The Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Seattle Kraken 5-1 in the opening game of Toronto’s road trip! A battle between two of the league’s fastest teams was full of impact plays, but the Maple Leafs’ depth prevailed, earning the team the full two points. The return of Mark Giordano was a success, the 39-year-old defenseman scored a goal, and Auston Matthews had two of his own in an electrifying effort. On Wednesday night, the Maple Leafs will now look ahead to a battle with Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers.
It was a pretty quick start to open this one, as some of the fastest teams in the league went head-to-head. Seattle struck first after a failed breakout by the Maple Leafs, which led to Vince Dunn scoring his 11th goal of the season. A backhand pass was sent up the middle by Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly, which set up the opportunity for Vince Dunn to capitalize on.
After the Seattle Kraken took an early lead, the Maple Leafs got one right back. A beautiful play in front by Ryan O’Reilly led to Mark Giordano scoring his 4th goal of the season. O’Reilly screened Kraken goaltender Philipp Grubauer, which Giordano took advantage of and placed one between the legs of the Kraken netminder.
A beautiful slap-pass by Justin Holl in front to John Tavares was converted, giving the Maple Leafs the lead in the opening period. After Mark Giordano tied things up against his former team. The blue and white added another; this time, the captain John Tavares scored his 27th goal of the season.
After the blue and white took the lead, they didn’t stop there. This time it was Maple Leafs defenseman Timothy Liljegren who continued his impressive season. The 23-year-old added his 5th goal of the season thanks to a beautiful pass from Mitch Marner. The Leafs took a 3-1 lead with 7:09 remaining in the first, really controlling the opening frame. After giving up an early goal to Vince Dunn, the Leafs shut it down and added three of their own heading into the intermission.
The Maple Leafs went up 4-1 early in the second period. 4:13 into the middle frame, Maple Leaf star Auston Matthews scored his 27th goal of the season. The Leafs star batted in a loose puck from the side of the goal, making it one of my favorite goals I’ve seen in a while. With Major League Baseball spring training starting this weekend, it was definitely cool to see Auston Matthews score a baseball-like swing!
After the Leafs took a 4-1 lead, Kraken Head Coach Dave Hakstol pulled goaltender Philipp Grubauer. Once the Seattle starter was pulled in favor of Martin Jones, the Kraken started to play much better hockey, nearly getting one back. Maple Leafs goaltender Ilya Samsonov did well keeping out the danger despite the Seattle surge. The Kraken outshot the Maple Leafs 15-4 in the middle frame but just couldn’t get one back heading into the intermission.
Once the third period was underway, the Toronto Maple Leafs looked much better. The blue and white took a commanding 5-1 lead in the third period. For the second time tonight, Auston Matthews added the Leafs’ fifth goal. A beautiful rush up the ice driven by the Leafs’ top line resulted in Matthews getting his 28th goal of the season.
After the Leafs’ fifth goal, the Kraken tried getting back into the game but just couldn’t break down the Maple Leafs. This was an extremely impressive third period for Toronto, limiting the Kraken to only five shots on goal. After the surge in the second period, being able to bounce back and defend this well is significant moving forward. The Toronto Maple Leafs closed this one out with a beautiful 5-1 victory on the road, kicking off the road trip with a bang.
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