The Toronto Maple Leafs lost both games against the Chicago Blackhawks last season. That was plenty.
The Maple Leafs didn’t play their best game of the season tonight, but good teams find a way to win games when they don’t bring their best, and that’s what they did tonight. They got goals from up and down the lineup, and as has been the case all season, got a solid performance in net from Anthony Stolarz.
With Jake McCabe being the latest victim of the injury bug, Philippe Myers stepped into the game and skated alongside Morgan Rielly. Although he turned the puck away on what ended up being the Blackhawks’ only goal of the game, he generally played a steady game and kept out of trouble, lessening the blow of not having McCabe. One of the more important pieces on the back end, McCabe took a shot to the back of the head in Saturday’s win over the Tampa Bay Lightning and although he was originally expected to play tonight, he was announced as a scratch at practice for precautionary reasons.
From a goal-scoring standpoint, the new-but-old pairings of Auston Matthews with William Nylander and John Tavares with Mitch Marner proved successful for the second game in a row. Nylander fed Matthews a beautiful saucer pass to open the scoring, and Marner assisted on Tavares’ goal for one of two assists in the contest. Playing in his 600th NHL game against the Blackhawks, he continued his hot streak that began long before Matthews was back in the lineup, further contributing to the notion that the two stars should be played on separate lines.
Fraser Minten also deserves some kudos for his play tonight, scoring the third goal of the game to keep the lead at two over Chicago immediately after they scored their first goal. The Maple Leafs’ 2022 second-round pick now has four points in five games with the team and has easily made the best case to stick around of all the Marlies players who have gotten tryouts.
Oh, and about Stolarz.
Anthony Stolarz is a rockstar pic.twitter.com/hTIGuwybNZ
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) December 3, 2024
The Maple Leafs will look to keep the momentum going on Wednesday when they host the Nashville Predators.
