The Toronto Maple Leafs aren’t letting the injury bug ruin November.
Entering Game 20 of the 2024-25 season Wednesday against the Vegas Golden Knights, Toronto was without six regulars up front, but it didn’t matter one bit. The Maple Leafs pulled off a gutsy performance against the high-flying Vegas Golden Knights, and honestly, this game felt like a Craig Berube-type of win.
Where to begin? First things first, Fraser Minten opened the scoring in the first period, finishing off a slick pass from William Nylander behind the net for his first career NHL goal. Minten belongs, it’s as simple as that. The 20-year-old showed off his tool box of skills against Vegas. It was a great play here to jump the boards and head straight to the front of the net. Minten is on the board!
FRASER MINTEN 🚨 FIRST NHL GOAL pic.twitter.com/XbVqRbzdWR
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) November 21, 2024
Minten takes pride in both sides of the puck and that’s a big reason why he will fit in seamlessly among the Leafs’ bottom six. His attention to detail on the defensive side and being in the right position, or the right side of the puck, is one way he creates offensive chances. It’s a strategy that makes coaches very happy. Minten had a great season debut against the Golden Knights, after posting a point-a-game in his short four-game stint in the AHL. The Leafs’ rookie has put his ankle injury behind him and is going to push for a regular spot down the middle of the Maple Leafs’ bottom six. Even when everyone is healthy.
This game started relatively slow besides Minten’s opening snipe. It was low-scoring, not a ton of grade-A chances, or five-bell saves, not much emotion, and then all of a sudden Golden Knights’ defenceman Zach Whitecloud decided to blow the roof off, hammering Matthew Knies with a neutral zone hit.
It was an unfortunate scenario for Knies as another Leafs forward was ruled out. All the best to Knies, as we hope he’s not out for too long after being on the worse end of this collision.
no major penalty
Vegas gets the power play out of this
Whitecloud didn’t get a penalty for the hit pic.twitter.com/jVA1ca6PVg
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) November 21, 2024
Good for Simon Benoit to immediately come to Knies’ defense, but it’s pretty wild to think somehow the Leafs wound up shorthanded after it was all said and done.
Huge shoutout to a couple of Maple Leafs. Joseph Woll stopped all 31 shots he faced, recording his second career NHL shutout. The Maple Leafs’ dream tandem is starting to form nicely.
Second shoutout goes to Nikita Grebenkin, who gets to enjoy his first NHL game with the Maple Leafs’ victory. He may not have hit the scoresheet, but he was all over the ice, and a huge factor in the decision. With his style of play, landing four hits against the Golden Knights, Grebenkin is looking to take advantage of the opportunity, and make another impression on Berube and company.
The Maple Leafs are now 6-1 without Auston Matthews. No Matthews, many others out, a couple of rookies making season debuts, Knies leaves the game and Woll holds the fort. It was a wild Wednesday at Scotiabank Arena, Game 20 was a character victory for the Maple Leafs.
