William Nylander Top Goals Assists of the 2025 26 Regular

Kneelander went to go off, Nyes had to retreat quickly. Panarin, moves it back across to Banajet. Failed on the shot, picked up by Reilly. He's away with Kneelander. And Matthews. Austin Matthews, William Kneelander, 2-1-1. Kneelander works in! Back in front, they score! Austin Matthews, overtime winner! Leafs take it 2-1! The Banajet jumps off the bench, over-skates the puck, so Reilly just hops it to Matthews, who shovels it to Kneelander. This little drag and slide is so nice. Past Fox, under Panarin's stick, and Austin Matthews has another tapping goal like he did the other night against Nashville. But the juice of the legs, enough to go down one more time, and that is high-end talent coming through in a game where everybody should thank Anthony Stolarz for the opportunity to get two points, because that way was all him. And Leafs get the win, courtesy of their goaltender. Another game-winning goal for Austin Matthews. Play in the NHL there, played with my son Reilly there. We'll see another Sun Devil next week, Josh Doan. And the Buffalo Sabres will provide back-to-backs. There's a shot! Scores! What a play from John Tavares! And the game tied again! It almost looked like it hit crossbar. Kind of a nothing play, good stick there by Tavares, good chip by William Kneelander. Lines that back direct from Larson, held for Tavares. The puck slides out. Neat pass for Kneelander, busting in. Mechelli scores! Matias Mechelli with a spurt to the Leaf. And Toronto's back with a one. Spots Tavares in the pocket. And nice little pass there. Nemec steps up, and that clean 2-on-1. Delicious! Selva shot, you think he's going for the shot for sure. Allen is miles out of the net, and he dropped it on a tee for Matias Mechelli for his first of the year. Absolutely, Steve. Just a guy that you really need to have going if you want to win hockey games. Terrific plays. Backhanded towards the front of the net. Stolas to his right, the puck went to his left. Here's Kneelander on the break! William Kneelander, shot, score! It goes through Alex Lyon! William Kneelander, who led the NHL in breakaway goals last season. But it counts, we're tied at 1. Start through this breakout here, it's a jailbreak high flip right to Willie Kneelander, and that's Willie Kneelander's first non-empty net goal of the year. He's had two empty netters, that's the first one on a goalie. You get that high flip, settle perfect for the backspin like a 60-degree lob wedge. Stops on a dime for Willie Kneelander, and he pots it 5-hole. Matthews will get to a loose puck. To reset the play, Ekman-Larsen looking for a tip. Here's Riley chopping one in front. Kneelander, backhands it, he scores! Welcome to the lineup, William Kneelander. Just about five minutes gone in this third period. The first one, and now Kneelander. It's hard work down low. You can see they're getting the pucks here. Great job by Nise to create that battle. And now Kneelander's in there, they're outnumbered, but they're causing their own turnovers now. Great job on arrival there by Matthews. Puck to the net, and they're back with him one. He touched on him. That was Morgan Riley down there, pushing the buttons as Pittsburgh's gonna take a timeout right now. And the crowd's into it, guys. I think the Leafs are into it, everyone's going. Ekman-Larsen through a screen. Kneelander looking for the tip out in front. Matthews, powers out in front, all the way back. Ekman-Larsen, Kneelander, he scores! Willie Stiles from downtown! He's on the top line with Matthews and Nise that worked here in this third period. They're out almost every other shift, and they're doing a great job of just getting pucks back. That's the key to this, and look at Kneelander. He's in the top of the zone. That's tough to defend. Worked at center. Tavares got position on Siversheim. Here's Tavares. Utah's trying to do is just get a hold of a puck. Tavares does a great job of keeping it alive, and then Nise just chips it over. Banachek tries to close the gap there for Kneelander. Watch the patience by Kneelander. Ekman-Larsen to the middle. Here's Kneelander with it. Down low, back to Kneelander. Break wide, Matthews. Midpoint, and now, in front, scores! John Tavares! Howard Playgold! For Jeremy Swayman, you're worried, okay, are they going to get a seam pass in here? Just great movement. Now you go the secondary