Matthews returns, Robertson scores: Maple Leafs fly home on a high

TAMPA — As the goofy, celebratory sounds of Afroman’s 24-year-old singalong joke rap anthem “Because I Got High” — the Toronto Maple Leafs’ current win song — blasted from the visitors’ room inside Amalie Arena, the happy hockey team was damn near levitating.

Not only did the Leafs’ eighth win in 10 tries elevate them to the top of the division in points percentage, but their offence also exploded in conjunction with the healthy return of two top-line forwards, a snakebit sniper launched a monkey off his back, and their other No. 1 goalie turned in another stellar effort.

After a quick 4-0 lead over the bitter rival Tampa Bay Lightning led to a 5-3 victory, the coach was cracking jokes, and the players were singing each other’s praises before wrapping Thanksgiving weekend on an intoxicating note.

Heck, you’d be singing too.

With captain Auston Matthews and power forward Matthew Knies returning from their upper-body injuries, no longer do the Leafs look like a one-line threat. 

“Having them back is huge,” raved Joseph Woll, outduelling the all-world Andrei Vasilevskiy with a 38-save performance. “And you can see, our production was great tonight. We scored a few goals to get us ahead and take control the game.”

Added Nick Robertson: “They obviously give us even more confidence.”

For the first time all month, the Leafs scored four goals five-on-five.

The first came off the blade of Knies, who deftly redirected a Chris Tanev point blast in tight.

Knies has taken to studying clips of ex-Leafs left wing Zach “50 Goals” Hyman to improve his stick placement and footwork at the goal mouth and up his short-distance strikes.

“Just trying to make myself available and get my stick open to kind of tap those in,” Knies said. “It’s something I need to get a better grip on.”

Tanev beat Vasilevskiy clean blocker-side for his first as a Leaf, then third-liner Robertson busted his agonizing 12-game goal drought with a roofed laser beam off the flank.

“Helluva snipe,” Knies marvelled.

The whole room was happy for the try-hard winger who hadn’t been able to buy a goal in weeks and even broke routine, skipping Saturday’s morning skate in hopes of breaking the spell.

“I see him every day in practice,” Woll smiled. “I know that shot, and he’s one of the best shooters I’ve ever seen.”

And one of the best screamers.

Robertson — whose whole reason is to shoot and score — unleashed a cathartic holler when he saw the puck bend twine.

“It was obviously relief. I mean, obviously, it's been a while. So, happy to get on the board there and felt pretty good,” said Robertson, who had to think back seven years for a time his luck was this bad.

“When I was, like, 16 in junior there — but a couple assists here and there keep you kinda sane. But now, this is something I haven't dealt with before. But it's good to know that I have this in kind of my back pocket, to know how to respond to it and build confidence in little areas when the pucks aren’t going to net. You know, find ways to gain confidence.”

John Tavares roofed a wicked half-blind backhander that would stand as the winning goal, after a late, empty-net push from the home side. And William Nylander provided insurance by sifting a beautiful shot over the Lightning defence and into the vacant cage. Because it got high.

“The third got hairy, to say the least,” coach Craig Berube conceded. “But we pulled it out.”

Yep, the return of Matthews was a successful one.

The captain notched a pair of assists, won 66.7 per cent of his faceoffs, and resumed his role on both special teams. More importantly, he helped slot those below him in a more appropriate role. And being split from Mitch Marner gave Tampa two dynamic lines to manage.

“I felt fine,” Matthews said. “As the game went on, felt a little bit better. You know, still felt a little bit rusty. But I thought our line played pretty solid all around, and simple for the most part. And obviously, it feels good to chip in with some goals there.”

At the other end, Woll appears as dialed-in as ever, winning his fifth straight start.

Yes, the feel-good stories were plentiful on this night in downtown Tampa.

Even Knies, who memorably lost his bitter NCAA championship overtime game here in 2023, is starting to see this barn’s upside.

“It’s still bittersweet. I still have those memories haunting me in the back of my head,” Knies smiled. “But, you know, I made some good ones here, too, so I get to kind of hide those in the back. And, yeah, it's definitely getting better. It’s trending upwards.”

So are the Maple Leafs.

Fox’s Fast Five

• Skating in his 600th career game, Jake McCabe was felled by a Nick Perbix blast to the side of his head and left the game in Period 2. 

Frightening.

“Honestly, a little sick to my stomach,” Woll said. “He’s such a valuable player to us.”

Great news: By all accounts, McCabe was fine post-game. Berube doesn’t expect him to miss Monday’s game versus Chicago.

• Since 2016-17, the beginning of the Matthews-Marner-Nylander era, the Maple Leafs have the best November record in the league: 73-28-9, .705 points percentage.

• Vasilevskiy suffered a rare performance pull the first time he faced the Leafs this season, and the Lightning went out of its way to set their workhorse up for success Saturday.

Tampa recalled AHLer Matt Tomkins to serve as a third goalie Friday for the sole purpose of backing up Jonas Johansson. That way, Vasilevskiy wouldn’t have to fly to Nashville and back.

“It wasn’t about if our goalie played poor. It was, what if the goalie gets hurt in the first period? Now you're forced to put (Vasilevskiy) in, and I just didn't want to be in that situation,” Cooper explained.

A crafty way to assure mental and physical rest for Tampa’s No. 1 on a back-to-back, though he still gave up another four to Toronto. Yikes.

Cooper has been wanting to pull that roster juggle for a while now: “We’ve never been able to do that, because we’ve never had the cap or roster room to be able to do it until now.” 

• Marner zipped a couple of cleared pucks into the bench as the Leafs hung on in the third.  

“I almost got hit twice. I gotta talk to Mitch. I don't know if he's pissed off at me or what,” Berube chuckled. “I guess he needs more ice time.”

• With Matthews and Knies returning, Bobby McMann (lower body) was shifted to injured reserve, and Alex Steeves lost his roster spot and was returned to the Marlies after a four-game NHL stint — the longest of the 24-year-old’s career.

Because Alex Nylander requires waivers, Steeves was the safer choice to maintain depth.

Steeves heads back to the farm with zero points, no penalty minutes, and an even rating.