Following a week of inconsistency, posting a record of 2-1-1, the Toronto Maple Leafs entered week five of their season with three key divisional matchups against the Boston Bruins, Detroit Red Wings, and Montreal Canadiens – as they continued their fight climbing the Atlantic division standings.

Morgan Rielly’s start to the season was slow, recording just two points – one goal and one assist – in his first seven games. However, the 12-year veteran has looked as good as he ever has, registering ten points in his last nine games, including a six-point week last week – one goal and five assists – in three key divisional games.

During his best week of the young season, the longest-tenured Maple Leaf recorded his 400th career assist on William Nylander’s early second-period power-play goal against the Montreal Canadiens, becoming just the third defenceman in franchise history to accomplish this feat, joining Borje Salming (620) and Tomas Kaberle (437).

With Rielly’s six-point explosion in his last three games, his 12 points on the season rank him inside the top ten in scoring among defencemen.

It seems like everyone is running out of things to say about Anthony Stolarz. Just when you think he’s done something unbelievable, he does something else that makes you drop your jaw and put your hands on your head. His last two starts against the Boston Bruins and Detroit Red Wings might have been two of his best starts of the season, jump-starting the Maple Leafs’ second three-game winning streak.

He opened last week with a stellar outing, stopping all 29 shots the Boston Bruins recorded, en route to his ninth career shutout – his first shutout as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs. His fifth win of the season earned him another start in the first half of their back-to-back last week against the Detroit Red Wings, and he picked up where he left off, stopping 21 of Detroit’s 22 shots, earning his sixth win of the season in just his tenth start.

Over his last three starts, Anthony Stolarz has allowed just three goals. Of those three goals, only one has come at five-on-five (November 3rd vs. Minnesota).

The New Jersey native’s recent play has improved his record to 6-2-2 while he owns some of the best numbers in the league among goalies (2.00 GAA and a .930 SV%). According to Moneypuck.com, among goalies who have played at least five games, Stolarz ranks fourth with a 7.00 GSAx (goals saved above expected).

Mitch Marner entered the weekend coming off a three-assist showing against the Boston Bruins and finished the week with four more points – one goal and three assists – extending his point streak to five games. As he opened last week against the Bruins for their second meeting, Marner added two more assists and followed that game up with four extra points over the weekend, extending his current point streak to eight games and giving him a total of 20 points on the season, good enough for 11th in the league tied with Colorado’s Mikko Rantanen.

His start to the season may have been a little slow when it comes to the standards everyone has for Marner, but the pending UFA has certainly shown his elite offensive talents over the past three weeks, helping lead the way for his team in the absence of Auston Matthews, who is dealing with a minor upper-body injury.

Similar to Rielly making history by becoming the third defenseman in franchise history to reach 400 career assists, Marner’s second-period shorthanded goal on Saturday night was the tenth of his career, moving him up on the franchise’s all-time list for ninth most, tied with Rudy Migay and Lanny McDonald.

(Stats from hockey-reference.com)