level. He chips it back down to the Toronto zone. Just won two of three last year for Carolina. Won the last two meetings. As Nise centers for Kneelander. In alone, Kneelander scores! Nise finds Kneelander. He buries it to make it 1-0, ladies. From behind their own net, this is Kneelander streaking, trying to get in front of Mike Riley, who's up ice. As long as Matthew Nise can pull that and get it out into space, if it all works well, Kneelander could be in alone. That's a tiny little move on Busse, who is standing still. Kneelander goes right by him. Hey, Gordon, I'm not going to lie to you, I think this was a set breakout, because the coaching staff... Now, Wiley is shot. It escaped in front. Back at the point, Kneelander for Riley. Matthews posted up on the right side. That pass didn't get to him. Now it does. Matthews. Tavares. Back across. Kneelander shoots, scores! Kneelander strikes again! The Leafs have a 3-2 lead! ...able to get it past Busse on the short side against Boston. John Tavares scored a power play goal on a shot from the slot. So when he gets that puck, he's going to draw all the attention towards him. He takes a step back, doesn't force it, sees Kneelander flaring out, and Kneelander puts it into the short side to give Toronto the lead. Carolina was taking a good hard look at their feet. Blues converge on him. Oh, he cut the line! Kicks it free for Riley. John Tavares held off three Blues to buy some time. What a job by John Tavares. One on three. And he knows what he's doing. He's just trying to eat it. Back heels it by stepping on it, and then... Oh, boy! Magic! Oh, backhand toe drag. I like that. And one more. Wingside stuff. He opened the scoring on his own net. Apologize to Joseph Balsall. I'll get you back. Does he ever. This is highlight reel, even by Willie Stiles. And as it gets for the Toronto Maple Leafs, they bust the loose, the winless streak. They get it done in overtime. Tavares, Riley, and Kneelander. Showtime. Beauty for the win. Here's Matias Machilio. Cowan's out there. Kneelander. And now he'll go into the bench. Domi comes on as the extra attacker. It'll be Riley across. Kneelander steps and scores. Power play goal. It's 4-2. With a good fight from your young player, and just continue playing on. Instead, you get an opportunity for the Leafs here. Domi does a good job getting in front, and it's right through the legs. Watch the release of Kneelander. His head up the whole way. The shooting lane's taken away, but he goes through the legs of Anders. Digs the cave into the corner for Tavares. Trying to shake the checking of Wierenski. Cowan with a little bit of a pick that allows Tavares a little room. Cover up. Here's Cowan. Scores! Easton Cowan has tied it. Sort of backs off. Watch on this cycle. Great job. Get out of the way of Wierenski. No penalty coming here. And then Tavares, as he does so often, keeps the play alive. Kneelander with the backhand move. And that's one that you know that Cowan has been trying to make. He's missed a few close calls. There's the contact. No penalty made. Tavares keeps it alive. Backhand sauce. And what a shot. From a tough angle, up and over the... 88. Borekman-Larsen. Chris Cross against Nye gets to the bench. Matthews. One last shift. Nye. Matthews to the net. Nye. Kneelander again. There's a way. And the win is here at Columbus. Oh, man. William Kneelander again. As Joseph Wall said, his persona is his superpower. Well, it's been an up-and-down night. Some interesting moments. But what a game to finish off. The Leafs get a much-needed road win in their 10th victory of the season. And Kneelander trying to pass over to Matthews. And it comes right off of Monaghan. And then you can see Greaves. He's all in, going to his left. A quick little stop by Kneelander there. Shoots it back the other way. Just great composure under lots of stress. That was a two-minute, one-second shift for Matthew Nye. He gets off. Matthews comes on. And instead of the little saucer pass across, he gets blocked by Monaghan. And right back to Kneelander. And he makes Columbus pay. Another two points for Kneelander. And now 31 on the year. It's a 2-1 overtime win for the Leafs. And let's head to Washington. Eyes to Matthews. Back for Riley. In for Kneelander. Kneelander holds. Centers it. Matthews shoots. Scores! Austin Matthews from Kneelander. And the Leafs have taken a 2-0 lead. And the power play finally