TORONTO — When adversity hit hardest this season for the Toronto Maple Leafs, any sense of panic or concern remained outside team walls.
Last week’s uninspiring malaise culminated in three consecutive regulation losses and twice getting booed off their own sheet.
Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner, the franchise’s first two Selke finalists in forever, had been dashed up to the tune of minus-seven in back-to-back losses to Carolina and Vancouver.
William Nylander’s game had eroded from a Rocket Trophy threat to an unbuttoned Hawaiian shirt-and-cornrows threat.
And, oh, boy, now John Tavares — the poster boy for consistency — was going to be sidelined for weeks after a fluke injury at practice.
Amid that stumble, though, the Leafs preached patience and never looked nearly as bothered by their performance as the underlying numbers or irritated fan base suggested they should be.
Matthews said a little adversity could make them stronger in the long run. Marner insisted they were playing fine, they just needed to ignore the poor reviews. And Nylander shrugged it off best: “It’s only three games, so what’s the big deal?”
That stance only works when you back it up with action.
Which is precisely what Toronto’s $35.5-million trinity has done since, reeling off three straight wins over three playoff-hungry opponents.
“Well, they’ve stepped up, for sure, and done the job. And we need them to,” coach Craig Berube said, following Monday’s 5-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning.
“They gotta lead the way every night. They’re the leaders, the top players, and they gotta lead the way. And I think we’re getting there right now.”
In Tavares’s absence, Matthews, Marner and Nylander have combined for nine goals and eight assists en route to flipping a three-game scuffle into a three-game told-you-so.
Toronto’s reunited top line has been a nightly force again, thanks in part to Matthew Knies’ reckless checking and net-front presence.
The five-forward power-play has started clicking, much to the delight of Marc Savard.
And despite losing centreman Tavares, a reengaged Nylander is backing up his prophecy, making that early-January mini slump taste like a nothingburger.
“Breakaway Man!” Berube says fondly when Nylander’s name pops up.
Indeed, the smooth-skating Swede is getting clean looks galore these days, and Berube is rewarding him with double-shift spot duty on the bottom six.
“He’s really good at, like, cheating for offence,” Matthews smiles. “I mean that in the best way possible. He reads the plays, and he’s obviously very fast, IQ. But the way he just reads the play and is able to get behind D, yeah, nobody does it better than him.”
Nylander’s breakaways have given Sheldon Keefe, Martin St. Louis, and Jon Cooper fits over the past five nights.
“Speed,” Knies said. “He’s one of the quickest guys I’ve seen. I think he had, like, three today. If he keeps burying them, it’s good for us.”
“His ability with this stick and his feet are high end,” Berube adds. “Some of the things that I see him do are pretty incredible.”
Marner’s continued regular-season production may be taken for granted at this point; he’s back on pace for a career-best 114-point campaign and will be compensated for it.
Matthews’ production is not. That’s because everyone inside and outside of Leafs HQ has wondered whether his nagging upper-body injury would, well, quit nagging.
Judging by his dead-aim snipe over Jacob Markstrom’s shoulder or his five-hole blast right through Jonas Johansson, the man hasn’t looked this confident or healthy since April.
Matthews says the improvement of his health has been “steady” since he returned to action Jan. 4.
In the captain’s nine games since his second injury break, he has ripped eight goals and added six assists. Only twice has a careful Berube edged his minutes past the 21-minute mark, and never to 22.
“I’ve been feeling good,” Matthews assures. “When you have time off and then you come back, you just want to find your rhythm. And we’re playing every other day, so it’s a good opportunity to kind of get back in that game shape and get used to the wear and tear of the season.
“(My health) has been pretty good since I’ve been back and feeling better and better every night. So, just want to keep that going.”
If Matthews remains healthy, he’ll finish the season with 67 games played. (An omen?)
Knies considered how swiftly the Maple Leafs have turned those three losses upside down.
“It shows the depth in our room. I think it shows the resilience. Young guy like (Fraser) Minten showing up and playing a great game for us, little things like that,” he said. “We just all trust each other in here. I think we have good chemistry. And I think it’s just really brought us together.”
Winning does that. Leadership from your best players does that.
So, what should we make of back-to-back-to-back big wins, Mr. Nylander?
“It doesn’t matter,” he shrugged. “Three games.”
Fox’s Fast Five
• In the Core Four era, the Lightning have never looked so much like a favourable matchup for Toronto as they do now.
The Leafs improved to 3-0 against Tampa Bay in 2024-25, outscoring their rivals 15-8 heads-up in a trio of regulation wins.
“It’s one of those games that says where are we at,” Tampa coach Jon Cooper said pre-game.
“We go down 0-3 to Toronto, to me, that is not where we want to be.… I’d be really disappointed if we don’t come out strong here.”
• Matthews is feeling so much better, the man nearly scored on a third-period Michigan — his first trick-shot attempt in years.
“I didn’t see any other option,” Matthews reasoned. “The puck was rolling. It was the beginning of the period, so the tape was fresh. I almost had it. I kinda quit attempting those a couple years ago, but I just thought that was a reasonable attempt and had a pretty good opportunity.”
The Scotiabank Arena crowd gasped, then roared its approval for Matthews’ effort, which was stymied expertly by the post-hugging, six-foot-five Johansson.
Joseph Woll was impressed because goalies have no time to react to the puck in that situation. Johansson played it perfectly.
“Ideally, you just try to get as big as you can. And Johansson’s a big guy, so he did,” Woll said. “Good save. That’s a tough save.”
• Cooper’s in-game tweak of his top six — flipping Nikita Kucherov off Brayden Point and Jake Guentzel’s top line in favour of Nick Paul — did improve matters.
Noted Leafs killer Paul scored twice and led all Bolts forwards with five shots.
• Pontus Holmberg got tripped up on a rush and crashed hard shoulder-first into the end-boards. He did not finish the game.
Knies scored the winner on the ensuing power-play, so Holmberg’s pain paid off.
“He’ll be fine,” Berube assured. “Shouldn’t be an issue at all.”
• When the Lightning were in Pittsburgh last Sunday, Sidney Crosby made a point to meet up with Team Canada forward mates Brayden Point, Brandon Hagel, and Anthony Cirelli.
Chatter amongst NHL stars surrounding the 4 Nations Face-Off is heating up.
“I think they’re gonna be invested a lot. You see guys talk about it all the time,” Victor Hedman notes. “Guys are excited about it, and it’s been a long time.”
