Leafs Score 3-0 Victory Over Golden Knights, Lose Knies to Injury
-
By Doug Hirdle
- —
Summary:
- Fraser Minten scored his first NHL goal, contributing to Toronto Maple Leafs’ 3-0 win over Vegas Golden Knights.
- It was Toronot’s sixth victory in seven games.
- The game grew more intense after a mid-ice hit on Matthew Knies, who left with an upper-body injury.
Fraser Minten celebrated his first NHL goal as the injury-depleted Toronto Maple Leafs shut out the Vegas Golden Knights 3-0 in a spirited clash on Wednesday.
Toronto (12-6-2) has now won six of its last seven games. Meanwhile, Vegas (11-6-2) is on a two-game losing streak, leaving coach Bruce Cassidy one win shy of his 400th career victory.
First Goal of the Season for Minten
The 20-year-old forward from Vancouver, who marked his fifth NHL game and the first of the season, netted the opener on Toronto’s second shot just 8:53 into the first period.
It was William Nylander who set up the play. The 28-year-old born in Calgary then found the net himself, scoring his 13th goal of the season with a power-play shot at 3:01 of the third period.
Swede Pontus Holmberg (25) sealed the win with an empty-net goal at 16:41, marking his first of the season.
Dardenne Prairie, Missouri-native Joseph Woll (26), was solid in the net for Toronto, stopping all 31 shots for his first shutout this season.
For Vegas, Comox-born Adin Hill (28) got the start, making 23 saves while former Leaf Ilya Samsonov (27) remained on the bench.
Toronto’s Nikita Grebenkin made his NHL debut, lining up alongside Pasadena, California-born Nick Robertson (23) and Minten.
The 21-year-old Russian, a fifth-round pick in 2022, showed his physical edge by slamming Shea Theodore into the boards late in the opening period.
Matthew Knies Suffered an Upper Body Injury
Both teams were missing key players, with Toronto’s Auston Matthews (27) sidelined for a seventh game due to an upper-body injury and Vegas’ Mark Stone (32) out for his sixth with a lower-body issue.
Toronto’s lineup was further depleted by the absences of Max Domi (29), David Kampf (29), Max Pacioretty (36), and Calle Jarnkrok (33), while Ryan Reaves (37) began his five-game suspension for a hit on Edmonton’s Darnell Nurse (29).
The game’s intensity surged after a second-period hit left Toronto’s Matthew Knies shaken.
Zach Whitecloud (27) delivered the mid-ice check in front of the Leafs’ bench, leaving the 22-year-old from Phoenix, Arizona with an upper-body injury.
Whitecloud dodged a penalty for the hit but received a minor for roughing after a confrontation with Toronto’s Simon Benoit (26), who was assessed four minutes for his response.
The intensity of the game escalated from that point onward.
Knies did not return to the game, but Toronto capitalized on Whitecloud’s penalty in the third, scoring during his hooking infraction.
Toronto’s penalty kill was a standout, neutralizing all three of Vegas’ power-play opportunities, including the league’s second-best unit.
Next in line, Toronto will conclude a three-game homestand against Utah on Sunday before embarking on a two-game trip to Florida.
Vegas will continue its longest road stretch, visiting Ottawa on Thursday before stops in Montreal, Philadelphia, and Colorado.
Find the best hockey odds and more with a expertly reviewed sportbooks.
