Eyes widened by Lightning, Maple Leafs’ Matthew Knies takes centre stage in win
Over his young career, Leafs forward Matthew Knies has quickly come to enjoy playing against the Lightning. On Monday, he struck again with two goals in a Toronto victory.
TORONTO — Every player has that one. That opponent whose crest, on sight, sparks something different, taps into something deeper, gets the blood boiling.
For the Toronto Maple Leafs’ young power-forward-in-training, Matthew Knies, there is no question — through seven regular-season games against Tampa Bay coming into Monday’s tilt, Knies had collected a tidy 10 points, the Lightning ranking as the only club against whom the 22-year-old has managed double-digit scoring.
And Monday night, under the Scotiabank Arena lights, the certified Bolt-killer struck again.
It started just four minutes in, Knies picking up an early helper on the game’s opening goal with a deft one-touch neutral-zone pass that sent Auston Matthews galloping towards the Lightning’s cage unencumbered. But it was late in the second period that the young winger truly made his presence known.
After nearly 40 minutes of ice-tilting sequences from Toronto’s top line, the trio’s pressure finally bubbled over as the second intermission loomed.
Knies and Matthews, the two Arizona products, played catch in the neutral zone before Mitch Marner eventually whipped a pass through a mess of white jerseys, finding a streaking Knies, who fired it on net with so much intention that the nearest Bolts defender’s stick went flying through the air.
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A period later, Knies struck again, this time posting up at the netfront on a Maple Leafs power play, collecting a point-shot rebound, and going backhand-forehand to beat Tampa’s Jonas Johansson.
“Kniesy, for me, he’s been driving,” head coach Craig Berube said after the final buzzer sounded on what wound up a 5-3 Maple Leafs victory, Knies’ second tally finishing as the game winner. “He’s really playing that power forward-type game to a T in my opinion right now, and that really helps that line out.”
“He’s got a little bit of everything,” added netminder Joseph Woll, who registered his third straight win in the cage. “He’s a very skilled player, and when he uses his size, that’s a great combo — it’s really tough to stop.”
It’s been a breakout campaign for Knies, who’s showed promise since he broke into this Maple Leafs lineup two years ago — in the playoffs, against these Bolts. Already sitting with a career-high 18 goals on the campaign, Monday’s performance also leaves him just a handful of his career-best point total, too, with nearly half a campaign still to play.
But while his club will surely take the increased production, it’s the overall growth, the honed approach, that’s most impressed the young power forward’s mates.
“He’s taken huge steps,” assessed William Nylander, who tallied Toronto’s second goal of the night. “I mean, he’s scoring huge goals — all over the ice, in front, on breakaways, making great plays. He’s grown a lot, and become quite the player.”
“I think (it’s) his confidence,” added Auston Matthews on the biggest step he’s seen Knies take this season. “He’s such a big guy and he’s got such a tremendous skill-set. Just the more experience he’s had, the better he continues to get — and the more comfortable he feels, I think, just in his own body out there. The more reps you get as a line, individually, with each other, you kind of build that chemistry.
“He’s been a force for us all season long.”
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The man himself sees it much the same way — more reps, more comfort, and now, more impact.
“You know, the first time I was here, it was obviously an adjustment to bigger and stronger players,” Knies said from the locker room late Monday night, reflecting on his early spins through the place. “Getting that experience, and getting to play against these guys, getting to practice against some of our players, it’s helped me a lot.”
As has the arrival of a new head coach, whose hard-nosed, north-south style seems tailor-made for Knies’ own heavy, relentless approach.
“I think he obviously wants us to play a simple and fast game, and that’s kind of what my game is to a T,” Knies said. “I just try to play for him, and learn as much as I can from him.”
Still, there have been growing pains here and there. And after a five-game stretch that saw Knies’ production dip — somewhat undoing the brief dominance shown over the previous five — nights like these, against this particular squad, go a long way in bringing out his best, too.
“It’s good,” Knies said of how it feels to register a third straight win against these Bolts, especially amid what’s been a rollercoaster January so far. “I feel like there’s a little rivalry between us two teams — it always feels like a little playoff series when we play.
“So, it’s good for us to get that win, and keep that confidence.”
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