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Former Maple Leafs Forward Matthew Knies Has Historic Debut For Blue Jackets
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- Former Maple Leafs Forward Matthew Knies Has Historic Debut For Blue Jackets
The Toronto Maple Leafs and Columbus Blue Jackets made a huge trade on Monday. The Maple Leafs received Kirill Marchenko, Miles Wood and Elvis Merzlikins, while the Blue Jackets got Matthew Knies, Emil Andrae, Steven Lorentz and a conditional 2027 second-round pick.
On Thursday, Knies and Andrae made their debut with the Blue Jackets, taking on the Buffalo Sabres at Nationwide Arena. In their first game with their new team, they stepped up and stood out in a big way.
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Knies in particular had a massive performance, scoring two goals and an assist in Columbus' 6-3 victory over Buffalo. It was a record-breaking night for the 23-year-old in terms of the Blue Jackets' history.
His three-point night matches the most points scored in a debut for the Blue Jackets, along with Artemi Panarin's three-assist performance in 2017-18.
Furthermore, adding to the Columbus history books, Knies became the first player for the Blue Jackets to record a multi-goal outing in their debut for the club.
His first goal came on the power play with just over two minutes remaining in the first period. That tally gave his team a 2-1 lead over the Sabres at the time. Less than a minute later, Knies picked up a secondary assist on a goal deflected in by center Adam Fantilli.
What Does Kirill Marchenko Bring To The Maple Leafs That Matthew Knies Didn't?
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His second goal of the night was in the middle frame, potting a deflection to give the Jackets a 4-2 advantage . That marker was set up by defenseman Andrae, who, as mentioned, was a part of the Knies-Marchenko trade from Monday.
Knies finished the game with the first-star honor, also leading his team in shots on goal with four, and logged 16:06 of ice time.
Andrae ended the contest with a plus-one rating in addition to his assist and had 15:37 of ice time.
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