Leafs topple Knights with six goal showing

Starting off the second half of their six-game road trip with a clash against the Vegas Golden Knights Thursday, the Leafs got off to a very strong start, forcing the home team into taking three penalties, and outshooting Vegas 18-8.

JOHNSSON CONTINUES HOT STREAK, SCORES GAME'S FIRST GOAL

Toronto also scored the only goal of the first period, when winger Andreas Johnsson continued his hot streak by netting his 15th goal of the season at the 13:14 mark.

Johnsson's goal - a power play marker - was his fifth goal and ninth point in his past six games. Unfortunately, Johnsson had to leave the game after a knee-on-knee hit by Vegas D-man Brayden McNabb in the second period, because he's been on a real roll offence-wise of late.

GOLDEN KNIGHTS SCORE TWICE EARLY IN SECOND TO TAKE LEAD, BUT LEAFS SCORE TWICE BEFORE SECOND INTERMISSION TO RE-TAKE LEAD

Vegas is 16-8-3 at home, so there was little question they would give the Leafs a push back after the first period - and that's precisely what occurred in the second period: the Golden Knights scored twice in the first 7:22 of the middle frame to take a 2-1 lead on Toronto. But that lead lasted exactly 90 seconds, as forward Patrick Marleau registered his 13th goal of the year at 8:52.

With the game tied, centre Auston Matthews - who got his first point of the night when he assisted on linemate Marleau's goal - scored his first of the game at 13:25:

The goal was Matthews' 26th of the season, but more importantly, it was the 100th regular-season goal of his burgeoning NHL career. And most importantly, he wasn't done scoring Thursday, either.

VEGAS TIES IT EARLY IN THIRD, BUT LEAFS LOCK UP WIN WITH FINAL THREE GOALS

Vegas clearly wasn't going to waive the white flag and surrender this game, and at the 4:12 mark of the third, they tied the score at three goals apiece on William Karlsson's 18th goal of the year. But it was all Leafs the rest of the way: Toronto continued piling up shots on Fleury - shooting 43 shots on the night at the Knights' netminder - and the Buds wound up scoring three goals in a six-and-a-half-minute span that began at the 10:01 mark on blueliner Morgan Rielly's 15th goal of the season:

Fifty-five seconds after Rielly put the Leafs back in front, Matthews posted his second goal of the game on a shot he spun into taking:

Finally, with the Leafs on a penalty kill, wingers Connor Brown and Mitch Marner broke in on a 2-on-1 rush on Fleury, and Brown's perfect cross-ice pass to Marner was converted into Marner's 21st goal of the year and the final goal of the game:

The Leafs now have a modest two-game win streak, but they've won six of their past seven games, and head to Arizona Saturday to take on the Coyotes and try extending their win streak to three games. If Toronto's offence - which has generated 29 goals in its past six wins - continues to roar, the Yotes will have their hands full trying to contain it.