<p>The Toronto Maple Leafs kept the good times rolling in Philadelphia on Tuesday night, stealing two points in a game they looked a step behind in to seal their fifth victory in a row.</p>
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<p>One of the Maple Leafs&#8217; best players throughout this stretch has been Matthew Knies, <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/we-told-you-too-early-panic-about-matthew-knies">who has scored</a> in each of his last two games following a five-point outburst against the Boston Bruins on Saturday night. The 22-year-old has 16 goals and 26 points on the year now and has continued to show his potential more and more each night. The young power forward has 86 hits in 40 games to go along with his uptick in offensive production, but laying bit hits isn&#8217;t the only way he&#8217;s been able to effectively use his body.</p>
<p>Two of Knies&#8217; five goals in his last three games have come in front of the net, in the form of a redirection. The Maple Leafs&#8217; core forwards and head coach spoke fondly to the media about Knies&#8217; ability to use his size to generate offence.</p>
<p>&#8220;He&#8217;s a house,&#8221; Tavares said with a grin. &#8220;He&#8217;s a tough guy to move, so physically mature for his age. Just got real soft hands, I think he&#8217;s really shown that with his ability to handle the puck in tight areas and certainly in and around the net. It&#8217;s a nice combination for us.&#8221;</p>
<p>Knies has played some of his best hockey when linemate and fellow Arizona native Auston Matthews is healthy and in the lineup. The captain spoke about how he&#8217;s been able to see Knies honing his craft up close.</p>
<p>&#8220;He works on it, and that&#8217;s a big part of it, but he&#8217;s such a big body so he&#8217;s hard to move in front of the net,&#8221; Matthews said, sporting a similar grin to Tavares. &#8220;He&#8217;s big, he&#8217;s strong, he&#8217;s long, and when pucks come his way he seems to get a touch on it. He got the big goal for us in the third there, and the opportunity for us to close out the game.&#8221;</p>
<p>Knies spoke about the game-winning goal, which was almost identical to his first goal against Boston on Saturday, save for the fact that it was Morgan Rielly shooting the puck instead of Matthews.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">STAY HOT MATTY 🔥 <a href="https://t.co/d9tFn4Iy6p">pic.twitter.com/d9tFn4Iy6p</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) <a href="https://twitter.com/MapleLeafs/status/1876826308434362439?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 8, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
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<p>&#8220;I kind of almost locked eyes with Mo,&#8221; Knies told reporters. &#8220;I saw that he was looking for a stick to tip it to. I just tried to free up my hands and fortunately it went in.&#8221;</p>
<p>Head coach Craig Berube <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/craig-berube-matthew-knies-slump-maple-leafs-capitals">talked a week and change</a> ago about needing to get Knies back to doing the little things right when he was stuck in his seven-game pointless drought. He acknowledged at the time that it wasn&#8217;t an effort-level issue, and with the forward now riding a level of confidence he hasn&#8217;t had since the beginning of the season, he&#8217;s been impressed with what he&#8217;s seen lately.</p>
<p>Very fearless, goes hard to the net, skates hard, he&#8217;s hard to handle,&#8221; Berube said following Tuesday night&#8217;s win. &#8220;That&#8217;s the way I look at it. He challenges d-men with his speed and his skill and he&#8217;s heavy. He gets in there and he&#8217;s hard to handle.&#8221;</p>
<p>The Maple Leafs will look to extend their season-best winning streak to six games when they visit the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night.</p>
<p><strong>Sponsored by bet365</strong></p>
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The Toronto Maple Leafs kept the good times rolling in Philadelphia on Tuesday night, stealing two points in a game they looked a step behind in to seal their fifth victory in a row.
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One of the Maple Leafs' best players throughout this stretch has been Matthew Knies, <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/we-told-you-too-early-panic-about-matthew-knies">who has scored</a> in each of his last two games following a five-point outburst against the Boston Bruins on Saturday night. The 22-year-old has 16 goals and 26 points on the year now and has continued to show his potential more and more each night. The young power forward has 86 hits in 40 games to go along with his uptick in offensive production, but laying bit hits isn't the only way he's been able to effectively use his body.

Two of Knies' five goals in his last three games have come in front of the net, in the form of a redirection. The Maple Leafs' core forwards and head coach spoke fondly to the media about Knies' ability to use his size to generate offence.

"He's a house," Tavares said with a grin. "He's a tough guy to move, so physically mature for his age. Just got real soft hands, I think he's really shown that with his ability to handle the puck in tight areas and certainly in and around the net. It's a nice combination for us."

Knies has played some of his best hockey when linemate and fellow Arizona native Auston Matthews is healthy and in the lineup. The captain spoke about how he's been able to see Knies honing his craft up close.

"He works on it, and that's a big part of it, but he's such a big body so he's hard to move in front of the net," Matthews said, sporting a similar grin to Tavares. "He's big, he's strong, he's long, and when pucks come his way he seems to get a touch on it. He got the big goal for us in the third there, and the opportunity for us to close out the game."

Knies spoke about the game-winning goal, which was almost identical to his first goal against Boston on Saturday, save for the fact that it was Morgan Rielly shooting the puck instead of Matthews.

https://twitter.com/MapleLeafs/status/1876826308434362439

"I kind of almost locked eyes with Mo," Knies told reporters. "I saw that he was looking for a stick to tip it to. I just tried to free up my hands and fortunately it went in."

Head coach Craig Berube <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/craig-berube-matthew-knies-slump-maple-leafs-capitals">talked a week and change</a> ago about needing to get Knies back to doing the little things right when he was stuck in his seven-game pointless drought. He acknowledged at the time that it wasn't an effort-level issue, and with the forward now riding a level of confidence he hasn't had since the beginning of the season, he's been impressed with what he's seen lately.

Very fearless, goes hard to the net, skates hard, he's hard to handle," Berube said following Tuesday night's win. "That's the way I look at it. He challenges d-men with his speed and his skill and he's heavy. He gets in there and he's hard to handle."

The Maple Leafs will look to extend their season-best winning streak to six games when they visit the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night.

<strong>Sponsored by bet365</strong>
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Tavares, Matthews, Berube rave about Matthew Knies’ net-front play: ‘He’s a house’

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