The Toronto Maple Leafs have the top-end skill to turn relatively even games into lopsided wins, and that’s precisely what they demonstrated against the Seattle Kraken on Thursday.
Seattle outshot Toronto overall and at five-on-five, but the Maple Leafs’ best offensive threats made the type of plays even the best players on most teams are incapable of. From the Auston Matthews-Mitch Marner–Matthew Knies tic-tac-toe in the first to the passes that set up two William Nylander goals, the Maple Leafs beat the Kraken with skill.
They also deserve credit for bottling up a Kraken offence coming off an eight-goal performance, conceding just 1.59 expected goals in a 4-1 win. The defensive performance was a significant change of pace after the team allowed 19 goals in its previous four games. That, along with the moments of offensive brilliance, earns the team an ‘A’.