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The Toronto Maple Leafs bounced back from a lacklustre effort in Philadelphia on Tuesday with a much more complete effort in a 7-3 victory over the Washington Capitals on Wednesday, spearheaded by the Leafs makeshift top line of Auston Matthews, Max Domi, and Tyler Bertuzzi. Matthews tied a career-high with five points and increased his lead for the Rocket Richard Trophy with goals 56 and 57.
Domi posted his best total as a Leaf with four assists, and Bertuzzi maintained his hot streak with his eighth goal in 12 games. Jake McCabe, Bobby McMann, John Tavares and William Nylander added singles for Toronto, and Joseph Woll made 18 saves in the victory.
“I really liked it. It was a bit of a flip of the script in terms of our starts in the first and second periods. It was good to see.” Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said after the game. “Probably even better than that, each time Washington got one and looked like they were getting life, we stayed on the attack and built our lead from there. I liked the response overall in the game, but I also liked the response within the game as it was going on.”
The interesting adjustment made after the loss to the Flyers was a realignment of the defensive pairs and the healthy scratching of TJ Brodie, with Morgan Rielly partnering with Jake McCabe, and Conor Timmins making his first start in nearly two months on the bottom pairing with Simon Benoit.
“I thought the (new pairings) were good. I thought Timmins did a good job of getting the puck to the net tonight. The strengths of his game really showed up in the game.” Keefe said. “I thought McCabe and Rielly did a good job. It was good to see, especially on a back-to-back, us build the lead and be able to share the minutes and rest some guys down the stretch.”
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Throughout the season, we will check in on the Toronto Maple Leafs prospects to see how they are progressing. The 2021 Draft saw Toronto with only three picks, but it appears the club hit one out of the park with second-rounder Matthew Knies.
Here is how the other players selected in the 2021 Draft are doing:
Ty Voit – LW – Toronto (AHL?)
The Leafs may have found a bargain in the fifth round with Pittsburgh, PA native, who registered over 100 points in his third and final OHL season with Sarnia. Unfortunately, Voit’s first professional training camp ended before it began, as he was injured in the first game of the Traverse City Prospect Tournament.
The 20-year-old had eight points in five games with the Newfoundland Growlers and played one game for the Toronto Marlies, but in his AHL debut, he re-injured his shoulder and underwent season-ending surgery. The Leafs said that the youngster will be back for training camp in September.
Vyacheslav Peksa – G – Newfoundland (ECHL)
Peksa was drafted in the sixth round in 2021 from the same Russian club that 2020 fourth-round pick Artur Akhtyamov was selected. Akhtyamov was loaned to another VHL club while Peksa stayed within the Ak-Bars Kazan system.
This season Akhtyamov is splitting time between the KHL and second-level VHL, and the Leafs and Peksa may have seen his opportunity blocked by him being one year younger. Toronto signed the 20-year-old goalie to an ELC in May, and he has started his North American career in Newfoundland, where he is starting to get more playing time.
Peksa is 5-9-2, with a 3.66 GAA and a .892 save percentage.
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