It was a divisional sweep for the Toronto Maple Leafs this week, defeating the Montreal Canadiens 4-1 on Saturday night. Toronto is on a three-game winning streak, previously besting the Boston Bruins and Detroit Red Wings, with all three wins coming without captain Auston Matthews.

Conor Timmins opened the scoring with his first goal of the year, Mitch Marner extended his point streak to eight games with a short-handed goal, William Nylander notched his 11th goal of the season, while John Tavares added another power play marker in the winning effort. Joseph Woll made 20 saves in the winning effort although he was rarely tested.

Brendan Gallagher scored the lone goal for the Canadiens.

Here are four takeaways from the Maple Leafs’ 4-1 victory over the Canadiens

Toronto’s power play struggles were arguably one of the key national storylines of the early season as the team stumbled to a 3-of-38 start on the man advantage to begin the year. It may as well be ancient history. In the absence of Auston Matthews — which is coincidental, to be sure — the Maple Leafs’ power play has soared past positive regression and into outright scorching territory. Toronto scored two power play goals on four opportunities, and kept Montreal on its heels.

William Nylander sauntered through the neutral zone full steam ahead and didn’t elect to drop the puck back to the point, which was a feature of the Leafs’ power play to date. Nylander continued straight to the net on a spectacular individual rush, while the Canadiens’ porous defense couldn’t get set against one of the NHL’s premier scorers. You have to take into account the opponent, and the Canadiens’ inferior talent was obvious throughout the evening.

There have been a few reasons why the Maple Leafs’ power play has erupted: they’ve abandoned static entries, allowing Nylander and Morgan Rielly enter the zone with speed. If they’re operating with an offensive zone faceoff, there’s a direct intention to get pucks to the net and allow Tavares and Matthew Knies to bang away at loose pucks at the net-front and bully defenders in traffic.

Tavares continued his torrid scoring run as of late, as Marner set up him in the slot, and he fired away, picking up his own rebound for the 4-1 lead. Marner’s creativity and cross-seam passes have been the primary reason why the Maple Leafs are shooting the lights out with the man advantage, and the team is working with real motion and rhythm, rather than waiting for an optimal look for Nylander or Matthews at the top of the faceoff circles. Nylander led the team with seven shots, Tavares finished with six and Marner ended up with five, precisely what you want to see from the team’s best players.

As for the season sample: Toronto’s power play is now converting at a 20.8 percent clip, tied for 13th in the NHL with the Nashville Predators at the time of this filing. There’s positive regression, and then there’s what the Maple Leafs are putting together. We’ll have to consult a Fields Medalist in the interim, while appreciating the awe and beauty of the Maple Leafs’ power play in the moment.

There’s been a natural tendency to figure out why the Maple Leafs have posted an outstanding cumulative record when Matthews is out of the lineup, but the easiest qualitative reason: Mitch Marner has elevated his game throughout the week, and he’s been the primary reason why the Maple Leafs swept their Atlantic rivals this week, with a 11-2 goal differential.

We’ve already gone through Marner’s playmaking and vision on the power play, but he scored an outstanding short-handed goal in the second period, where he exercised some real patience in tandem with David Kampf — who has provided great results on the penalty kill to begin the year.

“I thought Dave was going to one-time it to be honest at first,” Marner said post-game of his shorthanded goal.

“As soon as I saw him cradle it and head up to me, I tried to jump past my check to get to the net and he made a hell of a play getting it back to me.”

Marner is two years removed from a Selke finalist designation and he’s largely won his individual matchups against some of the league’s best wingers. Squaring off against a Canadiens’ team that has struggled to generate offence, Marner was inventive, opportunistic and continued to show a renewed sense of leadership.

“It’s just his instincts, right? He gets a stick on, it seems like, every puck,” Timmins said of Marner’s penalty kill prowess. “He knows where it’s going before it’s even there. Has the hands to knock pucks down and create offence on the penalty kill, which is impressive. He’s just a tremendous player in that area.”

There are several reasons why the Maple Leafs have looked dominant through the three-game winning streak, and alongside Anthony Stolarz — and perhaps Woll as well, given his stellar start — Marner, followed by Nylander, are the primary reasons why.

Conor Timmins has perhaps benefited the most out of any Maple Leafs player from Craig Berube’s system and coaching. Timmins was known to freelance offensively and never truly earned Sheldon Keefe’s trust. Berube has been transparent about simplifying the team game in the defensive zone, playing a five-man team defence structure and getting in shooting lanes. Timmins took these instructions to heart, outplayed Timothy Liljegren in training camp, and while Jani Hakanpaa could be in the mix shortly, it seems like the 26-year-old has a stronghold on the No. 6 spot, especially after notching his first goal of the season.

Timmins was the recipient of the team belt for his performance.

“It’s been a while since I’ve played in an every-day role,” Timmins said post-game. “I’m just really enjoying staying present in the moment. The team’s been playing well, so I’ve just been trying to focus on that.”

So what’s allowed Timmins to thrive under Berube?

“I think two areas: my simplicity. Making the play when it’s there and not forcing things. And also, defending, I’ve taken a step there. And being a little stronger on my defending, that’s really helped.”

It’s been clear from the outset of training camp: Timmins looks like a completely different player because he’s mitigated risk, but he’s still capable of pulling off a cool offensive play that can send the home crowd into a frenzy, when the moment strikes. He’s worked really well in tandem with Simon Benoit, and Toronto can roll out six defenders with fluency through the opening quarter of the year.

“He’s been highly competitive for one thing with his defensive play, that’s key,” Berube said about Timmins post-game. “Makes plays his puck, he sees the ice really well. On breakouts, he hits the middle of the ice quite a bit. Tonight he used his shot and scored, but he’s got a good shot. Overall, I think his competitiveness is what really stands out to me.”

And it’s clear that Timmins’ modifications to his game has impressed his teammates as well.

“Timmer’s made some really great plays for us on our back end. I think he’s done a great job when in our zone, handling the puck through the middle of the ice and finding some middle speed. He’s done a really good job this year, it’s really great to see him rewarded on that goal,” Marner said of Timmins post-game.

This isn’t a grand revelation but William Nylander’s pace and release can put even the best defenses on their heels and he straight up tormented the Canadiens throughout the contest. Nylander finished with a game-high seven shots, he adapted to Max Pacioretty’s injury and used Bobby McMann well as a stand in, trying to make the most of McMann’s elite speed down the wing. He tried audacious passes, and looked to create through the contest.

Nylander now has 11 goals on the season and he’s pacing towards a 57-goal campaign, which would easily shatter his career-high of 40, a figure he’s reached in consecutive seasons. Opposing teams simply can’t afford Nylander any space at all, because when he attacks with pace, he’s nearly unstoppable.

Nylander may be asked to play an elevated role due to Pacioretty’s injury but he can play centre, or the wing, or really any role Berube asks of him, all of which are true hallmarks of a superstar.

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