clicks. Matthews has been all over it tonight. Gets the backdoor pass to William Kneelander. You can feel him just drawing the attention, sucking everywhere from San Jose over to the right side of the ice. He wants Matthews the entire time. That was never in doubt. He was just trying to find the time and the lane. And then Austin Matthews does what he does, just has to elevate it one time. Eyes are tied up by Kneelander. Now it's picked free by Matthews. A quick chance. Scores! Austin Matthews. Power play goal. The game is tied at 2. And the captain comes up big when needed. And Matthews found it. The quick stick of Kneelander right here. Turns it over. McKay thinks he's getting out of it. Kneelander. Oh, and the burial wouldn't be the all-time leading Pittsburgh scorer. Here's Kneelander. He's got a break. A better scenario here for Kneelander. He's got pressure, so he doesn't have time. He's got a breakaway almost from the red line. But as he knocks it down, that pressure from the side, I think, really helps as a player. Just gets you focused on controlling the puck. Nobody had more breakaways than William Kneelander last year. 16 of them. Six times he scores. We haven't seen a breakaway just in, what, a month for Kneelander. But this is what you typically see. Outweight the goaltender. First game as an assistant. And they're going to work William Kneelander out of the bumper position tonight. Matias Pichelli's on the top unit. Gets to the line, but not over. Puck popped in the air. Zub unable to find it. Centering play in front. Scores! Power play goal for Brad Haught. William Kneelander. Haven't been able to do, get the setup, talk about personnel. Sometimes you just need a broken play and make a play. And there's Austin Matthews. Behind the play. The puck pops right to him. Bouncing puck that he's able to control. A backhand saucer. And William Kneelander. The game's first shot for the Maple Leafs. Just jumping into the zone. No thinking needed there. You get William Kneelander back into the mix. Coming back into the lineup. And Kneelander's got the puck. There's Matthews driving the lane. Kneelander. Scores! Matias Pichelli. What a sweet feed from 88. This power play got going after an 0 for 12 run in four games. And 0 for 5 in the last three games. A similar play here. Forget about a setup. Just a little give and go. And what a pass by Kneelander in his first period. Back in the lineup. Right through the lane there. Demko tried to slide across. Pichelli goes to the back door. Stops up. Unable to get it up high enough. You can see Demko was able. And a plus 5. He was Bobby Orr that night. Here's a turnover. And Lorenz going the other way. With Kneelander. He hit him. The other side. And then how about this pass by Steven Lorenz. Even Kneelander. I don't think, believe that that pass was going to make it through. Look at the point after. And this is Kneelander at his best. Great patience. Nathan McKinnon. Who thought he had the game winner. Gives it up to Kneelander. And now Matthews ahead. Ekman-Larsen. Kneelander with him. Will the Leafs have won it in overtime? What a game. What chances. What opportunities. And just great speed through the middle. How about this pass by Oliver Ekman-Larsen. Puts it to an area. Away from the stick of Makar. A quick reach and release there for William Kneelander. Five hole through minor. Game winning goal. What a great start to a four-game road trip. How sweet it is. Kneelander's 16th career overtime goal. Third this season. Here's Kneelander. Colazar. Kneelander drops it back. Great pass. Finally snaps it home on a great feed. Here's the Leafs. A 1-0 lead. Back below the goal line. And then this is where Kneelander is uniquely gifted. Colazar, big strong guy. Through his feet. Off his stick. Into the seam. And then he finds Morgan Riley. John Tavares. It's Tavares. Fits that back to Riley. Carlo flips that back out. Picked off by Kneelander. Threads it ahead for Michelli. And Michelli winds it. Centers it. Kneelander. Strikes again. And the Leafs lead 2-0. Five minutes and three seconds in. Wow. Turn over the neutral zone. Quick counterattack. This is defense to offense. And good plays in tight. Tavares sells out. Drives the middle lane. Pushes the Vegas defenders back. And Kneelander doesn't handle the first one cleanly. But his hands are so quick. He's able to go skate to stick again. The same case tomorrow night