Maple Leafs report cards: Stolarz’s outstanding night gives Toronto a lackluster win
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Maple Leafs report cards: Stolarz’s outstanding night gives Toronto a lackluster win

Posted on by Amelia Pressman

The Toronto Maple Leafs were expected to take care of business at home against the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday, and in every sense of the word, they did just that.

However, coach Craig Berube probably won’t be happy about the 4-1 win as his team had the Blackhawks playing in last place for most of the game. Superior goal-scoring talent and spectacular goaltending made victory clear for the Maple Leafs – but they couldn’t cover themselves with glory in a game in which they scored 28.51 percent of their expected goal percentage at five-on-five.

Despite the lack of style points, the Maple Leafs can be encouraged by Auston Matthews scoring for the first time since returning from injury and Fraser Minten delivering a timely goal that prevented momentum heading Chicago’s way. Anthony Stolarz also bounced back after posting an .868 save percentage in his last two starts.

The Maple Leafs get a “C+” for the uninspiring win.

Unit grades

L1 (Knies–Matthews–W. Nylander): B-

The debate over whether Matthews should team with William Nylander, Mitch Marner, or neither still has a lot to live up to, but Nylander provided a powerful example of his ability to build the sniper center in the first part.

This moment of brilliance was convincing, but the trio were unable to consistently enforce the game against an inconspicuous opponent and ended the evening with an expected goal rate of around 29.13 percent. Shots and attempts were cheaper, but a line stacked like this should prevail for the Blackhawks.

Matthew Knies had a quiet night but came into the net late by filling the empty net.

L2 (Holmberg–Tavares–Marner): B-

The second line came into play when Marner hit a shot against the crossbar on the first shift, but generally played low-stakes hockey. With 9:37 remaining in the five-on-five game, only two shots reached the net, one of which ended up in the back of the net.

It’s hard to give the group too much credit for a goal that was greasier than a triple cheese pan pizza, but they prevented the Blackhawks from getting anything going in their minutes.

That was worth something on a night when the Maple Leafs were under siege for a surprisingly long time.

L3 (Robertson–Minten–Lorentz): B

The Minten line wasn’t particularly noticeable for most of the game, but the young center scored just 21 seconds after Chicago scored its only goal of the game.

The 20-year-old now has two goals and two assists in five games since being called up to the AHL, a far cry from his non-existent production during his 2023-24 cameo appearance.

Nick Robertson had a lot to offer after his scoring decline on Saturday and put some promising mid-range wrist shots into the net, but nothing came of it. Steven Lorentz was his wild self with six goals.

L4 (Grebenkin–Dewar–A. Nylander): C

A fourth line’s primary goal most nights is not to score, and this group put a puck out of the net. They couldn’t compensate by creating much on the other end – and Alex Nylander conceded a penalty late in the game that could have brought Chicago back into the game.

On the bright side, Nikita Grebenkin had some strong individual moments when he went to the net, one of which gave the Maple Leafs a power play.

D1 (Rielly–Myers): B

Morgan Rielly and Philippe Myers likely won’t play together much again this season, but the duo looked solid on Monday. Myers didn’t look out of place, getting in the way of pucks, scoring seven goals, making the short passes he was asked to do, and hanging back to give Rielly a free hand. His failure to clear the puck contributed to the Blackhawks’ only goal, but he performed well for an understudy.

If Rielly had any concerns that his backup partner wouldn’t be able to hold the defensive line, he didn’t let it show and made some ambitious attacks into the offensive zone – especially early in the game. This makeshift pair was on the ice for two of Toronto’s goals, and the Maple Leafs defeated Chicago 9-8 in their 15:25 at five-on-five. Without those two, the team was outscored 18-8 in five-on-five play.

D2 (Ekman-Larsson–Tanev): C

This duo had only played together before Monday at 4:30 p.m. In this context, they deserve credit for not seeming disjointed.

At the same time, despite the conceptual fit with the adventurous left-back (Oliver Ekman-Larsson) and the stay-at-home right-back (Chris Tanev), they hardly exceeded expectations.

Their five-on-five performance was mediocre as the Blackhawks outscored Toronto 12-3 in their minutes. The shot differential was less devastating (3-1), but the experienced duo only blocked one shot in total, so you can’t take too much credit for that.

D3 (Benoit–Timmins): C-

Simon Benoit and Conor Timmins were substituted. There is no doubt about that.

Both made significant contributions to the penalty kill on separate pairs, but spent long periods of time running around together in their own zone. The pair were featured prominently in Stolarz highlight clips as Toronto was defeated 21-2 in five-on-five play. Timmins assisted on the Minten goal to save the evening, but it was still an underwhelming evening at the office.

Power play: C

The Maple Leafs only got two chances on the power play but failed to convert and put three shots on net.

The first unit with five forwards looked good on the first try and John Tavares had a few good chances. Their second attempt was a little more clumsy, and when PP2 took the ice, the Maple Leafs couldn’t get anything going.

Penalty shootout: A+

Chicago isn’t rich in offensive talent, but the Blackhawks brought the NHL’s eighth-ranked power play into this game, and Toronto put an end to it. The Blackhawks managed just one shot in 7:04 of five-on-four play and failed to convert in a brief five-on-three stint.

Marner always caused a stir in the penalty shootout and Tanev delivered many calm and composed shots.

Goalkeeper (Stolarz): A+

Stolarz couldn’t cope with the massive rubber fire and had to put up with a relatively modest 28 shots, but he parried a few decisively. The Blackhawks finished the night with a 3.21 expected goals, and a worse shot from the 30-year-old could have easily swung the game in Chicago’s favor.

Here is a selection from Stolarz’s quality evening:

Score

What’s next?

The Maple Leafs host the Nashville Predators on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. on Sportsnet.

(Photo of Anthony Stolarz saving Craig Smith: John E. Sokolowski / Imagn Images)

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