The Toronto Maple Leafs are finally back on our televisions and our lives after what felt like a lengthy summer without any hockey. Despite the regular season beginning on October 4th in Europe for the Global Series, the Maple Leafs didn’t open their season until October 9th against the Montreal Canadiens following their eight-game preseason schedule.

With three games in four days to open their season, the Maple Leafs began the Craig Berube era with a 2-1-0 record, including back-to-back 4-2 wins against their former head coach, Sheldon Keefe, and the New Jersey Devils and former general manager Kyle Dubas and the Pittsburgh Penguins.

For the rest of the season, we’ll name the the three Maple Leafs’ stars of the week. Here is our initial edition:

3 games played, one goal, one assist

It has only been three games, and there hasn’t been a barrage of goals from the team, but the third star of the week goes to a newcomer who initially signed here on a PTO (Professional Tryout Option) and has quickly blossomed in his role on the fourth line.

Steven Lorentz, 28, who grew up a mega Maple Leafs fan, earned a chance to play for the team he grew up idolizing. Although a season-opening 1-0 loss to the Canadiens was less than ideal, the Leafs bounced back in game two against the New Jersey Devils and Lorentz was an essential contributor to the victory.

Despite being shutout against the Canadiens, 1-0, the Lorentz-Kampf-Reaves line looked impressive in the loss and were finally rewarded in game two with a couple of goals (McMann replaced Reaves in the second half of the back-to-back).

Lorentz roofed his first goal of the season on the backhand over Jacob Markstrom’s shoulder and later added an assist on Bobby McMann’s first-period goal against the Devils, giving him his first multi-point game as a member of the Maple Leafs. They wrapped up the week against the Penguins, and although the fourth line — with Ryan Reaves back in the mix — had their moments, they didn’t find the scoresheet.

3 games played, three assists

The second star of the week belongs to Max Domi, who currently leads the team in scoring with three points — all assists. Domi re-signed with the Maple Leafs before free agency after a productive season in 2023-24, and he’s going to be an integral part of this lineup as someone who can play up and down the lineup, both on the wing and down the middle.

Domi opened the season on the wing alongside John Tavares and William Nylander, but that trio did not impress in the opener. However, they showed glimpses of what they could do against the Devils when Domi pulled off a nifty pass to find Tavares, who ripped his first goal of the season over Markstrom.

John Tavares was out of the lineup due to an illness on Saturday, so Domi was in the middle between Max Pacioretty and Nick Robertson  against the Pittsburgh Penguins but that didn’t last very long. Berube decided to reunite Domi with William Nylander in the second period, and the rest was history, as he recorded two primary assists in their comeback win..

2 games played, 1-1-0, .940 save percentage, 1.54 GAA

Anthony Stolarz was one of the most important free-agent adds for the Maple Leafs, and he has quickly won over the fan base through two games. He was projected to start the second game of the season against the Devils, but after Joseph Woll was unexpectedly placed on injured reserve, Stolarz started opening night against the Canadiens.

It was an unfortunate evening for Stolarz and the Maple Leafs, as the team recorded 48 shots in the 1-0 loss. Stolarz stopped 26 of 27 shots against the Canadiens and wasn’t at fault for the result, but he bounced back with a the win in Toronto’s home opener against Pittsburgh.

Despite an early power-play goal from Kris Letang, Stolarz and the Maple Leafs answered Pittsburgh’s punch in the opening 20 minutes with two quick goals in the middle frame. He wasn’t overly busy throughout the night but Stolarz made timely saves that preserved Toronto’s lead.

An early third-period goal from Mitch Marner gave the home side a little more breathing room, and they held on to the win, defeating the Penguins 4-2 in their home opener. Stolarz finished the game turning aside 21 of 23 shots and he’s currently in line to operate as the team’s true No. 1 goalie until Woll returns from injury.