in Edmonton. And it was in Vancouver. On Saturday as well. Five seconds in. The Leafs have the lead. And the beat goes up. And Kneelander so good at timing when he leaks out of the defensive zone. And once he gets his puck tracked down, even the sliding Kuznetsov can't get near him. Elects to go with a shot. Moves around Kneelander. But that's picked off by Michelli. It's center ice. Picked back up by Tavares. John Tavares works it. Tavares shoots. Just missed short side. Myers steps up. Back down to Tavares. Kuznetsov stepped into him. Now Kneelander joins. Michelli chants, scores. And the Michelli do the work. The Leafs capitalize to take a 2-0 lead on the goal by Michelli. Just missed the backdoor chance. Pokes it home. Look at that by William Kneelander. The strength. Finds Matthews at center ice. He drops it off for Stetcher. Lead pass for Ekman-Larsen. Moves in. And Whitecloud bumps him off the puck. Ekman-Larsen winds through the offensive zone. Finds Matthews. Ekman-Larsen. Kneelander. Matthews. Larsen shoots. Rebound. Loose in front. Picked up by Kneelander. Spins it back in front. Rebound. Score. Troy Stetcher. Another great feed from Kneelander. 3-0 Toronto. Everyone's paying attention to all those other guys. And it's Troy Stetcher, the last guy you'd think that would jump down the slot. Faraby gets caught watching. Swung in on the backhand by Lawton. In after it is Michelli. Leaps are changing here in the second period as Lawton fires it on. Here's a rebound chance. And scores. William Kneelander gets it back. And in the corner, a lost stick. And get the puck to the front of the net. Good things happen. Aaron Clay in front, and it's Kneelander on the doorstep. Carlo does a great job of just disrupting Spence for a second. Kneelander comes from the back side and able to get one chance at it. How about this? Right off the toe. And that second little tip there by Kneelander pushes it past the line. What a big goal to get. Riley takes over. 20 seconds left in the power play. Tavares finds the handle for Matthews. Shot taken. Ladar said no. It pops out. Dives again. Tavares. Kneelander. He scores! Willie Stiles with a power play goal. 2.30 left. The lead so tight. From Philadelphia Flyer down behind the net. He's going to jump without a hesitation here on this play for Matthews. This looks like it's going to go to Flyers. Right there. Separation. Two guys go to him, and there's Willie on the back door. John Tavares, if he doesn't fake that shot right there, that's why Ladar's late. He's got to honor that. Kneelander doesn't need much space. The big guys come up when you need them all around. These are the moments that you have to try to capture. Dial in your instincts as a great junior player to try to create that here in the NHL. That's what scores! He's the cow on the shot. Did Kneelander get the tip? And it's 2-1 Toronto. Yeah, it looks like Kneelander got it, but how about that for timing? Cowan just staying on the puck. Matthews battles hard for the loose puck off the faceoff. And just a quick turn and throw. And you see the reaction of Markstrom. He can't believe this goes in. Because he's thinking he's got it the whole way off the back end of Kneelander and out the other side. Morgan Riley. Yorkstrand with a turn on Kneelander. But Kneelander stays with him. Cycles it off Kneelander. And here's Kneelander with a break. And Michelli scores! Matthias Michelli stays red hot. Listen to me now. The defense of William Kneelander. A guy that kind of gets maligned sometimes for maybe not the... John Taveras took him in hard as Wohl steered that away. Hunt back in by Kneelander. Michelli. Rink wide for nine. Looks back in, but Kneelander scores! Kneelander with the tap in. And another power play goal. Leaves you back on top. Five-minute major. Results in two goals. Good job by Kneelander. Zone entry. Ladder play. Get it to the middle. All the way across. I think that changed direction. Yeah, I think Nyes was looking for Taveras' stick. It hits Lacombe's glove. And ends up no chance for Nostal. He's reacted to the first pass. Krebs starts back. Here's Krebs. Just inside the line. He stopped up Nyes. Rink wide. Kneelander loose again. Working in. Scores! Champion! What a beauty of a play by William Kneelander. You saw the response by Domi. Inside the line with bodies changing makes this play possible. Great outlet pass by Matthew Nyes. And how about