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William Nylander, Toronto Maple Leafs (Jess Starr/The Hockey Writers)

4 Takeaways From Maple Leafs’ Dominant 5-0 Win Over Blue Jackets

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers
By Jesse Courville-Lynch | Last updated Apr 6, 2025 8:55 AM ET

The Toronto Maple Leafs are safely in the playoff picture and have been looking to build momentum as the postseason inches closer. On Saturday (Apr. 5), they took on the Columbus Blue Jackets, looking to pick up a win, and that’s exactly what they were able to do, adding two more points to what has been a strong 2024-25 campaign for them so far. In this article, we take a look at a few takeaways from their 5-0 victory.

Robertson Showcases Confidence With 2-Goal Night

Nicholas Robertson has had a solid season at both ends of the ice and showcased his offensive skill by scoring the first two goals of the night. Halfway through the first period, he broke the ice, scoring his 13th goal of the season with Pontus Holmberg getting the assist, and followed it up with his 14th goal of the season midway through the second period with Max Domi picking up the assist.

With this impressive showing, Robertson has matched his career-high in goals, which he achieved last season, and has broken the 20-point plateau for the second time in his career. As the playoffs get closer, fans have to be excited that Robertson seems to be building confidence as the team tries to find a way to get out of the first round after coming up just short last season.

Stolarz Impresses, Nabs 2nd Shutout of Season

Anthony Stolarz has had an extremely strong campaign, and he nabbed his second shutout of the season, stopping 27 shots against the Blue Jackets last night. That improves his record on the season to 18-8-3, adding a 2.26 goals-against-average (GAA) and a .922 save percentage (SV%) to his impressive campaign. Heading into the postseason, he seems to be the leading candidate to start in game one.

Nylander Scores 43rd & 44th Goals of Season

William Nylander has now reached the 40-goal plateau three times in his career and continues to increase his career-high in goals, scoring his 43rd and 44th of the season last night to put the Maple Leafs up 4-0. He also reached the 80-point plateau again this season, making it the fourth time in his career he has achieved that milestone, but it doesn’t look like he is going to match his career high in points that he achieved last season, when he hit 98.

Even though he may have slowed down a bit offensively, he has still played at an elite level this season, and fans should be confident in his ability to help the Maple Leafs win their first Stanley Cup since 1967. He is well over a point-per-game pace this season, notching 82 points in 76 games, which comes out to a 1.08 points-per-game average. He should continue to be a key contributor as the regular season comes to a close.

Auston Matthews Finally Hits 30-Goal Plateau

Compared to what some fans were expecting this season, Auston Matthews has taken a bit of a step back offensively. Last season, he led the league in goals with 69, and fans around the league were wondering if he could start to push for the 75-goal plateau in a single season. Unfortunately, this season wasn’t the one he was able to do that, and while he slowed down a bit because he was dealing with some injuries, he still hit the 30-goal milestone for the ninth time in his career, giving the Maple Leafs a 5-0 lead, which would be the last goal of the night.

As the Maple Leafs approach the playoffs, it’s positive to see that both their stars and depth pieces are playing with confidence. Hopefully, they can make a deep run and can finally end their long drought that has kept the Stanley Cup out of Toronto for 58 years.

As the 2024-25 season moves along, be sure to continue following The Hockey Writers as your source for news from around the NHL and the hockey world.