The Toronto Maple Leafs’ longest road trip of the season got off to a great start with wins in two of their first three games. First, they defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets 2-1 in overtime.
After falling to the Washington Capitals 4-2, squandering a third-period lead, they came back with their most convincing victory of the season. A 7-2 defeat of a Penguins team that was projected to finish at the bottom of the 2025-26 NHL standings wouldn’t be much to celebrate, but the Leafs badly needed a victory like Saturday’s, and the Penguins aren’t necessarily the bottom-feeding dwellers people thought they’d be, with 12 wins through 24 games this season. Add to that a resounding 4-1 victory over the Panthers, and are we in “Maple Leafs are back” territory? David Alter has his say.
The Leafs got offense throughout the entire lineup. Dakota Joshua, who had seemingly been a bust up until this point, had the type of game the club had hoped to see more often when they acquired him in a trade with the Vancouver Canucks. He levied a big hit on Penguins defenseman Matt Dumba. He scored a turnaround goal at the net and helped the Leafs’ third line—him, Nicolas Roy, and Bobby McMann—look like a trio that could stay together for quite some time. Auston Matthews found the back of the net, and so did Nick Robertson.
Not a single player on the Leafs recorded more than two points in a seven-goal game —a sign applauded by head coach Craig Berube that the club’s depth is finally coming alive. The constant conversation has been how the Leafs were going to make up for the contributions that Mitch Marner left behind when he joined the Vegas Golden Knights. The contributions have to come from everybody else, and the game against the Penguins is perhaps a template.
The Goaltending Question
While the offense grabbed the headlines, another player who deserves attention is Dennis Hildeby. The rookie goaltender has been pressed into duty more often than anyone expected, with Joseph Woll out for the first month of the season due to personal reasons and Anthony Stolarz now out with an upper-body injury.
When Woll came back as Stolarz got hurt, the Leafs elected to start Woll for six consecutive games before turning to Hildeby in a back-to-back situation. Hildeby has a strong .914 save percentage in six appearances this season. Stolarz was leaned on heavily without Woll, and it was perhaps to Toronto’s detriment that they didn’t go to Hildeby enough , which led to some durability concerns with their No. 1, Stolarz. Now that Woll has performed well in his return (.919 save percentage), they should look to get Hildeby into the net for more games so that they don’t get caught in a situation where they wear Woll out.
Defensive Depth Stepping Up
Defensively, where would the Leafs be without the consistent play of Oliver Ekman-Larsson? The defenseman has helped carry play since being promoted to the top-pair with Morgan Rielly in the wake of a lot of injuries. And he’s been rewarded offensively as well , putting up identical numbers with his partner (four goals and 16 assists). The good news for the Leafs and Ekman-Larsson is that he avoided injury after leaving the Pittsburgh game on Sunday.
Troy Stecher has fit in so perfectly with the Leafs since being claimed off waivers. In the wake of an injury to Brandon Carlo and with Simon Benoit away for a family matter, Stecher was promoted to the right side of the second pair with Jake McCabe. It looks like he may stay there for a while. In six games, Stecher is a team-high plus-eight in high-danger scoring chances for relative to against while on the ice.