Find somebody who loves something as much as Matthew Knies loves scoring goals on the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Back in 2023, before Knies made his debut for the Maple Leafs, he suffered a heartbreaking loss on the ice at Amalie Arena in Tampa Bay. Not with a Leaf on his chest, but with a Minnesota Golden Gophers jersey. His team lost to Quinnipiac University in the Frozen Four final, and since then, the Maple Leafs’ second-rounder has made things personal on that ice surface and against the Lightning in general.

Not only did he help the Leafs to their first series win in 19 years, assisting on the series-winning overtime goal, but to date, he’s totalled seven goals and 13 points in eight games against the Lightning in his career, aided by a two-goal, three-point game on Monday night. His performance brings him up to 18 goals and 31 points in 46 games on the season, already only three goals ahead and four points shy of his numbers in his rookie season. He’s proven to be a perfect complement to Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner on the top line, giving them their best power forward since Zach Hyman was in town.

The Leafs completed the season sweep of the Lightning after wins against them in October and November, and it’s important to give that top line credit when they show up the way they did. Marner finished the night with two primary assists and the empty-net goal to seal the game, while Matthews opened the scoring and assisted on Knies’ first goal. When you have two teams stocked with high-end talent like the Maple Leafs and Lightning, you always have to expect a high-scoring affair, and the team whose stars outperform the others will typically end up taking the two points. Tonight, the Leafs’ stars prevailed over the Lightning’s stars.

The win extends their gap between the second-place Florida Panthers to five points for the Atlantic Division lead, further aiding their case to secure home ice advantage. They sit second in the Eastern Conference behind only the Washington Capitals, and guess who currently occupies the second wildcard seed? The Ottawa Senators. There’s lots of hockey to be played, but can you imagine?

The Maple Leafs will be back in action on Wednesday night when they host the Columbus Blue Jackets.