The Toronto Maple Leafs delivered arguably their best effort of the 2024-25 season on Monday night against the Calgary Flames, which is precisely what the doctor ordered following what was indisputably their worst stretch of the season.
Heading into Monday night’s tilt, the temperature was high around the fanbase. The Leafs were 1-4-1 in their last six games, with three of those losses coming in the form of a blown lead, and seeing these losses pile up while the Florida Panthers widened their gap for first place in the Atlantic and the Tampa Bay Lightning caught up to them in the standings was a rightful cause for concern at this stage in the season. So, a convincing win led by Matthews (2 goals, 1 assist) and the line of Max Domi, Nick Robertson, and Bobby McMann (3 goals, 4 points combined) was just what they needed to ease the nerves.
Matthews said that the Leafs were energized from the morning skate through to the end of the game, which helped them bring such a strong effort.
“I thought the energy was great, starting with the skate and meetings this morning, I thought everybody came in with good energy, good attitude here in the room,” Matthews told reporters postgame. “Like I said, our start was much better than it has been, just the life and energy all 20-plus guys brought to the rink today was great. So, you know, positive steps in that regard, just need to keep it going.”
One of the primary reasons for the win was the Maple Leafs’ special teams performance, specifically the power play. The Flames got three of the game’s first four power plays, but their penalty kill held down the fort and kept the Leafs in the game from the start. Meanwhile, their power play was excellent, going a perfect 3-for-3 with two of those goals coming from Matthews. When asked about what made the power play so efficient, the captain emphasized staying mobile and getting pucks on net.
“I thought we got different looks and just an attack mentality, moving the puck good, guys are getting into spots,” Matthews said. “It was a big part of the game tonight, obviously, with the amount of penalties both ways, but it was good on us to capitalize on that and gain some momentum, especially after it was 1-1 for a little bit there. But, I thought we were outplaying them and playing a good game, special teams obviously comes into play a lot there.”
While on the topic of special teams, Matthews was quick to pay some credit to the Leafs’ video team of Sam Kim and Jordan Bean, who helped overturn a call that would have tied the game at 2-2 for the Flames.
“Those guys are pretty dialled in there,” Matthews said with a smile. “You hear it before the goal or the whistle, they’re keeping track of everything and you hear it on the bench, pretty early into the entry that they thought it was offside. Good on them, they’re some of the best I’ve seen at keeping track of those kinds of plays.”
With the Leafs set to take on the Colorado Avalanche less than two weeks after taking a 7-4 beating from them on the road, Matthews stressed the importance of continuing the momentum and not letting up, considering the games ahead.
“In this room, making sure that everybody’s got each other’s back, just making sure we know that we’ve got better in here, we have a higher compete level,” Matthews said. “I thought tonight was a good step in the right direction and we know this week is going to be a challenging one, we’re playing some good teams.”
After the Leafs host the Avalanche on Wednesday, they hit the road again to face the New York Rangers, before heading down to the Music City to take on the Nashville Predators on Saturday night. As high as the stakes will get over this final stretch of the season, Matthews said that keeping the vibes up around the team a key to success.
“We gotta enjoy this, it’s not easy to win especially when you’re going through adversity, so, we wanna enjoy this and get ready for a really good team coming in here on Wednesday, just try to keep this thing rolling.”
