TORONTO – Matthew Knies recorded his first profession NHL hat trick and Mitch Marner had a aim and 4 assists Saturday, lifting Toronto to a 6-4 win over the Boston Bruins in Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews return from harm.
The road of Knies, Matthews and Marner had 13 factors on the night time with two assists and a aim for Matthews. Knies additionally had an help on late empty-net objectives by Marner and Matthews.
Boston rallied from 2-0 and 3-2 down, with David Pastrnak tying the sport at 3-3 simply 34 seconds after Knies’ second of the night time had put Toronto forward at 4:17 of the third interval.
Knies restored the Leafs lead along with his 14th of the season at 5:28, beating Jeremy Swayman after taking a feed from Matthews from behind the aim. After Marner’s aim, Pastrnak added his second to make it 5-4 with lower than two minutes remaining.
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Matthews returned after a six-game absence attributable to an undisclosed upper-body harm that had sidelined him since Dec. 20. The star centre has missed 15 of the staff’s 40 video games this season, additionally sitting out 9 contests in November, with Toronto going 10-5-0 with out him.
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Jake McCabe additionally scored for Toronto (25-13-2) in a wide-open, entertaining sport.
Morgan Geekie and Trent Frederic additionally scored for Boston (20-17-4).
The McCabe aim got here on Matthews’ second shift of the sport. Matthews arrange Knies’ first of the night time early within the second interval, coming off the bench and firing a shot at aim that Knies redirected previous Swayman.
Geekie’s ninth of the season got here simply 12 seconds later, reducing the result in 2-1. Frederic tied it 2-2 at 18:44 of the second.
Leafs goalie Joseph Woll gained his fourth straight begin.
The competition marked the top of a three-game highway journey that noticed the Bruins lose to Washington and the New York Rangers. Toronto was coming off back-to-back wins over the New York Islanders and had gained three of its earlier 4.
TAKEAWAYS
Leafs: Like Knies, Marner additionally confirmed loads of bounce reunited with Matthews. The shifty winger arrange McCabe’s opening aim, twisted his physique right into a pretzel for a nifty between-the-legs shot on the right track and nearly discovered John Tavares on the sting of the Boston crease, all within the first interval.
KEY MOMENT
McCabe’s aim, at 3:29 of the primary interval, was the primary by a Leaf defenceman since Nov. 30 when Chris Tanev scored in a 5-3 win over Tampa Bay (in Matthews’ first return from harm). Going into Saturday’s sport, Toronto had scored 50 objectives in 16 outings since then with out its blueliners accounting for any of them.
KEY STAT
Toronto opened the scoring for the fifth straight sport and is 17-2-1when scoring first this season.
UP NEXT
Bruins: Host the New York Islanders on Sunday.
Maple Leafs: Host the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday with the 2 groups assembly once more Tuesday in Philadelphia.
This report by The Canadian Press was first revealed Jan. 4, 2025
© 2025 The Canadian Press
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