lead after dominating the NHL's top team for 40 minutes.
Next up for the Leafs is a home game against Seattle on thursday night.