The Toronto Maple Leafs bounced from a disturbing start with three straight wins after defeating the New York Rangers 4-3 on Thursday (March 20). The Maple Leafs won a compelling victory for the Calgary Flames on Monday (March 17) before a strict check on the Colorado Avalanche Wednesday (March 19). The Rangers were unpredictable with the Flames Tuesday (March 18), with most wishing their players could fly, while the Toronto team was a back-to-back second half. However, Maple Leaf is the one who decides the pace and will suddenly slide the Ranger loses for the third time in a row.
The Toronto and Florida Panthers were at the top of the Atlantic Division, with the same record of 42-24-3. The Tampa Bay Chargers are two points behind. The Maple Leafs and Panthers had two matches in April, with both teams still having one game against the Lightning. The department’s crown may boil down to the wires, and these games will have an impact in determining the playoffs of the Eastern Conference.
The second-line star on Broadway
The trio of John Tavares, Bobby McMann and William Nylander reunited against the Rangers, allocating three goals, four assists and 11 on Target. All three members scored or set four goals through Maple Leaf. The reward for their performance by the combination is a significant increase in ice time. Tavares led all Toronto forwards with 19:42. Nylander fell behind at 19:28. McMahon recorded 17:59.
Tavares scored an opening goal in a run after bringing the puck back from Jake McCabe at 12:30 in the first phase. Nylander rushes after K’andre Miller’s overattack. After adding support in the last minute of the first frame, Tavarez scored again in the second quarter after sprinting on a juicy rebound and hammering the hockey into the net. He became the 68th skater in NHL history, with a record 1,100 career points. Only seven active players in the league have more points than Tavares, and he has only 15 goals from joining the 500 club. The former LEAFS captain scored 62 games with 60 points this season.
Nylander also reached an impressive milestone on Thursday. He was the ninth player in Charter history to reach the 600-point plateau in his first two goals in Tavares and completed the feat in his season 672 regular season debut. The 28-year-old winger became Sweden’s fastest Swedish player, eclipsing Nashville Predators forward Filip Forsberg, who needed 694 outings. Neylander has another assistant in the second frame after he penetrated the puck deep in the offensive zone. At the end of the long transition, a miscommunication occurred between Miller and Adam Fox, and Nelander seized his chance to circle the net and then found Matthew Knies in the slot. Fox also created a screen when Matthews drove online. Nylander ranked second in the league with 38 goals and second in 69 games with 73 points.
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After seeing a lot of minutes in January, McMahon’s ice time inexplicably reduced and spent some time at the penultimate end. He returned to the top six of the avalanche and brought that momentum to Thursday. After a late-stage defeat in the first phase, he won a fight in the corner and beat Miller to beat McCabe’s shot. McMahon also assisted with Tavares’ second issue. The 28-year-old McMann proves that he belongs to one of the first two lines, especially if head coach Craig Berube insists on pairing Matthews with Marner and Marner with Nylander. Nevertheless, this kept the bottom five amplitude unchanged as the team tried to balance depth scores on the defensive side. It is best to get offensive help before the trade deadline. But while Scott Laughton has worked hard to complement the contributions of Max Domi and Nicholas Robertson, Scott Laughton shouldn’t be shut down.
The National Defense Forces gathered together
McCabe and Chris Tanev have another impressive performance. They have been stirring up the season as the team’s best defensive duo and have rebounded well after Tanev’s brief struggle after returning from an upper body injury. They performed well on the flames, played responsible games with the Avalanche and were active against the Rangers on both ends of the ice. McCabe made three assists, three hits and two blocks against the Rangers. TANEV added four blocks to the game. The only flaw is the Rangers’ extra attacker when they are the third stage goal.
Toronto’s closure tandem at McCabe and Tanev were excellent, and the team was better behind them after Brandon Carlo acquired the Boston Bruins on the trade deadline. Carlo provides stability for a second pairing, while Oliver Ekman-Larsson’s presence in the third unit puts Toronto’s blue line deeper than the team has long been.
Gatekeeper recovery form
Anthony Stolarz doesn’t need to stand on his head like the start of this season’s past, but he made some great saves and returned to the victory column. He strives to score a 0-3-1 record with a 3.17 goal average, with his savings percentage of 0.876 in the first five games in March. This is the first time this season that the cracks in the armor were caused in the 31-year-old Netminder. Still, when he encounters a new career while playing games, there is no tiny slide.
Joseph Woll experienced a drop before he showed up and started moving forward before he could get back on track, and Stolarz should follow suit. The 26-year-old Woll was outstanding in a 4-3 shootout against Utah Hockey Club on March 10, and he performed well against the Flames and Avalanche this week. Neither goalkeeper wants to admit this, but internal competition surges as the regular season comes to an end. Those who have hot hands into the playoffs may get a nod in Game 1.
What’s next for maple leaves?
Maple leaves have not inspired confidence, but have been much better lately. The club visited the struggling Nashville Predators on March 22 (March 22) before returning home to face the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday (March 25). Toronto should stay motivated in those games and then round it up with three road trips of three games.
Over the past two games, Maple Leaf must continue to score depth points with even strength as the chances of power play gradually decline. Every time the Rangers score, the team has an answer and doesn’t give the opponent a chance to build momentum when exploiting their mistakes. Maple Leaf’s counterattack and entry were more involved, and the goalkeeper lifted it up again. These are encouraging signs and remind you not to get too high or too low in the last 13 games of the 2024-25 campaign. While it’s important to develop better habits and getting first in the Atlantic is still a priority, the real test of the team’s courage will take place in the playoffs.
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