The Toronto Maple Leafs completely shut down Connor Bedard (zero points, zero shots) and defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1 Monday night at the ACC.
With the victory, the Toronto Maple Leafs have now won six out of their last seven games, and have retaken first place in the Atlantic Division.
The. Leafs are not only ahead of the Florida Panthers, but they have a game in hand. This is very good news because whoever wins the Atlantic out of Toronto, Florida and Tampa will get a pretty easy first round matchup, while the other teams will play each other, giving the division champ a much easier path to the Finals.
Of course, we are probably getting ahead of ourselves as there are still 58 games left in the season.
The Toronto Maple Leafs defeat the Chicago Blackhawks
The Toronto Maple Leafs did have their best game last night, but they won, and they got goals from Auston Matthews, John Tavares, Fraser Minten and Matthew Knies (who scored his second goal in two games since returning from an injury) on their way to victory.
Anthony Stolarz put in another strong performance, allowing just a single goal on 28 shots. Of note, ex Leafs defenseman TJ Brodie picked up an assist on the goal.
The three main things to talk about tonight are:
1) Matthew Knies. After missing ten days, Knies returned with a vegence, scoring in both games since he's been back. The goals give him ten on the season in 22 games, which is about a 40 goal pace. He also has goals in three of his last four games.
For years the Leafs have failed to develop a star outside the first round to compliment their high picks, and in this case, it's better late than never. To finally have a complimentary star that they drafted themselves is a huge step forward.
2) Fraser Minten. His second goal was impressive, but not as impressive as the fact that he's drastically outscoring the guys he's replacing in the lineup. Minten has two goals in five games, while Max Domi and David Kampf have a combined zero goals in 37 goals.
3) Mitch Marner. He had another two points tonight, which I think is now nine two points games in his last 11 games overall. Not only that, but he was by far the best player on the ice for either team. On a night when the Leafs didn't really play all that well, Marner was - again - their best player.