National Post (National Edition)
Matthews’ medical condition still a ‘day-to-day’ mystery
‘What a relief,’ says Boston defenceman
Unfortunately for fans and media, Toronto Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock was true to his word about keeping Auston Matthews’s medical condition a secret.
“Day-to-day,” the coach said tersely on Friday morning. It was an indication the team’s leading scorer, who has now been off skates four days with a suspected back problem, may not return until next Thursday against the New Jersey Devils as the Leafs have four days off after their home and home series with Boston concludes.
Whenever Babcock invokes day-to-day, it usually means the injured player will be gone a week to 10 days. But not everyone at the ACC was disappointed to be missing Matthews.
“What a relief,” quipped Boston defenceman Charlie McAvoy.
SILENT MARNER
Mitch Marner was not panicking about having just one goal through 17 games to go with eight assists. He’s been blanked since the opener in Winnipeg.
“Not really,” Marner said about getting down on himself for missing on 27 other shots on goal. “It’s always been a kind of ‘pass first’ thing in my mind. I don’t worry too much about that stuff. We’re winning hockey games and that’s the most important thing to me.” Babcock had his own take. “The harder he forechecks, the more he has the puck, the harder he backchecks, the more he has the puck. When you get yourself in a spot like this, you have to work your way out of it. How many shots on goal do you get? How much are you around the net? Those are the simple measures.”
NOW HEAR THIS
In the heat of battle, Babcock is encouraging his players to be vocal, on the bench and on the ice.
“The more you talk, the more you execute in the defensive zone. People that are confident, you can hear them all over the rink yelling for the puck. You can hear (Leaf defenceman) Ron Hainsey (up) in the booth. Some guys you never hear. That’s why they never have the puck.”
Hainsey said chatter is an area of the game the Leafs can work on, but noted the Leafs have a few foreignborn players who sometimes can’t or won’t express themselves loudly.
LOOSE LEAFS
Brad Marchand has become a Babcock enthusiast since working under him at the World Cup. “It’s not easy playing for him, he demands a lot,” Marchand said. “He expects his players to be very good. But he brings pluses. You see how things have changed around (in Toronto) the past couple of years and it’s only going to get better.” ... Toronto defenceman Nikita Zaitsev played in his 100th NHL game Friday for the Leafs ... Being 6-feet-9 and 250 pounds has its advantages. When the Bruins are in Toronto, hulking defenceman Zdeno Chara gets one of the two large goalie stalls in the visiting dressing room. But with No. 1 Tuukka Rask claiming the other by seniority, Friday night’s starter Anton Khudobin was jammed into a skater’s cubicle.