Matthews scores first goal, McMann adds pair as Maple Leafs beat Kings

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The Maple Leafs put the Los Angeles Kings in checkmate on Wednesday night.

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Captain Auston Matthews scored his first goal of 2024-25 and Bobby McMann scored two, driving the Leafs to a 6-2 victory at Scotiabank Arena.

Those tallies came in the first period and were followed by goals from Morgan Rielly and William Nylander in the second and John Tavares in the third.

Toronto goaltender Anthony Stolarz had his shutout bid end at 2:42 of the third period when Alex Turcotte beat him with a low shot. Kevin Fiala scored the Kings’ other goal with 11 minutes to play, causing Leafs coach Craig Berube to call a timeout and give his players an earful.

The Leafs were outshot 34-26 and were able to capitalize on some shoddy Los Angeles goaltending.

Nylander played after missing practice on Tuesday with an illness, and true to his skill, at times was his dazzling self. His goal came on a Leafs power play, Toronto’s first of the season with the man advantage after going 0-for-11 to start.

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Tavares’ goal was also on the power play.

On McMann’s second goal, Nylander made a fine play at the side boards to chip puck past Kings defenceman Vladislav Gavrikov. Nylander then spotted McMann, who burst past Kings coverage into open ice.

Mitch Marner had three assists. Four Leafs — Max Domi, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Jake McCabe and Matthews — had two assists.

Matthews’ goal — also his first point of the season — looked familiar, coming at 8:49 of the first when he ripped a shot on the short side past Kings starter David Rittich. After fanning on a shot, Matthews eluded Kings captain Anze Kopitar and fooled Rittich. The latter allowed four goals on 14 shots and was gone in favour of Pheonix Copley midway through the second.

With Nylander and Tavares good to go after each battled through illness this week, veteran winger Max Pacioretty was a healthy scratch.

Winners of three in a row after losing their season-opener in Montreal last week, the Leafs play host to the New York Rangers on Saturday as their four-game home stand continues.

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