Maple Leafs’ Auston Matthews reacts to 1st goal of season after crushing Kings

“You love to see it, he ripped that one,” said Bobby McMann, who scored twice in the contest and has three goals in three games after being healthy scratched.  “I think it went in and out before anybody even saw it. All the boys are smiling, you love to see that for him because you know there are a lot more coming.”

The Leafs went 2-for-4 on the powerplay, while the Kings were unable to manage any goals of their own on four opportunities with the man advantage. It was Toronto’s first time having success on the PP after going 11 attempts without a goal to start the year.

“It’s always good to get that power play going,” Matthews continued, per McCarthy. “Obviously it wasn’t great the first couple games, just trying to find it a little bit, so any time you see the puck go in on the power play a couple times, you can take that momentum and just continue to build off it.”

“I thought our special teams were excellent, our goalie was really good,” head coach Craig Berube echoed. “We had a good first period I thought, got a lead. Second period, they came out and pushed hard early and I thought we regained our poise and our game.”

Leafs off to a great start in 2024-25

Even with starting goaltender Joseph Woll on the shelf, the Leafs continue to string together wins. A 1-0 loss to the Montreal Canadiens in their home-opener was mainly due to Samuel Montembeault’s heroics — the goaltender made 48 saves in the shutout.

And since then, Toronto hasn’t lost, beating New Jersey, Los Angeles and Pittsburgh over the last week. They’ve managed to score 14 goals in that span, and Stanley Cup champion Stolarz is looking fantastic between the pipes. He made another 32 saves on Wednesday.

Now 3-1 and first place in the Atlantic Division, Matthews and the Leafs will look to keep the good times rolling when the New York Rangers visit Scotiabank Arena for Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday.