During the lone game of Sunday’s NHL slate, the Toronto Maple Leafs emerged with a 3-2 victory over the Utah Hockey Club. Mitch Marner continued his scoring barrage with two goals, William Nylander scored the game-winner and played a few shifts with his brother, Alex, while Joseph Woll made 23 saves in the winning effort.

Marner was awarded the team belt for his efforts, and he’s now recorded four consecutive multi-point games (four goals, eight points) while notching two points in each of the seven wins without Auston Matthews. Matthews missed his eighth consecutive game due to injury, and the Maple Leafs are 7-1 without their captain.

Here are six takeaways from the Maple Leafs’ 3-2 win over Utah:

Mitch Marner continued his scoring barrage in the absence of Auston Matthews, recording two goals, while operating as a defensive menace to the Utah Hockey Club in all situations. Marner generated chances all evening for his teammates, placing a golden look for Fraser Minten on the door step during the first period, before he really took off. He almost set up Pontus Holmberg on a 2-on-1 before the first frame ended, and then he truly went to work. John Tavares sprung Marner on a long-range bullet pass and Toronto’s dynamic winger made no mistake on the breakaway, beating Utah’s Karel Vejmelka cleanly.

Marner then scored from an impossible angle minutes later, banking the puck off Vejmelka and in for the go-ahead goal and the Maple Leafs never really looked back, despite Jack McBain’s goal in the third period that cut the lead to 3-2. Throughout the evening, Marner was primarily guarded by Clayton Keller and he absolutely cooked Utah’s top line in another sensational performance. Marner now has eight goals and 28 points in 21 games while playing near-elite defence every night on a Maple Leafs team that is without their best player and surging through the league simultaneously. He’s on pace for an 109-point campaign, which would be the best total of his career.

John Tavares has been outstanding alongside Marner during Matthews’ eight-game absence and he’s doing all the small things well. We wrote a larger profile about his hockey intelligence and power game on Friday, and he continues to use these elements to his advantage against top-line competition. Tavares did his best Kevin de Bruyne impression and sprayed a long-range pass into Marner’s pathway for a breakaway, which changed the momentum of the game.

“I saw Tanev winning that battle and the puck was squirting free. I saw Johnny was able to go get it, and kind of turn up the ice with his head up and some free space in front of him. I just tried to read what was in front of me. There was a big gap there and I was trying to find it and thought he made a great pass,” Marner said of his first goal.

Tavares won 18-of-23 faceoffs, a new season-high, added a game-best eight shots, and helped the Maple Leafs retain possession in all situations. The idea that he would need to face off against bottom-six competition this year looks patently ridiculous as Tavares’ constant excellence is a primary reason why the Maple Leafs are atop the Atlantic Division.

Nick Robertson simply needs to score, and you have to feel for him. Robertson hit a post, he drew two penalties — he leads Toronto with eight drawn penalties at 5-on-5 on the season — but he couldn’t capitalize on a handful of golden chances throughout the contest and can’t buy a goal at the moment. He’s tasked with producing secondary offence and hasn’t met this responsibility during the regular season, after emerging as Toronto’s preseason MVP. With one goal through 18 games and a wave of new call-ups looking to seize the opportunity, Robertson’s opportunities may be diminishing, but he still has Craig Berube’s confidence.

“I thought Nicky had a good game though,” Berube said. “Worked extremely hard, was in the right spots defensively, and did his job. Had some looks and didn’t go in. He’s just gotta stick with it. It’s going to go in eventually for him. We all feel for him. We want him to put the puck in the net. It’s not easy. I wouldn’t know anything about it because I didn’t worry about that (as a player). He’s a type of player who wants to score goals, and that’s part of his job. He did some real good things tonight, even though he didn’t score.”

It’s just a matter of time perhaps before Robertson gets phased out by emerging rookie Nikita Grebenkin, or when any number of roster regulars return. At the end of the day, one goal through the opening months of the season for a player best celebrated for his excellent shot and release may not cut it, on a top-heavy Maple Leafs club.

Prior to Saturday’s games, the Jake McCabe-Chris Tanev produced the fewest expected goals against per 60 minutes among all qualified pairings per MoneyPuck, and at the time of this filing, they’ve slipped to third. In plain language, McCabe-Tanev have been an elite shutdown pairing and both players were terrific on Sunday night, with Tanev a cut above. Tanev’s on-ice communication and gap control is noticeable, you can see him pointing in space, you can see McCabe use his physicality to suppress rush chances, and both players are making simple plays that pay dividends later.

Tanev finished with a game-best 82.4 percent share of the expected goals at 5-on-5, McCabe finished with a 75.8 percent share, and both players are doing all the small things well. Just wait to see where they grade out in our quarterly report cards!

William Nylander is an elite-goal scorer and he’s at his most dangerous flying off the rush, where defenders are on their heels. Nylander picked off Logan Cooley inside the defensive third, then raced past everyone for a breakaway goal which counted as the game-winner. For a player who is sometimes unfairly maligned for his defensive impact, Nylander’s ability to generate instant offense from turnovers ought to be celebrated more often. With this being an NFL Sunday after all, think of Nylander as a ball-hawking safety, rather than a true cover corner. You can place Nylander with anyone and he’ll create offence, which is a certain luxury for Berube.

Alex and William Nylander suited up for the first time together in the NHL, and it was a truly special moment that both players won’t forget. The Nylander brothers received a few shifts at 5-on-5 and on the power play, with both brothers getting to celebrate William’s game-winner.

“I mean, just the entire day was special and seeing him out there,” William Nylander said post-game. “The first period was kind of just like crazy. It felt pretty crazy and then settled in and it felt more normal. So yeah, it was very special. And, of course, we got the win, which was nice.”

“It’s just an amazing feeling. It’s a special feeling to be on this team, it’s something I’ll remember forever,” Alex Nylander said post-game.

Alex Nylander revealed that their father, Michael, a long-time NHL veteran had some simple advice to him before the game.

“He obviously was very happy and it was a big moment for us to play our first game. He said the same thing as every game: just play your game, work hard and be heavy on the forecheck,” Alex Nylander said of his father’s advice, while noting that he didn’t really any nerves for the contest.

William Nylander scores the game-winner, Alex Nylander makes his Maple Leafs debut in a victory, it doesn’t get much better than that.