Matthew Knies nets hat trick as Leafs beat Bruins 6-4 in Auston Matthews return

Toronto Maple Leafs left wing Matthew Knies (23) celebrates his goal with teammates Mitch Marner (16) and Auston Matthews (34) during second period NHL hockey action against the Boston Bruins, in Toronto, Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn

Matthew Knies recorded his first career NHL hat trick and Mitch Marner had a goal and four assists Saturday, lifting Toronto to a 6-4 win over the Boston Bruins in Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews return from injury.

The line of Knies, Matthews and Marner had 13 points on the night with two assists and a goal for Matthews. Knies also had an assist on late empty-net goals by Marner and Matthews.

Boston rallied from 2-0 and 3-2 down, with David Pastrnak tying the game at 3-3 just 34 seconds after Knies' second of the night had put Toronto ahead at 4:17 of the third period.

Knies restored the Leafs lead with his 14th of the season at 5:28, beating Jeremy Swayman after taking a feed from Matthews from behind the goal. After Marner's goal, Pastrnak added his second to make it 5-4 with less than two minutes remaining.

Matthews returned after a six-game absence due to an undisclosed upper-body injury that had sidelined him since Dec. 20. The star centre has missed 15 of the team's 40 games this season, also sitting out nine contests in November, with Toronto going 10-5-0 without him.

Jake McCabe also scored for Toronto (25-13-2) in a wide-open, entertaining game.

Morgan Geekie and Trent Frederic also scored for Boston (20-17-4).

The McCabe goal came on Matthews' second shift of the game. Matthews set up Knies' first of the night early in the second period, coming off the bench and firing a shot at goal that Knies redirected past Swayman.

Geekie's ninth of the season came just 12 seconds later, cutting the lead to 2-1. Frederic tied it 2-2 at 18:44 of the second.

Leafs goalie Joseph Woll won his fourth straight start.

The contest marked the end of a three-game road trip that saw the Bruins lose to Washington and the New York Rangers. Toronto was coming off back-to-back wins over the New York Islanders and had won three of its previous four.

TAKEAWAYS

Leafs: Like Knies, Marner also showed plenty of jump reunited with Matthews. The shifty winger set up McCabe's opening goal, twisted his body into a pretzel for a nifty between-the-legs shot on target and almost found John Tavares on the edge of the Boston crease, all in the first period.

KEY MOMENT

McCabe's goal, at 3:29 of the first period, was the first by a Leaf defenceman since Nov. 30 when Chris Tanev scored in a 5-3 win over Tampa Bay (in Matthews' first return from injury). Going into Saturday's game, Toronto had scored 50 goals in 16 outings since then without its blueliners accounting for any of them.

KEY STAT

Toronto opened the scoring for the fifth straight game and is 17-2-1 when scoring first this season.

UP NEXT

Bruins: Host the New York Islanders on Sunday.

Maple Leafs: Host the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday with the two teams meeting again Tuesday in Philadelphia.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 4, 2025