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In what has to be one of the most unbelievable statistics, the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 victory over the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday was the first regulation win for the Blue and White over the Desert Dogs since October 17, 2002, which just happens to be the birthday of Arizona native and Leafs winger Matthew Knies, who scored the first goal of the game.
Auston Matthews added his league-leading 53rd goal of the season, Tyler Bertuzzi remained red-hot with his fifth goal in three games, and William Nylander scored an empty-netter to squelch a late Coyotes rally to give goalie Joseph Woll his first win in nearly three months.
Woll was sharp in his first start after returning from a high-ankle sprain, making 29 saves in the contest and holding off Arizona in the third when they outshot Toronto 13-4.
“(Woll) was outstanding. He was the difference in the game tonight. Obviously, we didn’t play great today. Joe was excellent.” Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said. “I thought he looked really strong and athletic. All of the things we know him to be, he was that tonight, which is great to see.”
The Leafs blueline took another hit in the contest, as defenseman Mark Giordano went heavily into the boards in the first period and did not return. Keefe indicated that he suffered a head injury and on Friday GM Brad Treliving confirmed that Giordano suffered a concussion and will be “out some time.”
Treliving indicated that the veteran defenseman was in “rough shape last night”, but was “doing better after the game” and was “doing well today”. Giordano will be placed on injured reserve and is out indefinitely. Perhaps spurred by the injury, the Leafs pulled off a deal after the game on Thursday, re-acquiring defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin.
Toronto dealt their 2025 third-round pick to Anaheim to get the Ducks to retain 50% of Lyubushkin’s $2.75 million salary and a 2024 sixth-round pick to get Carolina to retain another 25%. The Leafs also got the signing rights to 24-year-old KHL forward Kirill Slepets in the deal.
With the Leafs only adding a cap hit of $687,500 in the acquisition of Lyubushkin, they still could be active before the March 8th trade deadline. Treliving indicated on Friday at the Ford Performance Centre that the club may still be open to dealing their 2024 first-round pick in the right situation.
“I think you gotta be careful with first-round picks for short-term help.” Treliving said. “But if it makes sense at the end of the day when you do the final analysis…you have to look at every option.”
Calgary’s Noah Hanifin might be the only rental who the Leafs would be willing to trade a first for, while Arizona’s Matt Dumba would cost considerably less. Dealing a #1 only makes sense if it is a player with term left on his contract, and there are a number of options out there, but dealing that pick would leave the Leafs without any draft capital for two seasons.
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