Nylander scores twice, Maple Leafs defeat Kraken

William Nylander scored twice for the Toronto Maple Leafs in a 4-1 win against the Seattle Kraken at Scotiabank Arena on Thursday.

“I thought we battled, scored some really nice goals today,” Nylander said. “Obviously, Matty’s (Auston Matthews) and Mitchy (Mitch Marner) line’s goal was really nice and I got lucky with two unbelievable passes back door so that was nice. I thought we grinded through, maybe not our cleanest game that way but grinded through and found a way to win and (Joseph) Woll played amazing.”

Matthews had a goal and an assist and John Tavares had two assists for the Maple Leafs (6-4-1), who have won two in a row after going 0-2-1 in their previous three games. Joseph Woll made 24 saves in his second start of the season after missing Toronto’s first seven games with groin tightness.

“[Our guys] were great,” Woll said. “I thought we did a good job of really limiting their high-quality chances and we played a really sound game defensively, made some big blocks and were able to close it out at the end. It was great [to get the win]. To get a big win like that at home is always nice so it felt really good.”

Eeli Tolvanen scored, and Joey Daccord made 26 saves for the Kraken (5-5-1), who are 1-3-1 in their past five.

Seattle was without defenseman Brandon Montour, who returned home for the birth of his daughter.

“You got to be able to play with different players in the lineup at different times,” Seattle coach Dan Bylsma said. “Fortunately for Brandon Montour, we were doing it without him tonight with him being there for the birth of his daughter, but it means other guys have to step in and do the job and we have full confidence in the guys we put in the lineup to be able to go out and do the job tonight.”

Matthew Knies put the Maple Leafs up 1-0 at 19:55 of the first period. After Matthews won an offensive zone face-off, he recovered the puck when his initial shot was blocked and passed to Marner, who one-touched a pass to Knies in the slot for a tap-in. Knies has scored five goals in his past six games.

“It always does [change momentum],” Toronto coach Craig Berube said. “I don’t know what the percentage of in this League of scoring first [and winning] is but it’s very important. It was a good play, just a smart play by our captain on the draw, understanding and recognizing something. He makes a heads-up play, and we score. It was a big goal.”

Nylander made it 2-0 at 1:39 of the second period when he took a cross-slot pass from Morgan Rielly and shot from the left side of the goal crease.

“Did we circle 88 (Nylander) at the beginning of the game? Yeah we did and twice we let him find open space and do what he can do and he made us pay for it tonight,” Bylsma said. “That’s not an individual thing, that’s a team thing and you just can’t let one mistake, or two mistakes dictate the pace of the game and how the game is.”

Tavares had the secondary assist on Nylander’s goal to extend his point streak to six games (three goals, six assists).

“Pretty solid,” Berube said. “I thought before he got sick, he was fine, but the sickness affected him. He lost 10 pounds so it was energy-wise and stuff through three games or more [were affected]. But he’s been heavy on pucks, strong on the puck, heavy stick, doing the little things right, face-offs, all good stuff.”

The Maple Leafs pushed it to 3-0 at 9:24 when Nylander scored from the same spot, this time when Tavares found him with a pass while spinning around on one knee in the slot.

“It’s a bit of a guess,” Tavares said of his pass. “As the play is developing and you get into that spot, you have an idea where guys might be and you just try to put the puck in a good spot and if it doesn’t work out, it gives you a good spot to work to earn it back. But the way developed, I thought him or Patch (Max Pacioretty) would have drifted to that side and I’m happy it worked out.”

Tolvanen cut it to 3-1 at 16:32 of the third period when he shot past Woll’s blocker from the slot while on a 6-on-5 advantage with Daccord pulled for an extra skater.

Matthews shot into an empty net at 18:17, banking it off the boards in the neutral zone from his own blue line for the 4-1 final.

“He told me he aced geometry,” Knies joked.

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