William Nylander of Maple Leafs Brings in 5-2 Win vs. Lightning – Hockey Writers – NHL News

On October 21, the Toronto Maple Leafs (4-2-0) had their way with the Tampa Bay Lightning (3-2-0), handing the Bolts a 5-2 loss at Scotiabank Arena. This win moved the Maple Leafs up to second place in the Atlantic Division.

Toronto opened the scoring, courtesy of a William Nylander-side glove shot off a feed from Max Domi. That was Nylander’s fourth goal in as many games and Domi’s sixth assist in his last five contests—both hot.

Later in the opening frame, Victor Hedman picked off Nicholas Paul on an early layup, but the rebound bounced off Maple Leafs defenseman Simon Benoit and into the net. Unfortunately, the score was tied at 1-1.

After the crash, the Leafs ran away with the game. Auston Matthews scored to give his team the lead 1:56 into the second period, with assists coming from Mitch Marner and Nylander. Now on a three game scoring streak, Matthews is sneaking up on the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy. He has won this award three times in the last four seasons.

Nylander struck again following a steal and one-hander by Bobby McMann. Those two, along with Domi, have created great chemistry this season.

Related: Nylander-Domi-McMann: The Maple Leafs’ Most Successful Lineup

Max Pacioretty joined in on the fun with the team’s second-half goal with 10 minutes to go. That was the straw that broke the camel’s back, when Lightning goalkeeper Andrei Vasilevskiy was pulled.

The Maple Leafs’ final tally of the second season came from Matthew Knies. Marner picked up his second major assist of the game.

We call that the Knees finish pic.twitter.com/L6tWJTWRpY

— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) October 22, 2024

Tampa Bay retaliated late, making the score a more respectable 5-2. Brayden Point got the power play marker with assists from Nikita Kucherov and Hedman.

Overall, Anthony Stolarz turned away 32 of the 34 shots he faced in the Toronto zone. With the Lightning, Vasilevskiy could only save 10 of the 14 shots that came his way. Backup Jonas Johansson was able to limit the bleeding with 14 saves on 15 shots.

Next, the Lightning will stay on the road to face the New Jersey Devils on Oct. 22. That’s the team lead in the NHL in points (11), so it will be a big test for Tampa Bay in a row. Toronto won’t have much of a break, either, as they’re back in action with a visit to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Oct. 22, again.