The Toronto Maple Leafs continued their good run since returning from the All-Star break, winning 2 of 3 this week and 4 of 5 overall since returning. William Nylander continues to lead the team in goals with 33, while Mitch Marner leads in points with 71. As for the standings, the Leafs again continue to hold 2nd in the Atlantic with 80 points, 2 ahead of the 3rd place Lightning and 15 behind the 1st place Bruins. Here are the individual game recaps:
2/19:
TOR 3 CHI 5
After beating the Blackhawks a few days prior in Toronto, the Leafs would like to pick up another 2 points against the tanking Blackhawks but unfortunately, Max Domi and Patrick Kane had a different plan. Domi (1G, 3A) and Kane (3G, 1A) combined for 4 goals and 8 points to hold off a hot Toronto team. Tavares (25), Acciari (11) and Marner (20) provided the offence for Toronto.
2/21:
TOR 6 BUF 3
Toronto didn’t waste any time in this one, producing a 4 goal first period. They would add a couple more insurance goals in the 2nd and 3rd to hold off the Sabres late surge. Newly acquired Ryan O’Reilly put on a show against his former team with his first 3 Maple Leaf goals in a 4 point night, while Tavares (26), Bunting (19) and Nylander (32) provided the rest of the offence.
2/24:
MIN 1 TOR 2 F/OT
Returning home after a short 2 game road trip, the Leafs were in for a closely matched game. Brandon Duhaime (7) and David Kampf (6) each traded goals late in the first but there would be nothing else scored until overtime. Just 1:05 into OT William Nylander skated through the Wild’s defence to score his team leading 33rd goal and give Toronto the win.
The Leafs play again tonight at 7:00PM ET, looking to continue their winning ways against the Kraken (32-20-6) in Seattle.
-Austin Sturge