RIELLY STEPS UP TO HELP LEAFS SNAP MINI-SLUMP
Coach says team’s high-scoring defenceman ‘really committed and dialed in’ this season
There is no one who likes being a Leaf more than Morgan. You need energy people and he’s one of them.
Kyle Dubas and Mike Babcock didn’t pin an ‘A’ on Morgan Rielly’s chest with the goal of him ascending team records in points by a defenceman.
But if giving a share of the captaincy is to be judged after one month, fair to say Rielly has lived up to the letter in every sense.
In a game the Toronto Maple Leafs badly needed to halt a series of home ice setbacks — to settle themselves and their restless fan base — Rielly took a pivotal role in Saturday’s 5-0 win over the Penguins. His team-high 23 minutes and nine seconds of ice time included big-time bust-ups in Toronto’s zone and yielded two goals, for 18 points and a tie for most by any NHL blueliner the past decade through 14 games.
“He was really committed and dialed in,” Babcock said. “He’s always good offensively, sometimes not quite as good (defensively).”
The last defenceman this hot through the first month was another Leaf, Tomas Kaberle, while Rielly is one point better so far than a player Babcock often holds up as a shining example to all his blueliners, Nicklas Lidstrom of the Red Wings.
“There is no one who likes being a Leaf more than Morgan,” Babcock added. “He provides leadership and has unbelievable enthusiasm every day, a zest for life and he shares that with the guys. You need energy people and he’s one of them.”
Rielly will talk about anything except his points, but was glad he was among those stepping up Saturday in the team’s first 60-minute win without the injured Auston Matthews.
“There are a lot of guys who can take that responsibility, guys who are willing and able to accept more, play more minutes in bigger situations,” said Rielly. “That’s a strength of this team, the depth and support, who are willing to take that responsibility in the next few games. I got a lucky one at the end (on Penguins goalie Matt Murray) so I don’t think you should put too much (credence) into that. It’s important that we all stay focused.”
Rielly was also the first to urge his mates to bring that complete game back to Scotiabank Arena on Tuesday against the Vegas Golden Knights with the Leafs shut out in the first 40 minutes of their past five home games.
It was significant on Saturday that Rielly and Mitch Marner moved ahead of the idle Matthews for the team scoring lead while John Tavares tied him at 16. Kasperi Kapanen is now up to 12. Will Matthews be able to catch up when he comes back in about four weeks from his shoulder injury?
Tavaras, Marner and Zach Hyman are certainly potent 5-on-5, never mind what the first two can contribute on the power play and what Marner and Hyman bring to the penalty kill.
As Sidney Crosby noted, Marner continues to gain confidence handling the puck in the offensive zone with his knack for changing gears and getting the puck on net. Tavares is a bull down low with the best hands other than Matthews for deflections. That’s how the all-important first goal unfolded Saturday.
“The more I play with him, the more I get a better sense of timing with his poise and his ability to hang onto it, read the play and buy time,” Tavares said of his tip. “That allows me to find open space and have my timing when I hit open areas and get a sense of when he finds the seam.”
Five penalty kills against the not-so-shabby Penguins’ power play was the Leafs best night in 14 games, bumping them back over 80 per cent to third place in the Eastern Conference. If Frederik Andersen wasn’t stopping them, defencemen Ron Hainsey and Nikita Zaitsev were clearing sight lines for him. Connor Brown and Hyman were at their disruptive best. Hyman ended the evening with Toronto’s first short-handed goal of the year.
“It hasn’t been as effective as we’d like it to be,” noted Babcock of the penalty kill. “We haven’t been able to clear the puck this year and been scored on so many times. (Assistant coach) D.J. Smith does a good with it, but it hasn’t shown in the results. We have good people. That will round itself into shape.”
Marner broke down the homeroad conundrum for the team, and his line in particular, quite succinctly. “We were moving the puck, skating, putting it behind their defence a lot (Saturday). We weren’t fooling around with it at the top of the circle or the blue line, made sure that when we got it up there we were either throwing it down and playing down low quicker and harder. That’s when our line’s at our best.” ... Not since 1940-41 have the Leafs begun a season with six straight road wins, setting a record of seven that year ... Rielly said he and Jake Gardiner were back to unnerving the opposition by jumping in the rush from the back end. “That’s a big part of our game. If we’re not doing that, then it’s not a good sign” ... A big moment for Tavares, post-game, was getting a souvenir Hockey Night In Canada towel while being interviewed. In his decade with the Islanders, the club was rarely on a national broadcast that coincided with him being a game star ... Sunday was Howie Meeker’s 95th birthday, the oldest living Leaf.