Auston Matthews scored his first goal of the campaign with a blistering shot, Anthony Stolars made 32 saves, and the Toronto Maple Leafs dominated the Los Angeles Kings 6-2 on Wednesday.
The new Leafs captain was waiting for it, this first goal of the 2024-2025 season.
The scorer of 69 goals last year finally opened his counter during the first period of the fourth game of the Leafs campaign (3-1-0).
Matthews accepted the delivery from faithful sidekick Mitch Marner before thwarting David Rittich with a sweeping shot which hit the inside of the goal, into the top corner.
The 27-year-old American had three points in the victory, as did Marner. William Nylander, Max Domi and Bobby McMann each had two. The latter scored a double in the space of ten minutes of play, in the first twenty.
After four games under Craig Berube, the Leafs have only conceded six goals. At the same point in the calendar last year, they had already failed 16 times.
The Kings (1-1-2) have seen their defensive efficiency take a hit for two games; in Ottawa on Monday, they lost 8-7 in overtime, before this humiliating setback in the Queen City.
Putting their foot on the brake somewhat, the Torontonians allowed two goals in the first half of the third period, the first of the season from Alex Turcotte, as well as the third from Kevin Fiala.
After this short hesitation, John Tavares drove in the final nail by scoring against reserve goalie Pheonix Copley during a late power play.
Jim Hiller’s squad will not have time to feel sorry for themselves: they will be at the Bell Center on Thursday to face the Montreal Canadiens (7 p.m., RDS).
Copley, who replaced Rittich shortly after mid-match, should be the official goalkeeper against CH, since the team’s starter Darcy Kuemper is hampered by an injury.
