Matthews scores twice in third period as Maple Leafs beat Predators

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That was a little more palatable for Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube.

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The Leafs on Tuesday cut short a two-loss mini skid, beating the Nashville Predators 7-4 at Scotiabank Arena.

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Captain Auston Matthews put the finishing touches on the victory with two goals in the third period, including one into an empty net. On Matthews’ first goal, rookie Easton Cowan started the play in the neutral zone and recorded his first point in the National Hockey League with an assist.

In his first start with Toronto after he was claimed off waivers from the Carolina Hurricanes last week, goaltender Cayden Primeau made 27 saves.

The Leafs won after consecutive losses against the Detroit Red Wings.

Matthews, meanwhile, scored his 64th game-winning goal in the NHL, moving him past Dave Keon for second on the Leafs’ franchise list. Mats Sundin holds the team record with 79 game-winners.
Our takeaways:

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MORE LIKE IT

We’re not sure if William Nylander realized that Berube called him out publicly on Monday after the loss to Detroit, but it probably wouldn’t have mattered.

Little, if anything, bugs Nylander and we’re sure the coach would have got his point across behind closed doors.

No matter, Nylander played like everyone knows he can, setting the pace of the game at times and performing with more enthusiasm than he had in the previous three games.

Nylander scored an empty-net goal, had two assists and tied Matthews for the team lead with five shots on goal. This after Nylander had three shots on goal in the previous three games.

“Very,” Berube said when he was asked whether he was more pleased with the play of the line of John Tavares between Nylander and Matias Maccelli.

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“Willie did what he does. He had the puck. He was doing things. He’s making good decisions, driving it deep, and doing what he does in the offensive zone.

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“I thought they were responsible defensively. I was happy with the line. I thought they were very impactful.”

Maccelli didn’t have a point, but there’s no denying that he was more comfortable on the line than he was 24 hours earlier. We’re seeing more of his ability to distribute the puck.

Tavares also had a goal and an assist. He’s at 495 career goals in the NHL, five short of becoming the 49th player in league history to score 500.

That Tavares will reach the milestone is not in question.

For the Leafs, that Nylander put his stamp on the game was crucial. The team needs him to do that with consistency.

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Berube had said on Monday he would chat with Nylander. The player said that it was “a good conversation, that’s about it.”

What does Nylander think of his game through four games?

“It’s coming along,” Nylander said. “It’s always slow at the beginning of the season. Just getting that back.

“It’s all areas of the game for me, some areas with the puck, finding that extra — kind of hard to explain it — but just that feel in certain situations.”

GOALS FROM THE POINT

Here’s something we couldn’t say much during the 2024-25 season: Leafs defencemen had some pop on the scoresheet.

Leafs D-men scored a total of 21 goals last year, the fewest in the NHL.

Yet Jake McCabe and Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored in the first period to give the Leafs a 2-0 lead.

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Are goals from defencemen the end all and be all? No. Toronto won the Atlantic Division despite the dearth of scoring from the blue line.

Having said that, any time some stress can be relieved for the forwards, some goals from the D-men are welcomed.

“We’re just trying to play a team game, and we don’t really focus on who’s scoring out there,” said Ekman-Larsson, who also had two assists. “I don’t think I’m focusing on that. I know I have it in the bag if I need to, but it’s a read. There’s time and place for everything.”

Morgan Rielly has one goal, and the Leafs’ defencemen have been joining the rush more commonly.

There’s another factor at play for Berube, and it’s just as important.

“One thing about our D right now, I love that the puck goes up top and they’re shooting it, which is great,” Berube said. “They’re up in the rush. They’re doing a good job joining and getting up in the play like we’ve asked them to. That’s really good to see.”

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BELTING IT OUT

Cowan had a couple of firsts on Tuesday, continuing to play with the comfort he demonstrated on Monday in his NHL debut.

Not only was there the aforementioned assist, Cowan was awarded the Leafs’ post-win belt.

We can’t yet say with certainty what the season holds for Cowan. Will he fall off a bit and the decision is made that he spends time honing his game with the Toronto Marlies? Or will Cowan keep finding his way in the NHL and doing enough to stick for the longterm?

The early — awfully early, admittedly — returns are encouraging.

“He has been physical on people,” Berube said. “He forechecks extremely well. I haven’t noticed anything popping up to me that he can’t handle the physicality right now, but we’ll see.

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“He really supports the puck well with (Matthews and Matthew Knies, who had three assists in the win) and makes a lot of little plays that maybe go unnoticed to a lot of people, but I notice it. He’s a dog on a bone out there for me. He hounds everything, gets pucks back, strips people.

“He played well again tonight, on back-to-back nights. I wasn’t sure (how Cowan would handle his first two NHL games in two days), but he had another good game.”

Cowan is doing what he did in the preseason, though with Scott Laughton and Steven Lorentz, who are nursing injuries. That Cowan has made the transition quite seamlessly to playing with Matthews and Knies can’t be underestimated. The 20-year-old is earning the lofty spot.

tkoshan@postmedia.com

X: @koshtorontosun

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