Toronto Maple Leafs News

Home

Quizzes

Newsletter

Alex Steeves, Toronto Marlies (Jenae Anderson / The Hockey Writers)

Maple Leafs News & Rumors: Steeves, Holmberg, Stolarz & Matthews

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers | By The Old Prof | Last updated Feb 23, 2025 2:13 PM ET

The Toronto Maple Leafs carried home a 6-3 win over the Carolina Hurricanes Saturday night. The big story of the night was Alex Steeves. The 25-year-old scored his first NHL goal and added a first-period assist. Although he played less than 10 minutes in the game, he showed why he’s the top goal-scorer in the American Hockey League (AHL).

Another surprising secondary scorer, Pontus Holmberg, had a big game with two goals and an assist. While they still counted, these goals were slightly less dramatic than Steeves’ beautiful goal. One included an accidental goal from Carolina’s captain, Jordan Staal, who bounced a Holmberg-touched goal off the back of his own goalie and into the net. John Tavares chipped in with a goal and added an assist, while David Kampf and Auston Matthews added scores for the Maple Leafs.

The game got exciting when two of the unluckiest bounces I’ve seen somehow each beat Maple Leafs goalie Anthony Stolarz. However, Matthews and Holmberg closed the door with empty-net goals after Carolina had come within one goal at 4-3.

Item 1: Alex Steeves Scores His First NHL Goal

Alex Steeves scored his first career goal in the win over the Hurricanes. Steeves’ goal came on his team’s first shot of the game, thanks to a beautiful find and feed from John Tavares. Steeves one-timed the puck from the right circle past Carolina goalie Pyotr Kochetkov, giving the Maple Leafs an early lead.

What a great moment for the youngster, who looked like the weight of the world was suddenly off his shoulder. While he’s been tearing it up in the AHL with 29 goals in 40 games for the Toronto Marlies, thus far, in his previous NHL games, he had nada.

Given Steeves’ story and situation, he’s easy to root for. He’d only signed a one-year contract with the organization, and you have to know that he likely wouldn’t have signed another without some NHL time. His game was also more impressive because he did it with the fourth line. That line looked strong and hard on the puck throughout the game.

Now, the question is whether this impressive game might earn him a more permanent spot in the lineup. He’ll get another chance with the Maple Leafs struggling to find consistent depth scoring. This is one season where I hope the Maple Leafs organization fills in its own holes from their AHL Marlies as they continue their playoff push.

Item 2: Pontus Holmberg Explodes with 2 Goals and an Assist in Toronto’s 6-3 Win

Pontus Holmberg scored two goals on the night, but perhaps more important is that he’s earned his coaching staff’s trust. Holmberg made the most of his chance to play on the team’s first line with Matthews and Mitch Marner. He looked energized throughout the game. He was given key assignments and didn’t fail. As noted, he was credited with an early goal on Staal’s mistake and scored an empty-netter on a 2-on-1 after a great play by his Swedish partner William Nylander.

Perhaps it’s too much of a stretch to engage in a bit of backward design and wonder why Holmberg was lifted to the top line. However, if head coach Craig Berube wanted to get his young forward going, it turned out to be a stroke of genius. Two goals effectively ended Holmberg’s 17-game goal slump, giving the youngster a much-needed confidence boost. While this game was a great memory for Holmberg, his effective play was more important than his two goals. They came because he found the right place at the right time. He also showed he could handle the pressure of playing with Toronto’s big guns.

Item 3: Anthony Stolarz Stands Tall Again for Toronto

Although he gave up three goals in the game, Anthony Stolarz stood firm (again) in the crease. He was unlucky on two of them. Still, he made 31 saves to pull his Maple Leafs to the victory. After his team jumped to a commanding 4-0 lead by the 15:06 mark of the first period and then played the Hurricanes to a zero-zero draw for the following almost two periods, Carolina pulled their goalie and began to push back frantically. But Stolarz didn’t break. Carolina scored three goals in just 2:41 to pull within one.

Despite the late pressure, Stolarz held on, and the Maple Leafs scored two empty-netters to win. The game was Stolarz’s second straight win since returning from injury. He’s looked great in both.

What’s Next for the Maple Leafs?

Although I’ve read a couple of critiques of Auston Matthews’ play during the 4 Nations Face-Off (because he didn’t score a whack of goals), I thought he was the best American player in the championship game. He continued his strong two-way play last night and scored a milestone goal. Not only was the goal his 21st of the season, it pushed his point streak to five games. He’s put up eight points in those games (with a goal and seven assists).

Auston Matthews, Toronto Maple Leafs (Jess Starr/The Hockey Writers)

However, this was Matthews’ 389th career goal in just 603 games. It tied him with Darryl Sittler for second place on the franchise’s all-time goal-scoring list. Mats Sundin holds the record with 420 goals, but Matthews is only 32 from becoming the Maple Leafs’ top goal-scorer of all time.

While the team might not yet have gone on a long run in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, they’re building something powerful here in Toronto. Call me sappy, but I feel fortunate to be writing about this particular team day after day. Also, call me an optimist, but it seems only a matter of time before this group wins its second postseason playoff series – and, perhaps, more.