There are few things as special as a Toronto Maple Leafs-Montreal Canadiens season opener, and the home team delivered with a 5-2 victory. While many fans in attendance were focused on the Toronto Blue Jays, the local hockey team put on a terrific show. Bobby McMann, Calle Jarnkrok, Morgan Rielly, Auston Matthews and William Nylander all scored, while Anthony Stolarz made 29 saves in the winning effort.

Rielly was the best player on the ice by a wide margin, and was rewarded for his constant efforts to enter the rush, generating potent offence for the Maple Leafs all evening. He finished with a team-high five shots and dictated the pace of the game whenever he was on the ice. It was a terrific result for the Maple Leafs, with the team’s longest-tenured player continuing his excellent preseason form into the season opener.

Rielly submitted an outstanding game for the Maple Leafs. It wasn’t perfect, to be clear: Rielly skated to centre-ice and dropped the puck back to William Nylander during a first-period power play, Nylander tossed the puck aimlessly in space, and Canadiens forward Oliver Kapanen punished the lethargic effort with a short-handed goal. This isn’t necessarily nitpicking, but it was the lone notable blemish from Rielly in what was otherwise a standout game.

During the third period, Rielly delivered the game-winning goal after Matthew Knies corralled his own rebound from a breakaway attempt. Knies found Rielly in front of the net, and he slammed it home for a 3-2 lead.

The 31-year-old downplayed the intentionality of his offensive-minded game, following Wednesday’s win. The advanced numbers also back up Rielly’s shot contributions, finishing with a team-high 0.34 individual expected goals at 5-on-5, via Natural Stat Trick.

“I mean, we’re all trying to do it, you know, I think I’ve been open and honest about all those conversations, but, you know, we’re all trying to build off of what we’re doing,” Rielly said. “We’re all trying to improve off last year and I thought that there were lots of guys who did that tonight and lots of guys are going to look to do that as we keep going. So it’s a great first win, but obviously lots to work on.”

That’s a level-headed response but Rielly made a concerted effort to get back to basics. Rielly generated a shot in the opening minute of the game, he took off on the rush after Nick Robertson established the zone on his next shift, and he wasn’t done there. He pinched down to help support the fourth line, got back to the point, directed a puck towards the net, before Calle Jarnkrok fished it out to tie the game at 2-2. Rielly was all over the ice for the Maple Leafs, but rarely out of position. It was a terrific night overall for the veteran defenceman.

Bobby McMann did not score in his final 24 games last year, dating back to a March 25 game against the Philadelphia Flyers. You can put this factoid to rest now. McMann was in terrific from the outset of the game, and worked a strong two-man game in conjunction with John Tavares.

Tavares won a faceoff during the opening minute of the game, the puck dropped back to William Nylander, who fired a shot on net and McMann expertly got a stick on it. There has been plenty of instruction for McMann to simplify his game and get into the high-danger areas with routine frequency. McMann is an elite skater and he appears to be stronger than he often realizes. He looked more than ready to make the most of his opportunity along two bonafide stars, and the McMann-Tavares-Nylander line was the Maple Leafs’ best on Wednesday.

McMann-Tavares-Nylander finished with a 9-3 shot differential at 5-on-5 in 11:25 of playing time, with a 58.8 percent share of the expected goals via Natural Stat Trick. They won their minutes handily throughout the night, and you could make an argument that Rielly, Tavares and McMann were the Maple Leafs’ three best players against the Canadiens. It’s a great start to the year for McMann, who can be a streaky scorer at times, but will need to contribute another 20-goal plus campaign for the revamped Maple Leafs.

“Yeah, I think if you put yourself in those areas, whether it goes up your stick or whatever part of your body, sometimes when you’re there, it just ends up going in,” McMann said post-game. “Or you find those pucks around there and you look at the shot charts and the goal charts around the league all year and there’s just a ton of dots right at the top of the crease.”

McMann can play a high-end skill game and do the dirty work. He played to the totality of his strengths Wednesday and he can clearly put last season’s scoring drought behind him.

We don’t want to be too negative in this space, especially after a 5-2 victory, but the four-forward power play remains a work in progress. Toronto was burned early in the first period, after William Nylander sent a careless pass through the neutral zone and Montreal’s Oliver Kapanen sniped it past Anthony Stolarz to tie the game.

Berube and the Maple Leafs emphasized a commitment to getting a shot off early with the man advantage, but that didn’t come to fruition against the Canadiens. There needs to be better puck movement and a more concerted effort to get the puck over to the flanks, where Nylander and Auston Matthews can fire away. Being overly concerned about an 0-for-2 power play almost borders on ridiculous, but it remains a work in progress through the early stages of the season.

Calle Jarnkrok missed the majority of the 2024-25 season after recovering from groin and sports hernia surgery, and didn’t quite look the same upon returning to the lineup. Jarnkrok was strong throughout training camp, especially during the first week and while it didn’t always seem apparent that he would be on the opening night roster, he rewarded Berube’s confidence.

Jarnkrok did well to fish a loose puck out of the high slot and fire it past Samuel Montembeault to tie the game at 2-2, in the second period. Playing alongside Steven Lorentz and Nicolas Roy, Jarnkrok adds an element of defensive responsibility, and if he can add some secondary scoring as well, he can be slotted throughout the lineup as Berube sees fit, in a return to 2023-24 form.

There is some significant overlap between the Maple Leafs and Blue Jays’ fan bases, as Scotiabank Arena game operations made sure to keep the fans informed. During the intermissions, the Blue Jays’ 5-1 victory over the New York Yankees was broadcast throughout the arena, with Ernie Clement’s seventh-inning single drawing raucous cheers from the crowd. A blaring “LET’S GO BLUE JAYS!” chant reverberated throughout the arena, as the Maple Leafs held on for a 5-2 victory, with many fans, media members and players alike keeping tabs on their neighbours.

Anthony Stolarz admitted he’s a fan of the New York Mets and took some delight in the Yankees on the verge of elimination. Morgan Rielly is a genuine fan of the Blue Jays, along with several other Maple Leafs, who attended a Game 2 victory over the Yankees on Sunday. Rielly also told reporters that the affirmative chants for the Blue Jays were meant in derision, earlier in his career. Berube ended his press conference with a ‘Go Jays!’ and minutes later, Jeff Hoffman recorded the final out of the contest. It’s a beautiful time for Toronto sports. Let’s Go, Blue Jays!