Leafs vow to up the effort
D-man, coach tout importance of accountability
Never mind Ron Hainsey’s 1,000th game and getting his silver stick, how about giving 100 per cent against the Stars?
The Maple Leafs’ recent troubles in home starts and general lack of offence (nine goals the past five games) was an ideal way for the 37-year-old reluctant media maven Hainsey to change the narrative heading into Thursday’s game versus Dallas at Scotiabank Arena.
“We’re more concerned about getting a better effort out of everybody here,” Hainsey insisted, harkening back to NHL game No. 999 when the Leafs showed little on home ice in a 3-1 loss to Calgary. “We were pretty disappointed and we’re pretty focused (at Wednesday’s practice) on pouring everything into a good effort.
“You can certainly move past a loss if you play well, but that wasn’t the case Monday. We were out-chanced and didn’t get the job done on the penalty kill. We got the late power-play goal, but didn’t play well, up and down.”
Part of that is on head coach Mike Babcock, whose job — and that of his vast staff of resources — is to capitalize on home turf.
The Leafs had two days off from their come-from-behind win over the Jets which, to their credit, came after being down 2-0 to Winnipeg and were trying to digest Auston Matthews’ shoulder injury. But they looked wobbly most of the night against the Flames.
The Leafs beat Dallas 7-4 on Oct. 9, but the Stars come to Toronto on the heels of a 4-1 win in Montreal.
Babcock is trying to avoid a repeat of Monday’s moribund play.
“Everything is (in) your preparation, to understand who you’re playing against,” Babcock said. “When I watch the NHL, every team can beat anybody. If you’re not ready to go, not going to do it right, you’re not going to win. Your attention to detail has to be high. If you think you’re just going out there out-skilling teams, you’re not.
“We look like a real good team some nights and other nights we’re not. We have to find a way to do it right every day and have internal accountability.”