A patchwork defence does the job for Leafs
For five months, a giant Help Wanted sign has hung above the Toronto Maple Leafs defence, with folks certain they have no shot at a deep playoff run without importing a blueline mercenary.
So, taking away two of their best minute- munchers in the same game Saturday in Ottawa — with Morgan Rielly joining Nikita Zaitsev on the shelf — should have opened up a Parliament Hill party in the Leafs’ zone.
But the patchwork six from The Six were steady, limiting the Senators to 18 shots and helping to close out a 4-3 comeback win. One night’s success won’t deter general manager Lou Lamoriello’s trade search, though for the individuals involved and the coaching staff that’s drilled them all year for just such an emergency, it was a relief. It also ended a fourgame Leafs losing streak.
“There were some extra minutes there,” said Connor Carrick, who capped the evening with the winning goal. “Morgan eats a lot of (time), but we did it by committee. ( Jake) Gardiner played against their top line — not usually his assignment, and not that he doesn’t do it, but he was out there every shift against them.
“So props to all six of us and to our forwards. We tracked a lot better and when you’re able to defend as a unit of five, you look good.”
Centre Auston Matthews had rapid- fire praise for the group, though you had to be up on Leaf nicknames to keep pace.
“( Andreas) Borgman and Dermott stepped up and you’ve got Gards, Poley ( Roman Polak) and ( Ron) Hainsey, a veteran every night with experience. C’s ( Carrick) got the big goal and that definitely helps out when you have a key part of the team out like Morgy.”
The rookie Dermott and partner Carrick had the most to prove to head coach Mike Babcock in their expanded roles. Carrick played 19 minutes after 22 against the St. Louis Blues last week, and Dermott was close to 17 on Saturday. Hainsey and Gardiner clocked in at 24 and change, while Hainsey had eight blocked shots and four hits.
Rielly skated briefly Saturday morning, worked out in the gym and was kibitzing in the hallway at the Canadian Tire Centre after the game with no visible wrapping on the arm he landed on awkwardly in Philadelphia last week.
Rielly was set to be reexamined Sunday, and Babcock was cautiously optimistic about getting him back for Monday’s game with the Colorado Avalanche at the Air Canada Centre. But Zaitsev, out with a broken foot, might not return until after the allstar break, which follows a back-to-back versus Chicago and Dallas at mid-week.
Hainsey, who came from the Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins, has been encouraged by how the defence has done minus Zaitsev.
“There has been an adjustment as a lot of guys step in and some guys rotate and get called up,” Hainsey said Saturday morning.
“But all teams go through this. We’ve been pretty fortunate as far as defencemen injuries. Me, Jake and Morgan have been in all the games up to this point.
“That’s not too bad, but we’ll be excited to get Zaitsev back. We’ve hung in there. We’re still creating a lot of chances. We’ve been in a lot of tight, low- scoring games 3-2, 2-2, 1- 0, so overall we’ve done OK. Our goaltender ( Frederik Andersen) has been outstanding, which always helps.”
Babcock said he l i ked the defensive performance, singling out how Hainsey took charge on the ice after Patrick Marleau delivered a wake- up message in the dressing room between periods with Toronto down 3-1.
“Any time you give up 18 shots on the road, you’ve done a lot of good things,” Babcock said. “Lots of times your goaltender saves 50. Tonight, our players pick up Freddy.
“It looked like deja vu, but we had a real good response. When the players take over the team, they own what they do and you’re a much better team. At the end, you saw Ron running everything. That’s what you want: veteran guys who have done a lot of winning to have a stake in it.”