Nylander nets 3 points as Leafs outlast Flames 4-2

CALGARY – William Nylander scored his 18th goal of the season and added two assists to lead the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 4-2 NHL victory over the Calgary Flames on Monday.

Matias Maccelli, Troy Stecher, and Bobby McMann, into an empty net, also scored for Toronto (26-21-9), which has won back-to-back games to open a three-game Western Canada road trip.

The Maple Leafs moved to within seven points of the Boston Bruins, who occupy the second wild-card berth in the Eastern Conference.

Nazem Kadri and Joel Farabee each had a goal and assist for Calgary (22-27-6).

Held pointless in 20:05 of ice time in his first NHL game since Nov. 7 was rookie defenceman Zayne Parekh. The Flames’ 2024 first-rounder has been working his way back from an injury picked up at the World Junior Championship tournament in which he starred for Canada with 13 points (five goals, eight assists) in seven games.

Joseph Woll made 28 saves for the win, improving to 13-7-4. Tagged with the loss was Dustin Wolf, who had 18 stops. He falls to 16-21-3.

The Flames got off to a fast start and were immediately buzzing dangerously around the Toronto end when Jonathan Huberdeau’s pass was intercepted by John Tavares, who sprung Nylander on a breakaway and his snap shot gave the visitors the lead for good just 35 seconds in.

Calgary’s two goals came 2:30 apart late in the second to cut Toronto’s lead to 3-2 after 40 minutes.

TAKEAWAYS

Leafs: Nylander, who was born in Calgary while his father, Michael, played for the Flames in the mid-90s, continues his scoring prowess against Calgary. In 26 career games, he’s piled up 36 points (13 goals, 23 assists). Woll has also enjoyed playing the Flames, improving to 5-0-0.

Flames: Kadri’s goal is his second in the last 20 games and only his 10th on the season. Kadri led Calgary last year with a career-best 35 goals. Farabee’s season has gone the opposite direction. After only mustering six points (three goals, three assists) in 31 games after joining the Flames last season in a trade with Philadelphia, he’s up to 23 points (12 goals, 11 assists) in 55 games this season.

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KEY MOMENT

Less than a minute after Maccelli made it 2-0 at 7:17 of the second period, Matt Coronato had a chance to answer back on a breakaway, but Woll made a blocker save. Just over a minute later, Toronto surged in front 3-0 on Stecher’s slick goal, which came off a set-up from Nylander.

KEY STAT

The Leafs extended their winning streak against Calgary to eight games, which is their longest active streak against any team.

UP NEXT

Maple Leafs: Visit the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday.

Flames: Host the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 2, 2026.

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