Ekman-Larsson navigating traffic well on and off the ice in Toronto

The Maple Leafs held an optional practice at Ford Performance Centre on Thursday.

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It's been a smooth start to the season for Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who leads the Leafs in ice time through four games.

"Obviously, feeling comfortable coming here," the 33-year-old defenceman said. "The guys have been very helpful, so I'm feeling comfortable."

So comfortable that he's unbothered by the city's notorious gridlock traffic.

"I don't mind it," he said with a laugh. "It's kind of nice to put on some tunes in the car and relax a little bit."

What's he listen to?

"Just Swedish tunes," the native of Karlskrona, Sweden said with a grin. "I'll send you my playlist."

Ekman-Larsson, who signed a four-year deal in the summer after winning a Stanley Cup with the Florida Panthers, is navigating the traffic well on the ice too. Among the Leafs, only Auston Matthews (19) has fired more shots on net than Ekman-Larsson (15). He picked up an assist, his third of the season, in Wednesday's 6-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings.

"He had a real good year last year," head coach Craig Berube pointed out. "Obviously, they won the Cup. A lot of confidence coming in this year. He's been a good player for a long time in this league. He knows how to play the game. He's played really well for us right from camp."

Ekman-Larsson is meshing nicely with Jake McCabe and contributing to both special teams units. He was promoted to the top power-play unit during Saturday's game against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

You add it all up and Ekman-Larsson is averaging 21 minutes and 50 seconds of ice time per game, which is 42 seconds more than McCabe, who is second on the team.

"He's a player that's played a lot of minutes in this league at times," Berube stressed. "Right now, he's an all-situational guy for us."

Ekman-Larsson produced 32 points in 80 regular season games last year while averaging 18 minutes and 24 seconds of ice time. That number dipped to 15 minutes and 27 seconds during 24 playoff games.

But, as Berube highlighted, Ekman-Larsson has logged big ice time totals over the years. His career average is 22 minutes and 45 seconds. 

"He's an outstanding player," said defenceman Morgan Rielly, who led the team in average ice time last season (23:44). "He has been for a really long time. He's a guy whose game I've looked up to. He brings a lot to the table. So to add a guy like that during the off-season after a great year last year, we're very lucky."

The feeling is mutual.

"I'm just having fun," Ekman Larsson said. "And we're having fun as a group of guys, and I think that pays off on the ice."

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The Leafs held an optional practice on Thursday with most of the regulars staying off the ice. But Matthews was back out there only hours after scoring his first goal of the season.

"He's out on the ice working on his shot, working on his game, so I think that says a lot about him," said Ekman-Larsson.

Matthews piled up plenty of chances before finally breaking through on Wednesday and the reigning Rocket Richard Trophy winner showed off his persistence on the play that led to his goal. Matthews initially whiffed on an attempt, but quickly recovered, eluded former Selke Trophy winner Anze Kopitar, and sniped a patented wrist shot past David Rittich.

The puck was in and out of the net in a blink of an eye. Matthews celebrated enthusiastically.

"It's good to see one fall," the new captain said. "A little bit of a weight lifted off your shoulders."

"Everybody wants to score," said Berube with a small smile. "I even wanted to score."

Berube produced 61 goals in his 1,054 game career. Matthews is now up to 369 tallies in 566 games.

"He's our goal scorer, one of them, and [I'm] sure it eats at him that he's not producing with good opportunities," Berube continued. "I looked at his first three games and his shot chart, and they're very good. I mean, right there, just weren't going in. And even early on in that game [Wednesday] on the PP, he had a great opportunity right away. So, we knew it was going to come and it's really good to see him get one."

The Leafs are now expecting the floodgates to open.

"You love to see it," winger Bobby McMann said. "All the boys are smiling. You love to see that for him because you know there's a lot more coming."

Matthews scored in consecutive games 26 times last season en route to 69 goals.

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After starting the season 0/11 on the power play, the Leafs finally converted on a couple chances against the Kings. Must be nice to relieve some of the stress after a slow start, right?

"Stress? What do you mean? Putting words in my mouth," said Matthews with a grin. "Yeah, it's always good to get that going. Obviously, it wasn't great the first couple of games, trying to find it a bit, so any time you see the puck go in on the power play a couple times you can take that momentum and continue to build off of it."

William Nylander scored the first power-play goal late in the second period while John Tavares added one late in the third period. Matthews assisted on both.

"It's always nice to get that first and second one and kind of get the pressure off a little bit," Ekman-Larsson said.

The team dedicated significant practice time to special teams leading into the game, but Tavares missed Monday's workout and Nylander was absent on Tuesday as both dealt with an illness.

There is a new assistant coach working with the power-play units this year in Marc Savard, but the forward personnel is unchanged on the top group.

"They attacked and shot," Berube said. "We could have had one on the first PP. Auston had a great opportunity. We had a couple of real good opportunities that didn't click. But I thought they stayed with it. They had way better movement and puck play overall. I think the one in the second period wasn't very good. Couldn't get set up and create some zone time, but overall, I thought our special teams won us the game, and our goalie."

