In the home game against the Montreal Canadiens, it was the visitors who scored the first goal of the game, in the second period.
But before the period was over, Toronto had turned the tables to a 3–1 lead after Pierre Engvall scored one of the goals and Rasmus Sandin and Calle Järnkrok each played forward.
In the third period, William Nylander made it 4-1, his 31st goal of the season which is the most on the team.
Behind the final 5–1 goal were Sandin and Engvall for their second points of the evening.
"Absolutely crazy day"
- It has been a completely crazy day, coming here and so.
Of course, it's nice to get started right away, get such a big win right away and start getting to know the guys, says Ryan O'Reilly who was noted for an assist in the match.
The 32-year-old O'Reilly, who has family ties to the city of Toronto, was traded to the Maple Leafs from the St. Louis Blues along with Noel Acciari in a major trade that also went through the Minnesota Wild.
Among other things, Toronto had to trade away its first-round pick in this summer's draft and its second-round pick in next summer's draft.
Ryan O'Reilly was the team captain in St. Louis and won the Stanley Cup with the team in 2019 when he was also named the playoffs' most valuable player.