The 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs are right around the corner, but before we get there, the Toronto Maple Leafs still have business to take care of: locking up the Atlantic Division. Entering last week with four games on their schedule and a two-point lead in the division with a game in hand on the Lightning, the Maple Leafs needed to continue to find the win column in search of their first Atlantic Division title.
3rd star: Matthew Knies
Week 27 stats: 4 GP – 3 G – 0 A – 3 PTS
Season stats: 76 GP – 29 G – 26 A – 55 PTS
It has been a fantastic sophomore season for the 57th overall pick in the 2021 NHL draft, Matthew Knies, as the 22-year-old has set career highs in goals, assists, points, hits and blocks.
Knies played in all four games last week, but all of his points came in just one game, Toronto’s thrilling 4-3 overtime win over the Tampa Bay Lightning. This doesn’t come as a surprise, given the production from Knies against the Lightning in his young career so far. The Phoenix, Arizona native notched a hat trick last week, giving him 29 goals on the season, inching him closer to his first career 30-goal campaign with two games remaining on the regular season schedule. With those three goals, Knies is now up to 10 goals and nine assists for 19 points in 14 career games against the Lightning (regular season and playoffs).
2nd star: Mitch Marner
Week 27 stats: 4 GP – 2 G – 3 A – 5 PTS
Season stats: 79 GP – 26 G – 73 A – 99 PTS
Milestone watches are officially on as the season winds down. From John Tavares closing in on 500 career goals to Auston Matthews nearing 400 goals for his career, Mitch Marner is ever so close to securing his first 100-point season after multiple seasons finishing just short due to injury.
Entering week 27 of their season, Marner had 94 points in 75 games, which matched his total from the 2018-19 season and his first 90-point campaign. As the team opened their four-game week in Florida to take on the Panthers, Marner went pointless but was able to bounce back in a big way the following night against the Lightning, picking up his eighth three-point game of the season.
His 26th goal of the season, along with assists 71 and 72, improved his season point total to 97, with two more games left in the week. In a game that didn’t see much goal-scoring, Marner was the lone player to find the back of the net in their 1-0 overtime win over the Canadiens on Saturday night, giving him 27 goals on the season, the fourth-highest total of his career. Suddenly, with one more game left in the week, the Markham native was sitting on 98 points, one shy from his career high and two from setting a new career high and becoming the fourth different Maple Leaf to reach 100 points in a season. Fortunately, with a secondary assist on Auston Matthews’ goal yesterday, Marner has tied his career high with 99 points and now enters the last week of the regular season in pursuitof one more point.
1st star: Joseph Woll
Week 27 stats: 2 GP – 1-1-0 – 1.52 GAA – .952 SV%
Season stats: 41 GP – 26-14-1 – 2.72 GAA – .909 SV% – 1 SO
Despite some ups and downs over the last two months, Joseph Woll has put together a nice little stretch of games dating back to March 10th. And with two more exceptional performances last week, his numbers look even better.
In search of their second win over the Panthers this season, the Maple Leafs and Joseph Woll came up short, but it wasn’t because of Woll’s efforts. The 26-year-old was tested with 36 shots, turning aside 34 of them. Unfortunately, one goal on 18 shots was all Toronto’s offence could muster up against Sergei Bobrovsky.
Anthony Stolarz, who came off a fantastic week 26, started the next two games for the Maple Leafs, so Woll’s next start was in Carolina on the second half of their back-to-back against a Hurricanes team that rarely loses on home ice. The Maple Leafs came out slow to begin the game, as the home side put Toronto on their heels for what felt like the entire opening frame. Luckily, they stuck with it and grabbed the first goal of the game, which was enough for them to keep the momentum going. They scored two more goals to take a 3-0 lead and ultimately picked up the all-important win, 4-1, thanks to another terrific performance from Woll, who made 25 saves to put Toronto in the driver’s seat to clinch their first-ever Atlantic Division title.
