Toronto Maple Leafs forward Pontus Holmberg (29) scores on San Jose Sharks goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen (36) during second period NHL hockey action in Toronto on Tuesday, January 9, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
TORONTO – Mitch Marner had two goals and two assists as the Toronto Maple Leafs earned an emphatic fourth straight win, 7-1 over the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday.
Morgan Rielly, Auston Matthews, Pontus Holmberg, Jake McCabe and Nick Robertson also scored for Toronto (21-10-7), which snapped a three-game home losing skid.
Martin Jones made 22 saves in front of 18,364 at Scotiabank Arena.
William Nylander contributed three assists, with McCabe dishing out two and Rielly adding one as well.
Henry Thrun had the lone marker for San Jose (9-29-3), which had its losing streak extended to 12 games.
Kaapo Kahkonen surrendered four goals on 20 shots, while Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 22 of 25 shots in relief.
Rielly opened the scoring with 3:12 left in the first period. William Nylander had two defenders on him at the blue line but squeezed a pass through to an open Rielly in the slot, and he fired it over Kahkonen’s right shoulder.
Matthews doubled the lead 34 seconds later on the power play. He finished a pretty give-and-go play with Marner, blasting a one-timer past Kahkonen’s right shoulder from the right faceoff circle.
Marner joined the party 54 seconds into the second period. While being pushed away from the net by Mario Ferraro, Marner was able to tip in a point shot by McCabe.
Holmberg made it 4-0 just over a minute later. He was sprung into the offensive zone by Bobby McMann, and while holding off Kyle Burroughs with his left arm, Holmberg beat Kahkonen with a shot using just his right arm.
Kahkonen was pulled immediately after and replaced by Blackwood with 17:54 remaining in the frame.
Thrun put the Sharks on the board 7:21 into the second on the power play. He redirected Mikael Granlund’s shot from the right faceoff circle while in the slot.
McCabe bumped Toronto’s edge at 1:27 of the third period. He fired in a one-timer on a backhand feed from Marner.
Marner netted his second four minutes into the frame on the power play. He tipped in a loose puck after John Tavares attempted to tip in a Rielly shot in front.
Robertson padded the lead at 5:54 on the power play. Matthew Knies found him at the right faceoff circle after picking up a missed shot from behind the net and Robertson fired it past Blackwood.
ROAD REBOUND
The Leafs finished 2023 on a rough note, dropping three straight games. The losing streak saw forward David Kampf get benched for the last of three and goaltender Ilya Samsonov waived, having struggled for much of the season.
Toronto outscored its previous three opponents 9-2 entering Tuesday’s action, with wins at Los Angeles, Anaheim and San Jose. Jones was named the NHL’s second star of the week, boasting a 3-0 record, .976 save percentage and a shutout during the stretch.
UP NEXT
Maple Leafs: Head to New York to play the Islanders Thursday.
Sharks: Travel to Montreal to face the Canadiens Thursday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 9, 2023.
