At this point, there seems little else Nick Robertson could do to stake his claim on an opening-night roster spot.
For the second straight game, the 23-year-old was the offensive engine for the Toronto Maple Leafs, tallying two goals in a fiery 2-1 pre-season win over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday.
The first of the pair came amid a tumultuous opening period, the game thrown into a frenzy by a collision between Toronto’s Cedric Pare and Montreal’s Patrik Laine that sent the former 40-goal scorer to the ice in pain, and eventually down the tunnel for the night. The controversial sequence prompted a response from Canadiens bruiser Arber Xhekaj, who was handed 27 penalty minutes for taking Pare to task over the hit.
Granted a lengthy power play as a result, the Maple Leafs found themselves in the Canadiens’ zone, the puck floating to young Easton Cowan near the right circle. The teenager whipped a savvy pass across the zone to a wide-open Robertson, who made no mistake in wiring home the opening goal of the night.
With much heaped on his shoulders amid a summer of expectation, the setup gave Cowan his first point of a pressure-filled pre-season.
Robertson struck again early in the third, Matthew Knies and Pontus Holmberg fighting off buzzing opponents in their own zone and sending No. 89 in on the Canadiens’ goal with space to operate. The Pasadena, Calif., product walked in, stared down Cayden Primeau, and whipped one along the ice to beat the netminder five-hole — a method his mates have seen before.
“I think everyone knows it’s coming, but he still finds a way to beat them,” teammate Matthew Knies said of Roberton’s low five-hole snipe, speaking to the media after the final buzzer had sounded. “It’s unique, it’s really fun to watch. It was fun playing with him today, and I hope I can see those goals more.”
The tally gives Robertson three goals through two games, and two straight game-winners. But it’s the rest of what the young winger is bringing to the table that’s registering most with the Maple Leafs coaching staff.
“It’s not even the goals, it’s his effort, the way he played,” head coach Craig Berube said of No. 89 after Saturday’s victory. “I thought his work ethic was excellent, competitiveness, made good decisions with the puck — and he got a couple goals for us.”
It was surely a welcome result for Robertson after a rollercoaster performance Thursday which saw him tally once, but also unintentionally knock teammate William Nylander out of the game.
Rewind further though, and Robertson’s run of form seems a continuation of what the former OHL standout showed last season. Getting his first extended opportunity in the big leagues in 2023-24, the fringe winger put up 14 goals and 27 points through 56 games in a Maple Leafs sweater — a 20-goal, 40-point pace over a full 82-game campaign — but wound up the odd man out, largely because a demotion to the AHL didn’t require him clearing waivers.
With the rest of the league set to get a chance to claim the young sniper should Toronto try to send him down this time around, Robertson’s made one thing clear — he’ll get a chance to put his shot to work at the NHL level this season, whether it be in a Maple Leafs sweater or another one.
Hildeby turns in steady, near-perfect outing in the cage
There is little chance Dennis Hildeby will be able to unseat anyone above him on the depth chart before Oct. 9, with Joseph Woll, Anthony Stolarz and Matt Murray all in the mix. Still, outings like Saturday night’s will be a welcome sight for a Maple Leafs front office that’s seen its goaltending corps forced to navigate a bevy of injuries over the past few years.
For what it’s worth, Hildeby threw his hat into the ring as a worthy fallback option, turning in a 26-save outing against the Canadiens that was headed towards shutout territory before Kirby Dach beat the 23-year-old with a late tally in the game’s final minutes.
Backstopping the more inexperienced of the two sides taking the ice Saturday, the Jarfalla, Sweden, product provided all that was asked of him when necessary, coming up with key stops on big-league mainstays Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki more than a few times throughout the tilt.
“He’s a great goalie. He competes hard,” Robertson said of Hildeby after the game. “It was not an easy night for him — lots of shots, lots of tough pucks, and he did a great job tonight.”
“The size, the composure — he takes up so much net,” added Knies. “It’s impossible for those guys to get a good shot on net, even if it’s a seam pass. He’s just so composed — in a barn like this, where it’s filled on a Saturday night, he kind of stole the show and he won us a game.”
Berube, Pare comment on collision that sidelined Laine
For the Canadiens, top of mind coming out of the pre-season loss will certainly be the status of Laine. After a much-anticipated debut for Montreal earlier in this pre-season, the winger was reportedly seen leaving the Bell Centre on crutches Saturday, wearing a knee brace.
Pare offered his view on the collision post-game.
“I mean, it’s a fast game. It wasn’t my intention,” he said of the play. “It’s just unfortunate. I hope he’s fine. It wasn’t my intention.”
Asked what he saw on the play, Berube backed his cetreman, before praising him for playing well amid the fallout of the sequence.
“It’s just a tough play. Just trying to beat a guy, they ended up colliding — that’s all I saw,” the coach said. “I never really looked at it any closer than that.”
The Maple Leafs have two games remaining on their pre-season slate before opening night arrives. The club travels to Detroit for the first installment of a home-and-home with the Red Wings, beginning on Oct. 3
