There were a lot of reasons why the Maple Leafs could have fallen flat in Arizona.

With one game to go until the mandated three-day holiday break, it could have been easy for one of the youngest teams to be looking past. After all, they just completed a 6-0 domination over the Colorado Avalanche a night earlier.

There was also the Auston Matthews factor.

Playing his first NHL game in Arizona, the Scottsdale native had a whole region of hockey fans flocking to Glendale just to see the hockey prodigy play in person.

But the Leafs managed a significant milestone on Friday night. They finally, for the first time this season, got a win on the tail end of games on consecutive nights, defeating the Coyotes 4-1.

“I think we’re doing better every day, and we really needed this win,” said Leo Komarov, who scored two of Toronto’s goals. “It (gives us) a lot of confidence and I think we’re doing really good this year so far.”

The Maple Leafs were 0-5-1 in the second game of back-to-backs this season. The reason usually focused around fatigue and the first symptom would be a slow first period.

But it was Toronto that took advantage in the opening 20 minutes. And it was Matthews who helped get the offence going.

With the Leafs in the Coyotes zone, Martin Hanzal’s clearing attempt bounced off of Matthews’ skate and off the leg of Radim Vrbata. The puck seemed destined to leave the zone, but Matthews showed excellent hand-eye coordination to keep the puck on the blueline and then set up Connor Brown at 3:04.

It was the sort of impressive display of skill that Leafs fans had been able to see for 32 games this season. This, however, was the first time Matthews was able to impress a large gathering of family and friends.

With the assist on Brown’s goal, Matthews has 13 points (10 goals, three assists) in his last 13 games.

The Leafs hung onto that early lead and then played a smart road game. They were aggressive on the forecheck throughout the game, causing Coyotes goaltender Mike Smith to give away the puck on several occasions.

Getting the win on the latter half of back-to-back nights was important for Toronto.

“You can’t afford to just think it’s a game you can throw away,” goaltender Frederik Andersen said. “We maybe didn’t play the best first but we got out 1-0 and that’s good on the road. We scored on our chance there and took it from there.”



Strong start, stronger finish

With Toronto up 2-0 late in the second period, Coyotes captain Shane Doan scored his 400th career goal in his 1500th NHL game. The goal could have given Arizona a much needed lift going into the third period, but Toronto responded with two goals in the final frame.

Komarov would score the second of his goals on a breakaway at 6:26 to restore Toronto’s two-goal lead. And William Nylander followed it up by breaking out of his 13-game goalless skid at 11:31 to end all hopes of any late comeback.

“We’re playing better defensively,” Leafs coach Mike Babcock said. “We’re getting better and the wins happen when you do good things.”



Andersen continues to dominate

After his first shutout of the season on Thursday in Denver, Andersen was rewarded with another start in goal on Friday. It was a spot that would normally be a day off for the Danish netminder. Instead, he made 30 saves on 31 shots.

Since Nov. 1, Andersen is 12-6-3. His .938 save percentage in that span is the second best in the NHL among goalies who have made six starts or more in that span.

The Leafs are getting their money’s worth on the five-year, $25-million deal they gave him in the off-season.



Special teams continue to deliver, especially on the road

Komarov’s first goal at 0:43 of the second period was on Toronto’s only power play of the game. It was the first time since October 19 the Leafs went perfect on the power play for the night. They also went 4-for-4 on the penalty kill.

Toronto improved their road power play to 26.4 per cent this season (third in the NHL). Their road penalty kill improved to 90.6 per cent (second in the NHL).