The Good, Bad & Ugly: Maple Leafs Shut Out Golden Knights 3-0

After getting three well-needed days off from competition following a grueling schedule, the Toronto Maple Leafs hosted the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday night. With Joseph Woll in net, the Maple Leafs shut the Golden Knights out 3-0. What were the good, bad, and ugly aspects of the game?

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The Good: Remaining Group of Forwards Stepped Up

Interestingly, the Maple Leafs pulled off the win and looked solid on offense without some of their key players in the lineup. They also lost Matthew Knies partway through the game, leaving depth guys and rookies to make up for the losses.

When you have as many players step up who aren’t normally asked to, it’s easy enough to see how the game was won.

Fraser Minten Scores His First Goal

Fraser Minten got his first NHL goal in the first period of his first game of the season. The Maple Leafs got multi-point nights from William Nylander (1G, 1A), Mitch Marner (2A), and John Tavares (2A), plus a shutout by Joseph Woll. They got the early lead off Minten’s goal on a beautiful feed from Nylander and scored another power-play goal when Nylander finished off a 2-on-1 with Marner. To finish it off, some nice defensive work by Tavares, Marner, and Pontus Holmberg led to Holmberg getting the empty netter to clinch the game.

William Nylander Drives the Win

Nylander’s goal was his 13th of the season in his 20th game, putting him on pace to score 53 goals this season. Marner’s two assists give him 20 in 20 games so far. Is an 82-assist season possible for Marner? His 26 points to date have him on pace to score 106 points. After seeing his production slip to 65 points in 80 games last season, Tavares is back to the point-a-game pace he scored during his first five seasons with the Maple Leafs. He sits on 19 points in 19 games.

Joseph Woll Is Rock Steady in the Crease

Woll picked up the second shutout of his career almost three years after his first one. That shutout was a 3-0 win over the New York Islanders on November 21, 2021. In that game, he stopped all 20 shots he faced. This time, he had to face 31 shots, 16 of which were in the second period. Woll raised his record to 4-2-0 this season with a 2.00 GAA and a .922 SV%.

Steven Lorentz Is Proving to Be a Great Pickup for His Team

As might be expected in a shutout win, no Maple Leafs player should be considered to have had a bad game. Two other players who stood out were Steven Lorentz and Pontus Holmberg. Lorentz was especially noticeable in the second period. After taking a blocked shot off his left foot and going down in obvious pain, Lorentz got back on his feet and valiantly blocked another shot. Unfortunately for him, it was off the same foot.

To make matters worse, he blocked another shot off the same foot later in the same period. Lorentz finished the game with a total of four blocked shots. He also had a shorthanded scoring chance and four hits in the game.

Pontus Holmberg Had an “Up” Game Last Night

Holmberg has had his ups and downs this season. He seemed comfortable playing on the fourth line but struggled when moving up the lineup. With the Maple Leafs missing five forwards due to injury, Holmberg might have been in well over his head, having to center the second line between William Nylander and Matthew Knies. However, Holmberg might have played the best game of his career.

According to naturalstattrick.com, at 5-on-5, Holmberg was on the ice for 69.3% of the Expected Goals and 61.5% of the Scoring Chances. He was on the ice for four High-Danger Scoring Chances For and just one Against. He was 54.5% on the faceoff dot and capped the game off with his first goal with the empty netter. Holmberg also played 3:20 on the PK.

Nikita Grebenkin Made His NHL Debut and Looked Good

Another player worth mentioning is 21-year-old Nikita Grebenkin. In his first NHL game, Grebenkin looked like he belonged in the NHL. He had four hits in the game and one blocked shot. He knows how to handle the puck. He looked ready to explode even though he didn’t figure into the scoring.

The Bad: Team Defense

I have to say this is more of a “bad, not bad” sort of thing. The Golden Knights were all over the Maple Leafs in the second period. They outshot Toronto 16-6. The shot attempts in the period were 33-13 Vegas. That is not how you want your team to play when protecting a 1-0 lead.

I say it was also “not bad” because the Maple Leafs blocked 15 of the 33 shot attempts Vegas had. They played the type of kitty-bar-the-door hockey a team needs to play during a game. They limited the Golden Knights to four High-Danger Scoring Chances in the period. The chances Vegas did get were all one-and-done. There were no situations where the Golden Knights got multiple chances to score on one play. Woll controlled the rebounds when he had to, the defense did a great job in front of the net, and the forwards collapsed well to keep the Golden Knights on the outside.

The Ugly: Matthew Knies, Zach Whitecloud

The Maple Leafs lost another forward when Matthew Knies was on the receiving end of a high hit by Zach Whitecloud. A major foul was called on the play so the referees could review it, a new rule in the NHL. To my surprise, the NHL control room ruled it a good hit. I thought the replays showed the main point of contact was the head and the shoulder. They stated that it was ruled Whitecloud did not leave his skates to initiate the contact.

I watched their slow-motion replay, using my slow-motion camera to slow it down. Without a doubt, Whitecloud’s skates were off the ice before contact was made. At the very least, a charging penalty should have been called on the play.

On top of that, the NHL says they want to eliminate hits to the head. Knies’ head took a substantial share of that hit. I agree that players need to protect themselves better, keep their heads up, and be aware of what is happening around them. Knies put himself in a vulnerable position, as did Darnell Nurse on the Ryan Reaves hit. At the very least, the league ruling on this hit shows inconsistency in how the league polices this type of hit. That is as diplomatic as I can be on that call.

What’s Next for the Maple Leafs?

The Maple Leafs find themselves in first place in the Atlantic Division, with one more point than the Florida Panthers. They have also played one more game than Florida, and the Panthers take on the worst team in the league tonight, the 6-12-1 Chicago Blackhawks. That likely means the Maple Leafs probably won’t be in first for a long time.

After tonight, Florida and Toronto will have played the same number of games. The Maple Leafs are scheduled to play the Panthers next Wednesday in Florida.

Before that, they have just one game in a portion of the schedule that is ridiculously light. That game is on Sunday evening at home against the Utah Hockey Club. Toronto is in the midst of a 13-day period in which they play just three games. Fortunately for Toronto, it comes when they have six, or potentially seven (depending on the Knies situation) forwards out with injury. This calm period precedes a December that sees them play four games in six days on three separate occasions.

Craig Berube said they would know more about the Knies situation today.

Related: Injury Update: Whitecloud’s High Hit on Maple Leafs’ Knies Forces Exit