The Toronto Maple Leafs brought another complete effort to the table in a convincing 5-0 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night, bringing them to a record of 7-0-2 in their last nine games.
William Nylander was one of the stars of the show in the dominant win, scoring a goal and adding two assists in his first game since December 27. The team obviously missed his skill and production in that time, but head coach Craig Berube made sure to shout out Nylander’s play on both sides of the puck following the game.
“He’s a skilled guy, he’s got a lot of talent,” Berube told media following the game. “Tonight, Willy, he’s got three points, and for me, it was the work. He was skating, he was back-checking, stripping people of pucks, and when he does that stuff he can be a great player.”
Another player who got a ringing endorsement from Berube was Brandon Carlo, who was an integral part of the team’s performance on the penalty kill after shutting down six Canucks power plays. The Leafs clearly missed Carlo’s presence on the back end while he was out with an injury, and in his third game back, Berube commented on how important he is to their special teams.
“Having Brandon Carlo back has been a big, big, big help,” Berube said. “What he does back there on the PK, just defending and being the big body he is, I thought he had a really solid game tonight and he’s been solid since he’s been back.”
Berube was also thrilled at his team’s response in front of their own net, defending their goaltender and answering the bell, physically, when necessary. Max Domi dropped the gloves with Canucks defenceman Marcus Petterson and won the fight handily, and even rookie Easton Cowan came close to getting into his first NHL tilt.
“Great job by Max, and you can just see everybody, I call it a pack of wolves,” Berube said. “Get in there, stick up for your teammates, your goalie, Cowboy [Easton Cowan]’s in there, it’s good. We’re tight right now and we’ve gotta keep being tight.”
The Maple Leafs are back in action on Monday when they hit the road for a visit with the Colorado Avalanche.
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