Matthew Knies scores twice, adds assist to push Maple Leafs past Lightning 5-3

TORONTO (AP) – Matthew Knies had two goals and an assist as the Toronto Maple Leafs held off the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-3 late on Monday night.

Auston Matthews and William Nylander also scored for Toronto. Joseph Woll made 27 saves. Mitch Marner added an empty netter and two assists.

Nick Paul scored twice for Tampa and Darren Raddysh had a goal and an assist. Jonas Johansson stopped 23 shots. Victor Hedman chipped in two assists.

The Leafs, who picked up a third straight win over the Lightning this season, lead the Atlantic Division with 62 points after extending their current winning streak to three games.

Takeaways

Leafs: Woll made his 25th appearance to match the netminder’s career high in 2023-24. Monday also marked his 61st game of the regular season.

Lightning: Johansson got the call instead of goalkeeper no. 1 Andrei Vasilevskiy. The former Vezina Trophy winner allowed eight goals on 38 shots in his two starts against Toronto this season.

Key moment

The teams appeared poised to head to the locker rooms for the second intermission with the Leafs leading 2-1 when Marner found Knies behind Tampa’s defense to restore the home team’s two-goal lead with 22.3 seconds left on the clock.

Key state

Matthews, who led the NHL with 69 goals last season, has scored eight times and added six assists over nine games since sitting out six contests with an undisclosed upper-body injury. He was also sidelined for nine games earlier in the schedule with the same issue.

Next

The Lightning continue a four-game road trip Tuesday in Montreal against the Canadiens. The Maple Leafs host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Wednesday.

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