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With the Gray Cup in the building, the Maple Leafs and Vegas Knights played much of Wednesday in the trenches and goal-line stands.

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Matthew Knies was a casualty for Toronto after a big hit from Zach Whitecloud in the second period, the seventh Leafs forward currently out of the lineup, but his team held on for an emotional 3-0 victory.

While Joseph Woll made 31 saves for his second career shutout, teammates blocked 25 shots, including several on the first three power plays of the night against Toronto.

William Nylander’s power-play goal in the third period provided some breathing room as the Leafs won their sixth of seven games and improved to 10-0-0 when they took the lead after 40 minutes.

Pontus Holmberg potted an empty-netter with 3:19 to go, his first of the year.

It was a hit by Nikita Grebenkin in his first NHL game that set the raucous tone at Scotiabank Arena. He buried Shea Theodore close to the boards and was chirped by the entire Vegas bench as he skated by.

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Whitecloud shouldered Knies in center ice early in the second period, but the hit was ruled legal and the additional penalty in the fight went to Simon Benoit for jumping on the Vegas D-man.

The torched Leafs killed him, but retaliatory hits followed and four players ended up in the penalty area after one scrum, including John Tavares in a wrestling match with Alexander Holtz. When the teams caught their breath after 40 minutes, Woll had stopped 26 shots, thanks in part to Steven Lorentz’s shot blocking. He had four in the match, including two in a row on a penalty kill.

In his fifth NHL game and first this season, Fraser Minten broke through for his first big league goal in the first period. Two Swedes assisted the 2022 top pick, the latter a great backhand drop pass into Nylander’s slot past a pair of Knights that once put the onrushing Minten past Adin Hill.

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Berube and many Leafs have commented on Minten’s hockey sense and leadership attitude on the bench.

Minten concentrated Nick Robertson and Grebenkin, the latter making his debut after Max Domi became the last Leaf to go on injured reserve. The 6-foot-4 Grebenkin had chances to score himself and was a bit lax with the puck, but certainly caught the attention of the Vegas bench when he rammed Theodore. He led the Leafs with four hits.

It seems like every Canadian goalkeeper coming through town these days is mentioned as a possibility for one of the spots at the 4 Nations Face-Off in February and Wednesday was Hill’s turn. He faced 26 shots as the Pacific Division leaders began a season-long, five-game road trip.

Although the Leafs haven’t won the Stanley Cup in 57 years, members of the champion Argos brought their trophy to a pre-game ceremony.

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