A long week for Toronto, brings us to a week 3 record of 1-2-1 and an overall record on the season of 4-4-1.

Maple Leafs 5, Lightning 2

What a game. In what always feels like playoff hockey, the Leafs and the Bolts meet again. The first period got off to a quick start, both teams exchanging chances and rushing up the ice. Toronto was the first team on the board, with a goal from William Nylander to bring the team up 1-0. Nick Paul soon after took a shot on net in which Stolarz saved, and Benoit tripped and brought it in the net, bringing it to a 1-1 tie.

The second period was all Toronto. Erupting for four goals, Toronto took absolute control. Their physicality, speed, everything, was clicking. The four goals came from Matthews, Nylander (again), Pacioretty, and Knies respectively. This second period of hockey was likely the best period of hockey the Leafs have played in a long time, and easily the best period they’ve played this season. They continued their strong hockey against Tampa all the way until the final whistle. These are the games that Toronto needs to win to solidify themselves as a top team in the NHL, beating strong, confident teams like Tampa Bay.

Maple Leafs 2, Blue Jackets 6

So this is what Leafs fans call a “common Leafs moment.” Coming off a hard win against Tampa Bay, Toronto seemed to have an easy matchup with the. Blue Jackets. Unfortunately, that would not be the case, as Toronto got outplayed the whole game. Columbus came out hot, with great chances early on and good defense against a strong Toronto offence.

All of Columbus’ goals were scored 5v5, and the star duo of Matthews and Marner were on for three of them, while Knies was on for four. The powerplay continued to stink, and OEL – the guy we’ve been preaching – was absolutely horrendous. All in all, a completely forgettable game with nothing to be optimistic about. Nicholas Robertson scored his first of the season late in the third period, on a line with John Tavares that didn’t look half bad. “Just not good from the start,” Mitch Marner said. “Not competitive enough throughout the game. They brought their best and we brought our worst.” Yeah, Mitch. That truly was your worst.

Berube noted: “It boils down to they outskated us. They outworked us and they were a harder team than we were. Bottom line.” These are the kinds of games that separate the truly elite teams, from the ‘good’ ones. Championship teams find a way to win these kinds of games. Toronto didn’t. Simple as that.

Maple Leafs 1, Blues 5

Usually, when you lose to a team substantially worse than you, you learn from the mistakes you made and you head into the next game with speed and effort. That possibly could not be further from the truth with this game against St. Louis. This was Joseph Woll’s first game of the season, returning from his lower-body injury that held him out of the season opener. The only positive takeaway from this game, was the goal from Oliver Ekman-Larsson, his first of the year and his first as a Leaf.

While behind 3-1 in the second, Toronto’s power play had a chance to pull the team within one, but once more went blank, dropping them to 0-for-3 on the evening and 3-for-26 for the season. Jordan Binnington was lights-out this game, stopping 41 shots en route to a strong win against the Maple Leafs. While on the other side, Woll did make a number of big saves, although it wasn’t enough to keep the Leafs in the game. Toronto fell 5-1 in a game to forget early in the 2024-25 season.

Maple Leafs 3, Bruins 4 (Overtime)

No matter which team you cheer for, Boston v Toronto is always an exciting event. In a game that felt like you were right back in the playoffs last year, there’s just a certain feeling when the Leafs are playing the Bruins.

In the first period, it was all Boston. The Leafs didn’t have a shot on net for about the first 10 minutes of the period. Boston kept them in their zone, being physical and picking apart the Toronto defense piece-by-piece. Although, Stolarz kept the Leafs in the game with save after save, and the Toronto defense blocking every shot they could. They ended the period deadlocked at 0.

The second period was much more eventful, with 5 total goals between both hockey clubs. The first goal of the game came off a rebound put back in by none other than Matthew Knies, keeping his strong start to the season alive. Not long after, Boston was able to notch a powerplay goal to even out the game. Later in the period, Toronto was starting to heat up, and it was capped off with a Morgan Rielly goal to bring the Buds up 2-1. Just like last playoff series, the lead did not last for long, as Boston was able to score twice within 1 minute to bring the Bruins back up by 1.

Toronto started the third period with a powerplay, but couldn’t do anything with it. The majority of the period saw Boston in the Toronto zone, with a couple bursts of energy from Toronto. Until about the 5 minute mark rolled around, where Toronto seemed to have some life. They had a couple good chances, but Boston shut them down. Toronto had their net empty, and in the final two minutes, ‘Magic Mitch’ finally showed up. Toronto entered the o-zone, Tavares threw a cross-ice pass to Marner, and Marner threw it in the perfect position to set up a Matthews tip to tie the game at 3. Toronto forces overtime in possibly the most dramatic way they could. Toronto controlled the play for most of overtime, but it was a costly, no-look pass from Matthews that was intercepted that cost the Leafs the game. Toronto walks away with a point that they probably did not deserve, but they were lucky to get.