NHL News

The Good, Bad & Ugly in Maple Leafs 3-1 Win Over Kraken

Last night, the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Seattle Kraken 3-1. What were the good, bad, and ugly parts of the game?

by
Stan Smith
February 7, 2025

The Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Seattle Kraken 3-1 to pick up their third road victory on their 4-game West-coast trip. What were the good, bad, and ugly aspects of the game?

The Ugly: Jake McCabe Almost Injured

There wasn’t much of anything that might be considered ugly if you are a fan of the Maple Leafs. They did have a scare in the first period when Jake McCabe had a shot by Oliver Bjorkstrand ramp off his stick and hit him in the side of the head. McCabe immediately left the ice and went right to the dressing room.

McCabe is coming off of a head injury (concussion?) he suffered after hitting his head on the ice in a fight against Garnet Hathaway in early January. Fortunately for him and the Maple Leafs, McCabe did return to the game. Also, McCabe played the most of any Toronto defenseman, logging 21:45 of ice time.

The Good: Maple Leafs Score Three Goals for Third Straight Game

The Maple Leafs scored three or more goals for the third consecutive game on this road trip. Philippe Myers first got Toronto on the board with his first goal since November 17th, 2022. A one-time slapshot by Myers glanced off Matty Beniers and changed direction enough to fool Seattle goalie Joey Daccord.

Later in the first period, Bobby McMann would score his 17th goal of the season on the power play. McMann deflected a shot/pass from the point by Morgan Rielly past Daccord to put the Maple Leafs up 3-0. McMann scored in all three games on this road trip and has four goals in the past five games. Despite missing eight games to this point of the season, McMann is on pace to score 27 goals.

McMann could arguably be Toronto GM Brad Treliving’s best signing. Treliving inked the 28-year-old McMann to a 2-year, $1.35 million per-season deal in the Summer leading up to this season.

Matthew Knies Has Scored in Three Straight Games

Matthew Knies tipped a shoulder-high point shot by McCabe down and past Daccord to put Toronto up 3-0 midway through the second period. The referee signaled a goal in the play. Every skater on the ice for Seattle signaled a high stick. Even Knies himself thought it was a high stick. He pretended he missed the puck and let McCabe be the first to do the high-five-at-the-bench routine as the goal scorer. The referees reviewed the play. Although the replays showed that Knies’ stick appeared above the crossbar when it made contact with the puck, they decided the replay was inconclusive, so the goal stood. The goal would probably not have counted if the high stick had been called on the original play; as it was, Knies had his 21st goal of the season.

Knies could be due for a massive raise this coming offseason. He is on a 32-goal pace in the third year of his entry-level contract, which pays him $925,000 annually. Knies is a restricted free agent at the end of this season without arbitration rights. Still, with the NHL salary cap predicted to skyrocket over the next few seasons, there is a strong possibility a team could present Knies with a massive offer sheet, forcing the Maple Leafs to dig deep to keep him in the fold.

Two Key Maple Leafs Players Returned Last Night

Two key players returned to the lineup for this game. Anthony Stolarz started his first game 57 days after he underwent arthroscopic surgery to remove debris from his knee following a game on December 12th. Stolarz was stellar in stopping 26 of the 27 shots he faced. Many of those shots were of the High-Danger variety, and Stolarz handled them well. He was forced to scramble as the Kraken created a lot of havoc in front of him. Stolarz did not seem to have any after-effects from his surgery and made several acrobatic-type saves.

The other returning player was Mitch Marner, who missed the Calgary game after suffering off-ice lower-body stiffening following a day at the spa. Marner played a key role in Myers’ goal. He made a strong defensive play to prevent Jaden Schwartz from getting the puck out of the Seattle zone, allowing John Tavares to get the puck and send it back to Myers at the point.

It was Marner’s 500th assist. Marner has 500 assists in 629 games, the fastest of any Maple Leafs player to 500 assists. Marner also had a massive shift of 3:37 at the end of the third period while the Maple Leafs were killing a six-on-four high-sticking penalty to Auston Matthews and Seattle, with their goalie pulled for an extra attacker.

The Bad: The Refereeing Was Horrible

While neither team had an advantage because of it, the refereeing in this game was terrible. The first three calls in the game were very shaky. Rielly was called for hooking for lifting Beniers’ stick, preventing Beniers from playing the puck in front of the Toronto goal. Mitchell Stevens was called for a crosscheck when he pushed Pontus Holmberg to the ice behind the Kraken goal. Myers was called for interference when he laid what looked like a perfectly timed hit on Andre Burakovsky while Burakovsky was receiving a pass in the neutral zone.

A terrible non-call might have cost Stolarz his shutout. Eeli Tolvanen scored the goal with a wrist shot from the top of the faceoff circle to Stolarz’s left. During the play, Bjorkstrand carried the puck into the Toronto zone and dropped it back at Tolvanen. Then Bjorkstrand skated straight into Simon Benoit, preventing Beniers from getting to Tolvanen. Tolvanen fired the shot through Bjorkstrand and Benoit past Stolarz, who did not see the shot until it was past him.

Auston Matthews Maple Leafs scored — Auston Matthews of the Maple Leafs

Benoit looked at the referee, but no penalty was called. This could have been the referee making up for the questionable Knies goal. The high-sticking call on Matthews late in the game was also bad. Matthews caught Brandon Montour’s stick when he attempted to bat a puck out of midair, and Montour’s stick caught him in the face. The only person who seemed to get the call wrong was the referee, who called it as all five Toronto skaters argued the call. Montour himself had a nice smile as Matthews left the ice.

What’s Next for the Maple Leafs?

The Maple Leafs play one more game before the Four Nations break. That game will be in Vancouver on Saturday. On the West Coast, it starts at 4:00 p.m., which is 7:00 p.m. EST.

With the win in Seattle, Toronto remains a point back of the Florida Panthers for first place in the Atlantic Division, with two games in hand. They are six points up on both the hot Ottawa Senators and the Tampa Bay Lightning. While the Maple Leafs are taking on the Canucks, the Panthers will be home to the Senators.

After the Vancouver game, the Maple Leafs will have two weeks off during the Four Nations Cup, except for Marner, Matthews, and William Nylander, who will all play for different teams in the tournament. I wonder what their wager is on which teams will win the event.