this? Nice play by Jake McCabe. Domi across. And Carlo banned on that. Kneelander across. Here's a shot by Domi. And Bussing stops that. Shelly recovers. Kneelander. Off the boards. To the net! Passes. A one battle in the corner. And this one for Kneelander is just going to the net. Harvey gets a bounce off his body it looks like. He tried to pull the cross. Watch right here. Tried to pull the cross. And the poke check by Bussing. They would want to be. Pokes at that. Finds Taveras. The final second of the power play. McEvoy's lost his stick. The puck goes back to McCabe for Kneelander. Kneelander threads it back in front of the pass. And it's fired. Rebound. Score! Crazy bounce. Fires it by Swayman. And the Leafs just as the power play expired. This is not goal interference. It's McEvoy and Taveras go crashing into Swayman. But the Taveras collision is McEvoy taking his legs out. Dribbled past the open side. Picked up by Seneca. Couldn't get it through. And it's a break! It's William Kneelander to tie it. He does! 6-3-3 on Kneelander's third point of the game. How about that release there by Kneelander. Just full flight back at Seneca. Rookie make one too many plays. A little errant pass. Credit Cowan making the play initially. Then just getting in the way. Just creating a little bit of buffer. And in mid-stride there. Watch Kneelander once he knows he's got that top corner. Just no hesitation. Six of their last 13. Easton Cowan. Downhill. Fires right on. A rebound. Tarasov. Knocked that away. Kneelander picks it up. And scores! Another power play goal. And the Leafs are on the board. Starts with Easton Cowan here. He looks up. He says he doesn't really have support. But he's got ice. So he takes it. The shot unable to control. Tavares keeps it alive. And just great patience there by William Kneelander. He's got the defender down on one knee. Trying to get the stick in the way. And he just outweighs him and gets it up over a sprawling goaltending. Tarasov's deep in his net. He's already down. Up ahead. Jake McCabe. And now Tavares gears it in. McCabe's going to go after it here. Takes Bjorkko down along the inboards. Tavares feeds back. Here's Bedois across. Kneelander back to Bedois. Not much on that. And Kneelander steals. Scores! He has a double take to the Leafs for their one. A power play opportunity on an offensive zone penalty. And then you come and follow it right back up. Basically two-thirds of the guy. Michelli instead of Cowan there. But another beauty of a shot underneath the glove this time of Tarasov. Akhtiyamov is a heck of a puck mover. He's out every single time though. He's quick. He's fearless in there with that puck when it comes around the boards. That last one was whipped around that yellow dasher. Kneelander. Easton Falun to the slot. Went off the skate of Gabo Bianco. To Smith. Got a hold of it. The Leafs bust the tower. And William Kneelander with 4-0-9-11. First. Exit 3-0. Jumped all over the Dallas Stars. And it starts down from their own end, which most things usually do. But here's a little give-and-go play. You can see that Maple Leafs has done a good job down in the corners here to start this one. And then as this play sifts through, that bouncing puck again goes the Maple Leafs' way. You think about the top guys and it's all skill, right? It was the skill on the entry. But after that, it's getting to the net. The heartbreak around here was usually in the first round a couple times the second round of the playoffs. But here, it's been season long. William Kneelander. Leaving it for Cowick. Centers. Ricochets up top. A one-timer deflected away and scored. Kneelander. Willie Kneelander makes it 3-0 Leafs. Again, the game has been right around their own net. And, you know, forechecking pressure initially. It's just a simplistic shot toward the net. Yeah, they get the fortuitous bounce off of Tavares in front of the net. But they just have not been alert. That's wonderful bat skills from Willie Stiles. As he swats this thing out of midair and gets it passed. Johnson for Dallas. Pulls up. Checked by Nines. Nines will pick it up. Lay it along. A jailbreak. Kneelander. Right in. Pass a beauty. Domi scores! Oh, that was center cut. William Kneelander put it right on the money to Max Domi. And the Leafs are back up by one. Matthew Nines, he wins that battle. And before that it was the back check. But the soft hands for the big man here.