Matthews scores the first goal of the season and the Leafs use a balanced attack to defeat the Kings

TORONTO – Auston Matthews scored his first goal of the season and added two assists as the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Los Angeles Kings 6-2 on Wednesday night.

Bobby McMann scored two goals himself, while William Nylander, also with a goal and an assist, Morgan Rielly and John Tavares provided the rest of the offense for Toronto (3-1-0). Mitch Marner had three assists.

Anthony Stolarz made 32 saves for the Leafs, who have won three straight.

Alex Turcotte and Kevin Fiala responded for Los Angeles (1-1-2). David Rittich allowed four goals on 14 shots before being replaced by Pheonix Copley in the second period. He finished the race with 10 stops.

Matthews had not had a point in three games of the 2024-25 season since Wednesday and led the NHL with 69 goals last season, the most in a season in more than three decades.

The Kings are on a seven-game road trip to open the schedule due to renovations at Crypto.com Arena.

Takeaways

The Leafs broke an 0-11 power play run early in the season when Nylander beat Copley to increase the score to 5-0 late in the second period.

The Kings’ defensive woes continued after their 8-7 overtime loss to the Ottawa Senators on Monday.

Key moment

Matthews fanned his first shot before slipping the puck past a helpless Rittich, who had a brief stint with the Leafs in 2021, to give Toronto a 2-0 lead midway through the first period.

Key statistics

Matthews became the fourth player in Leafs history to score 200 goals on home ice, joining Darryl Sittler (231), Dave Keon (225) and Mats Sundin (217). He also became the 11th active NHL player to score 200 home goals, reaching that mark in 279 games. Alex Ovechkin is next on the list and has accomplished the feat in 321 contests, according to NHL stats.

Next

The Kings continue their seven-game road trip Thursday in Montreal. Toronto hosts the New York Rangers on Saturday in their third of four straight games at Scotiabank Arena.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2024.

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Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian Press