Stolarz makes 26 saves, Maple Leafs defeat Kraken to win 3rd straight

SEATTLE -- Anthony Stolarz made 26 saves in his first game back from a knee injury, and the Toronto Maple Leafs won 3-1 against the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena on Thursday.

Stolarz sustained the injury in a 3-2 win against the Anaheim Ducks on Dec. 12.

“It was exciting,” Stolarz said. “Obviously, missing that much time, you want to come out and have a positive result and get the two points. But the guys did a great job tonight, helping me ease back into it and letting me see a lot of the pucks, and I just have to make the saves.”

Matthew Knies scored for the third straight game, and Philippe Myers and Bobby McMann also scored for the Maple Leafs (33-19-2), who improved to 3-0-0 on their four-game road trip that will conclude on Saturday at the Vancouver Canucks.

“The team battled,” Toronto coach Craig Berube said. “It’s a hard game, a lot of penalties, our penalty kill was really good, our power play got us a goal."

Eeli Tolvanen scored for the Kraken (23-29-4), who have lost three straight (0-2-1) and five of their past six (1-4-1). Joey Daccord made 27 saves.

“I think maybe you’re going to have 11 scoring chances in this game. That’s not enough,” Seattle coach Dan Bylsma said. “I think at times, we’ve been better at having a shooting mentality, and getting guys around the blue paint. I think you can expect to get the pretty goals every now and again, but you’ve got to get a little hungry and a little dirtier to score the everyday goals.”

Myers made it 1-0 at 7:23 of the first period with a slap shot from the right point that deflected off Seattle forward Matty Beniers and past Daccord’s glove. It was Myers’ first goal as a Maple Leaf since signing a one-year contract on July 2.

“It obviously felt really good to see that one go in,” said Myers, who hadn’t scored since Nov. 17, 2022. “For me, I was just trying to get the puck on net and got a fortunate bounce there. I’ll take it.”

McMann pushed it to 2-0 with a power-play goal at 18:53 by standing at the top of crease and redirecting Morgan Rielly’s pass from the top of the right circle past Daccord’s right skate. The goal extended McMann’s road goal-scoring streak to five games.

“It’s fun hockey,” said McMann, who has goals in four of his past five games. “Everybody wants to score goals, and I think more than anything, I just want to contribute and keep this team rolling with wins.”

Knies extended Toronto’s lead to 3-0 at 12:37 of the second period, tipping Jake McCabe’s shot from the left point out of the air and under Daccord’s glove. The call was reviewed for a potential high stick but was confirmed to be a good goal.

“I was confident [it would stand],” Berube said. “Our video guy wired it down and said it’s going to be a good goal. They called a good goal on the ice, so a lot of times, it’s hard to overturn that. I think it’s close. It’s very close.”

Tolvanen cut it to 3-1 at 5:43 of the third period, using Toronto defenseman Simon Benoit as a screen and snapping a shot from above the right circle over Stolarz’s right shoulder.

“The guys dug in. The third period is a battle, and they came hard," Berube said. "They’re a good third-period team, but we hung in there.”

NOTES: Mitch Marner (629 games) became the fourth player in Maple Leafs history to record 500 career assists and the 12th-fastest skater in NHL history to reach the milestone. Only three players have hit the mark faster in the past 30 years: Connor McDavid (527 games), Peter Forsberg (551) and Sidney Crosby (554).