The Toronto Maple Leafs are four games into the 2024-25 NHL season, and they&#8217;ve played well enough to keep the media and fan base at bay. After a gut punch of a 1-0 loss to the Montreal Canadiens led by a 48-save shutout from Sam Montembault in the season opener, the Leafs have played generally clean hockey of late and have won three consecutive games since heading into Saturday&#8217;s contest against the New York Rangers.
Not only have they been winning games early on, but the wins have also brought an extra element of satisfaction. They defeated former head coach Sheldon Keefe&#8217;s <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/4-takeaways-toronto-maple-leafs-devils-dennis-hildeby-1st-start-lorentz-mcmann">New Jersey Devils 6-3</a>, former general manager Kyle Dubas&#8217; <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/maple-leafs-penguins-takeaways-marner-knies-drive-stellar-evening-domis-playmaking-pp-woes-continue">Pittsburgh Penguins 4-2</a>, and capped it off with a <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/maple-leafs-kings-observations-mcmann-star-matthews-1st-goal-captain">6-2 thumping</a> of the Los Angeles Kings at home. They&#8217;ve played tight on the defensive side of the puck, they&#8217;ve gotten steady play and timely saves from Anthony Stolarz and Dennis Hildeby in net, and they&#8217;ve received contributions from all around the lineup despite a slow first couple of games from the core forwards.
Berube talked specifically about the contributions from the team&#8217;s second line of Bobby McMann, Max Domi, and William Nylander, who combined for six points on Wednesday night.
&#8220;Good speed. They used their speed well, I thought,&#8221; Berube told media at Saturday morning&#8217;s optional skate. &#8220;Created space, had some real good O-zone time in the game, and they capitalized on their chances, and I thought they were solid defensively.&#8221;
McMann scored his second and third goals of the season, Nylander scored a goal and added an assist, and Max Domi tallied two assists, giving him the team lead in points with five despite not having scored a goal yet.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
THAT MANN IS DOUBLE DIPPIN’
(in style😎) <a href="https://t.co/sABmB5daDN">pic.twitter.com/sABmB5daDN</a>
&mdash; Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) <a href="https://twitter.com/MapleLeafs/status/1846707681987379486?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 17, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Berube was also impressed with the penalty kill, which was a perfect 4-for-4 against the Kings on Wednesday and currently sits tenth in the league at 83.3%.
&#8220;It&#8217;s great to see. I&#8217;ve been happy for the most part, except when we&#8217;ve made a mistake and it&#8217;s gone in,&#8221; he said. So, cleaning up those little mistakes, which I thought we did a pretty good job of that last game, and I thought we were more disciplined last game, too, which helps.&#8221;
Berube called a time-out after the Maple Leafs started the third period sloppy and allowed two goals to cut the Kings&#8217; deficit to three. The team seemed to respond well and didn&#8217;t allow another for the rest of the game, adding an insurance goal of their own for good measure.
The Maple Leafs have a back-to-back on Monday and Tuesday after their tilt against the Rangers. They&#8217;ll host the Tampa Bay Lightning to open it before travelling to Columbus to face the Blue Jackets.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are four games into the 2024-25 NHL season, and they've played well enough to keep the media and fan base at bay. After a gut punch of a 1-0 loss to the Montreal Canadiens led by a 48-save shutout from Sam Montembault in the season opener, the Leafs have played generally clean hockey of late and have won three consecutive games since heading into Saturday's contest against the New York Rangers.

Not only have they been winning games early on, but the wins have also brought an extra element of satisfaction. They defeated former head coach Sheldon Keefe's <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/4-takeaways-toronto-maple-leafs-devils-dennis-hildeby-1st-start-lorentz-mcmann">New Jersey Devils 6-3</a>, former general manager Kyle Dubas' <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/maple-leafs-penguins-takeaways-marner-knies-drive-stellar-evening-domis-playmaking-pp-woes-continue">Pittsburgh Penguins 4-2</a>, and capped it off with a <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/maple-leafs-kings-observations-mcmann-star-matthews-1st-goal-captain">6-2 thumping</a> of the Los Angeles Kings at home. They've played tight on the defensive side of the puck, they've gotten steady play and timely saves from Anthony Stolarz and Dennis Hildeby in net, and they've received contributions from all around the lineup despite a slow first couple of games from the core forwards.

Berube talked specifically about the contributions from the team's second line of Bobby McMann, Max Domi, and William Nylander, who combined for six points on Wednesday night.

"Good speed. They used their speed well, I thought," Berube told media at Saturday morning's optional skate. "Created space, had some real good O-zone time in the game, and they capitalized on their chances, and I thought they were solid defensively."

McMann scored his second and third goals of the season, Nylander scored a goal and added an assist, and Max Domi tallied two assists, giving him the team lead in points with five despite not having scored a goal yet.

https://twitter.com/MapleLeafs/status/1846707681987379486

Berube was also impressed with the penalty kill, which was a perfect 4-for-4 against the Kings on Wednesday and currently sits tenth in the league at 83.3%.

"It's great to see. I've been happy for the most part, except when we've made a mistake and it's gone in," he said. So, cleaning up those little mistakes, which I thought we did a pretty good job of that last game, and I thought we were more disciplined last game, too, which helps."

Berube called a time-out after the Maple Leafs started the third period sloppy and allowed two goals to cut the Kings' deficit to three. The team seemed to respond well and didn't allow another for the rest of the game, adding an insurance goal of their own for good measure.

The Maple Leafs have a back-to-back on Monday and Tuesday after their tilt against the Rangers. They'll host the Tampa Bay Lightning to open it before travelling to Columbus to face the Blue Jackets.

Craig Berube impressed with McMann-Domi-Nylander line, penalty kill through first 4 games

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