Overtime thoughts

All I had to do was write about how poor the Leafs defencemen have been offensively this year for them to start scoring in bunches? No problem. Friday’s showdown at home against the big bad Bruins got kicked off early by no other than defenceman Jake McCabe beating Jeremy Swayman right under the bar where Grandma hides the cookie jar for his first of the season. Thank god.

After that, Matthew Knies took over that game, scoring the Leafs’ next goal, the one after that, and the one after that for his first career Hat trick and career-high five-point night. In a game full of star players like Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak, Mitch Marner, and Auston Matthews, Knies, the sophomore winger, looked like the fastest and strongest player on the ice.

Having Auston Matthews back in the lineup gives this team so much more depth, and every player gets a certain confidence and swagger with him on the ice. The first line sure looked confident, putting up videogame numbers ending the game with a whopping +16 rating, something I have never seen in my lifetime, and 13 points total. Scoring goals five-on-five is one of the hardest things to do in the NHL, and it looked effortless for them on Saturday night, carrying the Maple Leafs to a 6-4 victory.

On Saturday, they took on Matvei Michkov and the Philadelphia Flyers, a team currently ranked sixth in the Metropolitan Division. At this point, it is no surprise that a team coached by John Tortorella will come into your home building and put on a fight, trying to grind you down every single shift. This game was exactly that: two teams playing a hard-checking game where it seemed like there wasn’t much open ice. Knies stayed hot, scoring the first goal of the game for his 15th of the season, tying his career high with 41 games left.

Toronto’s defencemen took over this game, starting with Oliver Ekman-Larsson scoring his second of the season off a great play by the 4th line, who had one of their best games of the season. The Flyers eventually tied the game with a goal from Scott Laughton, sending the game to overtime. Both teams had a few chances to end the game before Matthews set up Morgan Rielly to win the game for his fifth of the season. If the Leafs can keep getting contributions from their defencemen while the forwards keep playing solid hockey, this is an exciting time of the season for the fans.