What was supposed to be a spooky night at Scotiabank Arena turned into one of the prettiest nights of the season for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
William Nylander potted two goals, while Joseph Woll made 24 saves to lead the Maple Leafs to a 4-1 victory over the Seattle Kraken.
Halloween night started off with a zombie-like pace in the early stages of the first, but once the two teams settled into the game, it was the Maple Leafs&#8217; second line who generated the momentum. The trio of John Tavares, William Nylander and Max Pacioretty were back together for the second straight game and picked up right where they left off from Monday night in Winnipeg. Pacioretty did a great job to find some open areas throughout the offensive zone and continues to show off an ability to feed off the Tavares-Nylander chemistry, which they&#8217;ve been working on for years. It&#8217;s worth noting Pacioretty finished the night landing seven hits as he continues to show off an all-around game.
While the second line had several chances in the first period, it was the Maple Leafs&#8217; top line who opened the scoring. With just seconds left in the opening frame, Auston Matthews made a sensational play off the draw to push it forward, Mitch Marner then showed off his unselfishness and Matthew Knies showed off his finishing ability in tight. Now this is pretty:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
That&#39;s just great hockey by the <a href="https://twitter.com/MapleLeafs?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MapleLeafs</a>&#39; first line 🍁 
Matthew Knies now has five goals in his last six games!<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NHLStats?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NHLStats</a>: <a href="https://t.co/oNc1gzL6q0">https://t.co/oNc1gzL6q0</a> <a href="https://t.co/hGRwUZEv6j">pic.twitter.com/hGRwUZEv6j</a>
&mdash; NHL (@NHL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NHL/status/1852138334136516658?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 31, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The late goal gave Toronto momentum to start the second period. Under two minutes in, Morgan Rielly made a filthy pass across the seam to Nylander, who made no mistake. Another gorgeous goal from the Maple Leafs as Nylander scores for the second straight game.
Nylander and the second line were not done there, and again, boy-oh-boy was it pretty. After creating several chances , which included a behind-the-back pass from Nylander to Pacioretty off the rush, Tavares would eventually get the puck in front and showed off his Spidey senses to find Nylander back door. 3-0 Maple Leafs on three beautiful plays.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
WILLIAM NYLANDER 🚨🚨
This second line is nuts <a href="https://t.co/Idx9Q7Ba4o">pic.twitter.com/Idx9Q7Ba4o</a>
&mdash; Omar (@TicTacTOmar) <a href="https://twitter.com/TicTacTOmar/status/1852144620043444710?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 1, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
This was more than enough offense for Woll, who was making his second start of the season. The Leafs&#8217; netminder never had to carry the team at any point throughout the game, but did a great job to showcase his calm and collected self, especially with a few Kraken rebound attempts. The game seemed to come to Woll with ease against Seattle and it appears he&#8217;s more than ready to push Anthony Stolarz for starts.
It wasn&#8217;t a perfect game from Nylander to be sure. Late in the second period, the Leafs forward took a penalty for closing his hand on the puck. Then in the third, Nylander made a horrible decision with the puck in the neutral zone, leading to a Kraken chance, and head coach Craig Berube let him have it once he got back to the bench. This comes on the heels of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZynuamCb9YY">Nylander going public</a> with his request for more playing time.
The Kraken would pull their goalie with around five minutes left in the third period and eventually, Matthews would show off his creativity by banking one off the boards to provide the Leafs some insurance. Matthews has seven goals in seven games in his career against the Kraken.
The Maple Leafs move to 6-4-1 on the season and will make way to St Louis on Saturday night to face off against the Blues. Toronto will be seeking some revenge for Berube after the Blues made light work of the Leafs 5-1 Oct.24.
Trick or Treat
Trick: Nick Robertson didn&#8217;t have a great night and continues to have a hard time hammering down a roster spot. 
Treat: Knies had his fingerprints all over this game and continues to show off the complete package. 
Trick: Knies needs an extension and continues to drive up his future AAV with six goals through 11 games. 
Treat: Marner has a point in all seven games he&#8217;s played against the Kraken. 
Trick: The Leafs power play went 0-2 and continues to struggle. 
Treat: Jake McCabe led the Leafs in ice-time, playing 23:37 against Seattle.
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Toronto Maple Leafs forward William Nylander.

What was supposed to be a spooky night at Scotiabank Arena turned into one of the prettiest nights of the season for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

William Nylander potted two goals, while Joseph Woll made 24 saves to lead the Maple Leafs to a 4-1 victory over the Seattle Kraken.

Halloween night started off with a zombie-like pace in the early stages of the first, but once the two teams settled into the game, it was the Maple Leafs' second line who generated the momentum. The trio of John Tavares, William Nylander and Max Pacioretty were back together for the second straight game and picked up right where they left off from Monday night in Winnipeg. Pacioretty did a great job to find some open areas throughout the offensive zone and continues to show off an ability to feed off the Tavares-Nylander chemistry, which they've been working on for years. It's worth noting Pacioretty finished the night landing seven hits as he continues to show off an all-around game.

While the second line had several chances in the first period, it was the Maple Leafs' top line who opened the scoring. With just seconds left in the opening frame, Auston Matthews made a sensational play off the draw to push it forward, Mitch Marner then showed off his unselfishness and Matthew Knies showed off his finishing ability in tight. Now this is pretty:

https://twitter.com/NHL/status/1852138334136516658?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

The late goal gave Toronto momentum to start the second period. Under two minutes in, Morgan Rielly made a filthy pass across the seam to Nylander, who made no mistake. Another gorgeous goal from the Maple Leafs as Nylander scores for the second straight game.

Nylander and the second line were not done there, and again, boy-oh-boy was it pretty. After creating several chances , which included a behind-the-back pass from Nylander to Pacioretty off the rush, Tavares would eventually get the puck in front and showed off his Spidey senses to find Nylander back door. 3-0 Maple Leafs on three beautiful plays.

https://twitter.com/TicTacTOmar/status/1852144620043444710?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

This was more than enough offense for Woll, who was making his second start of the season. The Leafs' netminder never had to carry the team at any point throughout the game, but did a great job to showcase his calm and collected self, especially with a few Kraken rebound attempts. The game seemed to come to Woll with ease against Seattle and it appears he's more than ready to push Anthony Stolarz for starts.

It wasn't a perfect game from Nylander to be sure. Late in the second period, the Leafs forward took a penalty for closing his hand on the puck. Then in the third, Nylander made a horrible decision with the puck in the neutral zone, leading to a Kraken chance, and head coach Craig Berube let him have it once he got back to the bench. This comes on the heels of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZynuamCb9YY">Nylander going public</a> with his request for more playing time.

The Kraken would pull their goalie with around five minutes left in the third period and eventually, Matthews would show off his creativity by banking one off the boards to provide the Leafs some insurance. Matthews has seven goals in seven games in his career against the Kraken.

The Maple Leafs move to 6-4-1 on the season and will make way to St Louis on Saturday night to face off against the Blues. Toronto will be seeking some revenge for Berube after the Blues made light work of the Leafs 5-1 Oct.24.

Trick or Treat

Trick: Nick Robertson didn't have a great night and continues to have a hard time hammering down a roster spot.
Treat: Knies had his fingerprints all over this game and continues to show off the complete package.
Trick: Knies needs an extension and continues to drive up his future AAV with six goals through 11 games.
Treat: Marner has a point in all seven games he's played against the Kraken.
Trick: The Leafs power play went 0-2 and continues to struggle.
Treat: Jake McCabe led the Leafs in ice-time, playing 23:37 against Seattle.
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