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Toronto Maple Leafs Win Three Straight

Originally posted on Inside The Rink
By Jeremy Ridgewell | Last updated Dec 5, 2025 2:11 PM ET

The Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 5-1 on Thursday night. It’s the team’s third win in a row. They’ve improved their record to 13-11-3 through 27 games.

Bobby McMann registered the first and last goals of the night. Matthew Knies had a goal and an assist. His goal is highlight worthy, after almost falling over, but staying with it. Scott Laughton and Auston Matthews each scored. Laughton has registered a goal in back-to-back games. Max Domi and Nicolas Roy each had two assists for the Maple Leafs, who won the final three games of a six-game road trip (4-2-0). They hope to continue their winning ways at home on Saturday night against the visiting Montreal Canadiens.

Joseph Woll made 22 saves through two periods before leaving with a lower-body injury. Dennis Hildeby stopped all nine shots he faced in relief. With Anthony Stolarz already out with an injury and no timetable for returning, losing Woll for an extended period of time could be devastating for the Leafs. Hildeby will likely get the start on Saturday against the Canadiens. Woll appeared to get hurt after flashing his pad to make a save in the second period. He was seen shaking and stretching his left leg afterwards.

With McMann’s first goal of the game at 0:53 in the first period, Toronto becomes the second team since 2009-10 to score on their first shot on goal in four consecutive games. The Tampa Bay Lightning did it from November 20th to 26th in 2021. McMann has registered multiple points in each of his last three games.

Maple Leafs Moving Up the Standings

The Maple Leafs are now two points behind the Canadiens for third spot in the Atlantic Division. The Eastern Conference standings are very close. The last-place Buffalo Sabres are ten points behind the first-place Washington Capitals, with every other Eastern team somewhere in between. Teams continue to move up and down the standings with each win or loss. It is a tight, competitive race, and it will be interesting to see when a few teams start pulling away from everyone else.

Head coach Craig Berube continues to praise his team for the hard work they’ve been showing lately. Wins don’t come easy, and the Leafs have struggled this season. Between new players learning the system, lines finding chemistry, and injuries up and down the lineup, it’s taken a while for this team to find a groove. With three straight wins at the end of a road trip, they finally look like the team many were expecting when the season started.

The Leafs have hopes of being a playoff team this season, but it’s going to take a lot of hard work. With both Stolarz and Woll injured, the wins will only be harder to come by. This is when a team needs to dig deep and fight for each other. Hildeby can be a decent backup while the other two are out, but he will need the Leafs to keep playing well in front of him. Fans would love to see him perform well and play like his nickname, “Hildebeast”, describes.

This article first appeared on Inside The Rink and was syndicated with permission.

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