Marner grabs bragging rights in Flames-Leafs rookie battle

When the Maple Leafs and Calgary Flames met last Feb. 9 in Toronto, there were no shortage of storylines.

- Both teams were on their way to missing the playoffs along with the five other Canadian squads.

- Calgary's 23-25-3 record was surprising and disappointing, given its 45-win, 97-point output the previous season.

- The Leafs were eyeing a full rebuild and traded veteran defenceman and former Flame Dion Phaneuf to Ottawa just hours before faceoff.

- Calgary head coach Bob Hartley sat his top two scorers, all-star Johnny Gaudreau and fellow forward Sean Monahan, for disciplinary reasons.

- Much of the post-game talk focused on Toronto forward Nazem Kadri's throat-slashing gesture towards Mark Giordano after the Flames defenceman dazed him with a first-period hit at Calgary's Saddledome.

The vibe around Air Canada Centre for Monday's matchup was a lot different with the Flames in playoff position and the Maple Leafs a single point behind Boston for third place in the Atlantic Division (with six games in hand) and Philadelphia for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. Toronto regained its playoff standing with a 4-0 victory.

Marner moves to top spot

There is plenty of excitement surrounding the present and future outlooks of rookies Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander in Toronto along with Calgary freshman Matthew Tkachuk, son of one-time NHL power forward Keith Tkachuk.

Matthews, whom the Leafs drafted first overall last June after winning the draft lottery, led all NHL rookies in scoring with 38 points entering play Monday but didn't register a point for the third straight game while Marner scored and added an assist to take the lead with 39. Winnipeg's Patrik Laine (37 points) and Tkachuk and Nylander (30 apiece) round out the top five.

Things should get even more interesting if Laine returns to game action in the near future after being cleared for full practice on the weekend. The Finnish sensation, who suffered a concussion in a Jan. 7 game against Buffalo, could play Tuesday against San Jose.

Below, we size up the others in the rookie scoring race:

Auston Matthews

The 19-year-old has exceeded the expectations of many, topping his team and all rookies with 22 goals and the Maple Leafs in shots (155). Matthews is on pace to set the franchise's single-season rookie records for goals (Wendel Clark had 34 in 1985-86) and points (66, Peter Ihnacak in 1982-83).

The 2016-17 all-star leads the NHL in scoring the first goal in a game nine times and is second in even-strength goals with 19.

Mitch Marner

The former junior star with the London Knights carried his strong play at training camp into the NHL season and hasn't stopped, leading all rookies and the Leafs with 29 assists.

The No. 4 pick at the 2015 draft also leads Toronto in multi-point games with 12 and has thrived before the home crowd, with 26 of his 39 points coming at the ACC, where he brought fans out of their seats with pretty goals on Nov. 17 against Florida and in Saturday's breakaway competition.

Matthew Tkachuk

The six-foot-two, 200-pound left-winger has been a big part of Calgary's 24-22-3 season, sitting second amongst rookies in assists (21) and plus-minus (plus-8). Tkachuk, though, might be best remembered by some for his Memorial Cup-winning goal last May in a 3-2 London win over Rouyn-Noranda.

This season, the 2016 sixth overall pick is the only rookie with a nine-game points streak and it's hard not to imagine how many more points Tkachuk would have if he didn't have 92 minutes in penalties.

William Nylander

He had a head start on the aforementioned rookies after playing 22 games with the Maple Leafs last season and recording 13 points. Nylander was drafted eighth overall by Toronto in 2014 and has displayed excellent vision, puck skills and a quick release in the NHL this season.

The 20-year-old son of ex-NHL forward Michael Nylander has settled alongside centre Nazem Kadri and left-winger Leo Komarov after shuffling linemates earlier this season and leads all Toronto skaters in power-play points with 15.