The Leafs killed off all four Kings power plays. It's the first time the Leafs have won the special teams battle this season.

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Anthony Stolarz stopped 32 of 34 shots to earn a second straight win.

"He was solid in the game," Berube said. "Had to fight through a lot of traffic. That team goes to the net hard. They shoot a lot of pucks from the points, so I thought he did a good job."

Asked about the best part of his performance, Stolarz highlighted the ability to fight through traffic.

"A very big team," the 30-year-old observed. "Getting a lot of guys and bodies in front, they tried those tips off to the side ... I was able to kind of see the puck well and just try to eat it up when I could."

Stolarz has posted a sparkling .940 save percentage through three regular season games. He was also locked in during the pre-season with a .964 save percentage in three appearances.

"As a goalie, you can kind of control the game," the 6-foot-6 New Jersey native said. "It's just about going out there, being calm, cool and collected, and playing my game. I'm obviously a bigger guy so I'm able to play a little deeper so that kind of helps. But I also think I'm extremely agile as well. So it's just a good combination."

His new teammates certainly agree.

"He's a big body, uses his size well, cuts off the angles," McMann said. "I know in practice there's not really any net to shoot at when I'm shooting on him. He just stays composed all the time and it seems like he's always got the puck in front of him."

Stolarz is expected to make a third straight start on Saturday against the New York Rangers.

Injured goalie Joseph Woll hit the ice for a fourth straight day as he works his way back from what the team has termed "lower body tightness."

"He's doing well," Berube said. "Keep him going here. We'll see where he's at tomorrow."

It's possible Woll joins the team for practice on Friday. He hasn't participated in a practice since the regular season began.

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Both Stolarz and Berube highlighted the team's overall defensive effort.

"The mindset, more than anything, is there with the checking side of things," Berube said. "We're pretty tight on people. We're not giving up odd-man rushes. We've got to continue to stress that."

The Leafs have allowed just seven goals and only four at even strength. Toronto's goal differential is plus-seven, which is the best mark for the franchise through four games since the 1999-00 season.

"Lots of good trends," Rielly said. "Defensively, I think the team has bought into a certain structure. Everyone seems to be checking well and taking that, obviously, very seriously. It's about being able to continue doing it over the course of a long season and onward after that."

Berube is far from satisfied. He is urging his players to tighten up even more with challenging games against the Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning on deck.

"We were in our end too much last night," the coach said. "We let them come at us a little bit too much. We didn't get up enough and in the neutral zone well enough. But, in saying that, we were good at our net and we were good in the slot area, keeping them outside. They shot a lot of pucks from the point."

Berube took a timeout after the Kings pulled to within 5-2 in the third period.

"It was a feel thing for me last night," he said. "I didn't like what we were doing. I just wanted to get a break there and bring everybody in and talk a little bit about getting the intensity level up more than anything. They were pushing hard. I thought they pushed hard in the second period too. Our intensity wasn't good enough."

Berube acknowledges part of that is human nature considering the Leafs had built a 5-0 lead.

"We were soft a little bit on pucks and things like that," he said. "They were taking advantage of it. I wanted to call a timeout and kind of get everybody dialled in again."

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The Leafs outscored the Kings 3-0 when the line of McMann, Max Domi and Nylander was on the ice.

"We got a lot of speed, creating a lot of chances," Nylander noted. "Third period that kind of died down a little bit but, I mean, that's what happens when you have a lead. I think we're playing great and love the chemistry that we have."

"They created a lot from chipping it in and getting it back," said Ekman-Larsson. "I really like their energy that they brought to the team, and that's the way we have to play to be successful."

"We were just skating," McMann added. "We were just hard on pucks, pushing their D back, trying to get first touch a lot."

McMann scored a pair of goals. Domi assisted on the first one and Nylander made a beautiful pass to spring him on a breakaway for the second tally.

"It was perfect," said McMann, who also lay three hits. "Right where I wanted it, as he usually does. It was a great play and there's lots more where that came from, from him."

McMann has now scored three goals in three games since being a healthy scratch on opening night in Montreal.

"Just trusting that it's part of the process and it's part of the game," McMann said of his mindset after the benching. "There's guys that are playing well, there's a lot of good players on this team and maybe some guys fit better in certain scenarios than others and just knowing that my opportunity would come."

Domi has produced consecutive two-assist games since moving to centre.

"One of those guys that can play anywhere," said Rielly. "Maybe he's a little underrated in that aspect. I thought he was outstanding."

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Veteran winger Max Pacioretty sat as a healthy scratch on Wednesday night.

"We have extra players," said Berube. "Not everybody can play every night. That is the bottom line. He has been fine when he has played, but I have to make decisions as a coach. I am going to make those decisions based on what is best for the team."

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Leafs lines in Wednesday's game:

Knies - Matthews - Marner

McMann - Domi - Nylander

Holmberg - Tavares - Robertson

Lorentz - Kampf - Reaves

Rielly - Tanev

Ekman-Larsson - McCabe

Benoit - Liljegren

Stolarz starts

Hildeby