TAKEAWAYS: Maple Leafs overpower lowly Sharks in one-sided victory

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You might want to check the Maple Leafs’ struggles against inferior National Hockey League teams at the door.

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That the Leafs have had trouble with the NHL’s lesser clubs is no secret, of course.

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There was nothing similar with the bad — really bad — San Jose Sharks in consecutive games. 

Three nights after owning the Sharks in a 4-1 win in San Jose, the Leafs crushed them at Scotiabank Arena on Tuesday, cruising to a 7-1 victory. 

Toronto has won four in a row, and in winning both ends of the home and home extended the Sharks’ losing streak to 12 games. All 12 losses for the NHL-worst Sharks have come in regulation.

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The game on Tuesday amounted to a glorified practice for the Leafs. The visitors were never in it, scoring their only goal after Toronto built a 4-0 lead. The Leafs scored seven goals in a game for the fourth time in 2023-24.

The turnaround in the Leafs’ defensive play has been obvious. In the past five games, they have allowed one goal at five-on-five.

What has coach Sheldon Keefe learned about his group?

“Just what we’ve always known what we’re capable of,” Keefe said. “Over 82 games, you snap into one of these stretches where things go well and you’re feeling good and you’re in a groove.

“We’ve spent way less time in our zone. We’ve moved (the puck) out way more efficiently. We’ve defended hard. We haven’t made the big mistake. At times (before), we would get up in games and then we would allow teams to score at an inopportune time or we put ourselves in a bad spot. We haven’t been perfect, but we certainly haven’t given (opponents) anything for free in this stretch.

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“Everybody has done their job. All the way throughout the team, we’re getting good efforts.”

Our takeaways:

STARS ALIGN

A trio of Leafs in the running for the all-star festivities Feb. 1-3 in Toronto helped lead to the team’s 10th home win.

William Nylander was leading all skaters in fan voting on Tuesday and had three assists the day after he signed an eight-year, $92 million US contract that starts in 2024-25. As he has against any and all opponents this season, Nylander was a factor in driving the play against the Sharks. We have to remind ourselves sometimes that Nylander really doesn’t have the puck on a string. It just appears that way so often.

Nylander got a louder ovation than usual when he was announced as one of the game’s starters.

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“It was special,” Nylander said. “First game since signing the contract, so it was nice.”

Mitch Marner (fifth in fan voting as of Tuesday) and Morgan Rielly (11th in fan voting) scored the kind of goals that help set them apart. 

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Marner’s goal at 54 seconds of the second came off a deflection that had some art to it. A shot by Jake McCabe would have gone wide if not for Marner, who got his stick on the shot, enough to enable the puck to squeeze past Sharks goalie Kaapo Kahkonen. 

Rielly’s offensive instincts kicked in when he found open ice in the first, was fed by Nylander and went high on a screened Kahkonen.

Auston Matthews, already in the all-star game as chosen by the NHL, scored his 31st goal in 37 games.

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Marner had two goals and two assists for his third four-point game of the season. He has 598 career points, moving him past Frank Mahovlich into seventh place on Toronto’s franchise list.

“Everyone knows I grew up wearing these jerseys as a fan and to have your name with some of the greats, it’s a cool moment to enjoy and sit back and really take it in,” Marner said. “I wouldn’t be up there without a lot of these guys in this locker room.”

DEPTH RISES

Pontus Holmberg, of all people, scored one of the Leafs’ prettiest goals of the season. 

We mean that with no disrespect toward the bottom-six forward. 

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Holmberg, who had no goals in his first 11 games with the Leafs after he scored five in 37 with the club in 2022-23, blew past Sharks defenceman Kyle Burroughs and with one hand on his stick, flipped the puck past Kahkonen at 2:06 of the second. It brought to mind the kind of goal that Sidney Crosby scores every so often for the Pittsburgh Penguins. It’s difficult, and takes a combination of strength and skill.

“You just see his strength on the play there and it’s a hell of a goal,” Marner said. “He’s a hell of a player. He’s always above the puck. He seems annoying to play against, which you love to have on your team.”

The goal chased Kahkonen, who allowed four goals on 20 Leafs shots. In came Mackenzie Blackwood in relief.

Speaking of depth, Nick Robertson was in the lineup after he was scratched for the past two games and used his lethal shot to score a power-play goal in the third period. Robertson replaced Noah Gregor, who missed the game because of illness.

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We’ll be curious to see if Robertson stays in once Gregor returns.

“Nick looked confident, made plays, scored the goal,” Keefe said. “He was attacking space. It’s a good game for those (depth) guys to find some puck time.”

On the blue line, McCabe, who had one goal in his previous 31 games, scored and had two assists. It marked the second time in his NHL career and first since December 2017 that he had three points in a game. Simon Benoit briefly left in the third period to get repairs after he was high-sticked by Scott Sabourin. Earlier, Benoit picked up his first assist of the season.

JONES, AGAIN

While the game might have seemed like the right one to give Dennis Hildeby his first NHL start, the Leafs stuck with veteran Martin Jones.

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As Joseph Woll recovers from a sprained ankle and Ilya Samsonov works with Toronto Marlies goalie coach Hannu Toivonen and the Leafs’ development staff, Jones has started the past five games and nine of the past 11. Rarely has he faltered.

Jones made 22 saves on Tuesday.

“Everything seems to be coming straight on in front of me,” Jones said. “It has been a huge help.

“A couple of these games have not been overly taxing. We have controlled a lot of the play. It is nice to get into a bit of a rhythm. Any goalie will tell you when you can string a few together and start feeling good, that usually helps.”

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Fact is, the Leafs have been playing with more confidence since Samsonov was sent to the Marlies. Jones has stepped up.

“When we do make mistakes, we’ve been getting saves, and that just settles the team,” Keefe said. “That’s why it has been so important for us to keep Jones going because he’s a part of this. It’s not just the team in front of him.”

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