Toronto Maple Leafs forward Matthew Knies pointed to his team’s all-around strong showing as the key to their win over the Calgary Flames on Tuesday.

Going into the contest, the Leafs had been struggling to generate any positive momentum in the second period of games which was a far cry from their dominance in that period a season prior. Although they ended up being tied at two going into the second intermission, the Leafs had the bulk of the scoring chances and Knies got rewarded with a goal late in the frame.

“ I thought we played good all around. I thought we were moving the puck really well,” he said.  ”We were playing fast and just playing north. We got to the goaltender by the end of the game, and that’s when we got our chances. So I thought we did a great job all around. I think Stoly played great in net and it was an all-team effort.”

Knies didn’t just find the back of the net to make an impact on the game, he also used his massive frame to apply heavy pressure on the forecheck to force turnovers and keep the play alive in the offensive zone. The Leafs were able to get plenty of good looks as a result and they were rewarded for it on the eventual game-winner by Max Domi, which was made possible by Knies disrupting the clearing attempt at the top of the zone.

Knies described Domi’s release as ‘unreal’ and noted that his two tallies came at pivotal moments when the team needed them.

“We ran into each other pretty good there.  Kind of locked eyes almost for a second,” he said with a grin. “ It was a scramble for the puck a little bit and just won the puck battle.  Not sure who it was, I think it was [Jake McCabe] who got it up to us.  Just made a plate of Domes and he finished it.”

While Domi wasn’t his linemate for much of the night, Knies was able to find success in the heat of the moment and it resulted in a timely goal in the late stages of the contest. This has been a common occurance for the third-year player, who has been effective whether he is on the top line alongside Auston Matthews or on the second line with John Tavares and Matias Maccelli as he was on Tuesday.

When asked what has made him effective at adapting to his shuffling linemates, Knies said it boiled down to sticking with the basics to ensure his teammates do well.

“ Just playing simple, playing north,” he said. “ Making sure the guys around me are having a good game, trying to make them better.  My main focus is trying to make the guys around me better and make sure that they’re doing well, getting chances.  I think I’ve done a good job of that and I think it’s leading to a lot of success.”