Toronto Maple Leafs win home opener, Ekman-Larsson continues to impress
The Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Pitssburgh Penguins on Saturday night in their home opener.
After opening the season 1-1 on the road, the Toronto Maple Leafs hosted the Pittsburgh Penguins for their home opener Saturday night.
The Toronto Maple Leafs, on a strong game from Anthony Stolarz and a goal and an assist from Mitch Marner, defeated the Penguins 4-2.
Once again, Timothy Liljegren was a healthy-scratch, and of course new coach Craig Berube was making his Toronto debut.
William Nylander scored twice and Auston Matthews had eight shots but is still without a goal after three games.
Toronto Maple Leafs win home opener, Ekman-Larsson continues to impress
Oliver Ekman-Larson had five shots, and led the team with 25 minutes of total ice-time. He has impressed quite a lot in his first three games as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
At 5v5 OEL was on for a goal but finished with a 52% xGoals rating. He maybe wasn't as great as he was in the first two games but he looked very good.
Another stand out from last night's game was Matthew Knies who scored his first of the year. Shots were 9-1 Leafs with the first line on the ice, and needless to say it was incredibly dominant. Shots were 9-0 with Matthews on the ice and the line scored 2 goals and allowed none.
Knies was on the ice for two extra shots and a goal, meaning it was 11-1 in shots for the Leafs when he was out there, along with a 3-0 score and nearly 100% xGoals. (stats naturalstattrick.com).
The coach tried a bunch of different line combos, but the third and fourth lines weren't nearly as good in this game as the previous two. No matter - for the first time this year, it was the top-six that won the game for the Leafs.
The Matthews line was crazy, and Nylander scored twice. John Tavares missed the game. Domi centred Nylander with a mix of Robertson and McMann, of which Robertson was clearly the better option.
The Leafs continue to shoot from everywhere, and while the Penguins had the puck more, the Leafs had way more shots, and the teams traded scoring chances for most of the night. One spot where the Leafs were better was in limited high-danger chances. They had seven but only allowed four.
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The Leafs had a pretty good game, and now they are 2-1 and could easily be 3-0. Despite a shutout against and the incrediby silly Liljegren situation, it's a great start for the Berube Era in Toronto.