Woll, Knies, Nylander leave a mark on Maple Leafs' Game 1 win
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A quick start, the loss of their No. 1 goaltender and some nervous moments in the third period.
The Maple Leafs ran the gamut on Monday night in Game 1 against the Florida Panthers, but persevered through all of it and beat the defending Stanley Cup champions 5-4 at Scotiabank Arena.
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Woll, Knies, Nylander leave a mark on Maple Leafs' Game 1 win Back to video
It’s on to the next one, as the players like to say, but let’s take a look at the victory that gave the Leafs an early lead in the best-of-seven series before we move on to Game 2 on Wednesday night.
Our takeaways from the Toronto win:
WOLL STEPS UP
One significant talking point regarding the Leafs in 2024-25 has been the emergence of both Anthony Stolarz and Joseph Woll as sharp, reliable netminders.
There has been the feeling that at some point in the playoffs the Leafs were going to have to use both.
We reached that point on Monday night, and while the health of Stolarz has to be determined after Panthers forward Sam Bennett knocked him out of the game with an elbow, we won’t be surprised if Woll starts Game 2.
Woll’s 17 saves in relief of Stolarz in Game 1 helped result in the win. We’re not going to get caught up in the fact the Panthers scored three goals in the third period to make the outcome a little dicey for the Leafs.
In going in cold like he did midway through the second period, and not having played since the regular-season finale on April 17 against the Detroit Red Wings, Woll came out of it looking all right.
“You go from just kind of chilling to being in the front-line of action,” Woll said. “I’ve been trying to do my best to stay prepared and be ready for moments like that, because you never know what happens, and I just tried to get the feel back.”
Saves on Sam Reinhart and Carter Verhaeghe aided in Woll getting back into familiar territory.
After Eetu Luostarinen and Uvis Balinskis scored less than three minutes apart early in the third period to cut the Leafs lead to 4-3.
Woll didn’t get shaken, though, and the only shot that beat him afterward came from Bennett and off the stick of Leafs defenceman Brandon Carlo.
“It’s no shock to the guys in the locker room, how we can step in and bring us a win,” Leafs winger Matthew Knies said. “He has stepped up every time we’ve asked him to, and he has done a great job.”
Said Leafs coach Craig Berube: “It’s a tough situation, for sure, especially in a playoff game with this magnitude. He handled it well, I thought. Listen, we got the win.”
That’s what mattered in the end.
HAND IT TO KNIES
Overlooked in the discussion before the series about how the Leafs were going to handle Panthers such as Bennett, Matthew Tkachuk and Brad Marchand: What are the Panthers going to do about Knies?
The 22-year-old’s power rose to the top in Game 1, whether it was steaming down the ice to score the winning goal on a breakaway with six minutes left in the third period or crushing defenceman Seth Jones with a big hit in the second period.
“I mentioned it this morning to somebody — somebody asked me, ‘What are you most impressed by with Knies?’” Berube said. “I said, ‘His hands.’ He has great hands in tight.
“And I didn’t know this coming in here. You see the power and the skating and the physicality, but the hands are really good and tight, and that was a great example of it with the goal he scored.”
Knies went to his backhand to roof the puck over the catching glove of Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky. At the time, it served as insurance, but moved into winning territory after Bennett scored.
“I just saw that I could spring myself past their D and (Mitch Marner) made a great play on the wall to get it to me,” Knies said. “I just wanted to beat him high on the glove side. We did a lot of video. I got him earlier in the regular season. I just wanted to elevate that one and it worked out for me.”
Knies threw some credit at linemates Marner and Auston Matthews for providing him with belief in himself.
“To start off with, I think playing with the guys I do brings me a lot of confidence,” Knies said. “I got to play with those guys the whole regular season, almost. It just makes it easier. I learned a lot.
“Their leadership and their playmaking, it’s contagious. A lot of credit goes to those two. The puck finding the back of the net is giving me a lot of confidence right now. I want to keep going with that and keep playing my simple game. That’s definitely what’s helped me.”
Chris Tanev had an apt description of Knies, calling him “a pit bull with some nice hands.”
Morgan Rielly elaborated.
“He’s been incredible,” Rielly said of Knies. “Those goals, when he’s at high speed like that coming down, are extremely impressive. That’s not easy, and those are big moments, and he just seems to thrive. Hopefully we can keep him going. He’s a big part of that line.”
Knies scored three goals in the first round against Ottawa and also had an assist, his first of the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs, on Monday night.
The 6-foot-3, 227-pound Knies poses a problem for the Panthers. To any degree they can limit his speed, creativity and physicality in the series will be a challenge.
NYLANDER SETS TONE
It was record-tying night from William Nylander, who is tied for the lead in playoff scoring with Mikko Rantanen of the Dallas Stars and Kyle Connor of the Winnipeg Jets.
Each of the three has 12 points.
Nylander recorded three points in striking fashion against the Panthers, setting the table for the Leafs in scoring the first two goals of the game, including one at the 33-second mark.
Nylander also had an assist on Rielly’s goal to become the second player in Leafs history — and first since Rielly in Game 2 of the first round against Tampa Bay in 2023 — to record three points in the first period of a playoff game.
Nylander also tied the Leafs mark for most points in one playoff period.
This after Nylander scored two goals and had an assist in Game 6 last Thursday in Ottawa as the Leafs ousted the Senators.
“Outstanding,” Rielly said. “He came out and was feeling it.”
We go back to what Berube said about Nylander after practice on Monday.
“Nothing bothers him,” Berube said. “He just goes out and plays. It may not be on that shift for him, or the next shift, or even the one after that, but at some point, I think he understands that he’s going to get an opportunity. And when he does, he makes teams pay.”
On a night when Matthews didn’t have a point and Marner registered just one assist on his 28th birthday, Nylander’s production was vital.
X: @koshtorontosun
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