LEAFS KNOW NOW IS THE TIME TO BE ‘PREPARED AND HUNGRY’
Two brutal losses at home, injuries create urgency as playoffs approach
Green and white sweaters hanging in the stalls means
St. Patrick’s Day is here — and with it the imminent end of the NHL schedule.
So the timing of brutal consecutive home losses down the home stretch is worrying to Mike Babcock and his Toronto Maple Leafs, with no relief in sight on the injury front, amid concern that a promising season could fizzle in the first round.
With Wednesday’s five-goal meltdown against Chicago still on their minds — they did score four at the end — the Leafs convened Thursday for their first full home practice since Feb. 26 ahead of back-to-back weekend matches against the Philadelphia Flyers and Ottawa Senators. Twelve games remain in the regular season.
Babcock, who deserves scrutiny with the rest for the way the lethargic losses to the Chicago Blackhawks and Tampa Bay Lightning unfolded, vacillated between prodding his players, especially those filling in for regulars, and holding back the whip.
“When you look at our group, I don’t think you really need a lot of (hardball lectures),” Babcock said. “We understand what’s at stake for us, we understand our opportunity is here and now. Next year in sport never comes. We play in a real good division with good teams and you have to be on top of your game.”
Kasperi Kapanen (concussion), Jake Gardiner (back), Travis Dermott (shoulder) and Zach Hyman (illness) are out, while an undermanned defence is unable to steady itself and the forward lines lack mojo. Dermott is at least skating on his own and Hyman could be back shortly. But no one, least of all the coach, wants the sick list as a crutch.
“We’re here to discuss players in the lineup, not the ones out,” Babcock said. “You put our uniform on, you have to be ready to go. We expect a lot from our group. It doesn’t matter if you’ve played three, five or 10 games or just got called up from the (American Hockey League’s Toronto) Marlies.
“We tried to focus on details, but get back skating. We have to play fast to have success, but we’ve been slow, slow on defence, and so other teams have more time with the puck. We got our work ethic and speed back last night in the second period and were able to feel better about ourselves.”
Martin Marincin and Igor Ozhiganov are getting more ice than expected with Gardiner and Dermott out long term, but the other four blue-liners have been culpable in the recent losses.
The little-used Justin Holl might get in this weekend. And after moving Trevor Moore all the way up to right wing with John Tavares and Mitch Marner, Babcock flipped Moore with Patrick Marleau on the third line, where they remained Thursday.
“We can’t think about injuries, we’ve had years in the past where we were very fortunate with them,” defenceman Morgan Rielly said.
“You just look at who’s available, go out there and motivate each other.
“We keep on saying that playoffs are around the corner and we have to get in playoff mode, but we have to (really) do it. There’s no reason not to be urgent, prepared and hungry at this time of year.”
Which they weren’t in the last two games with another playoff-challenged team arriving on Friday. Frederik Andersen, pulled in back-to-back games for the first time in his career with eight goals against on 33 shots, will return against the Flyers, while Garret Sparks, who played bonus relief minutes this week, plays in Ottawa.
REAR-VIEW MIRROR
If Marlies call-up Moore needed a boost after Wednesday, it came from his father Dave, who flew in from California to see this week’s games.
“We talked about how cool it was for me to be here and be on the ice with (centres such as Tavares and Nazim Kadri). But you have to worry about that later and stay with the task at hand. I can talk to my dad (who runs a construction company) like I can with no one else; he’s really easygoing and I’m pretty lucky.”
Moore has been teased a bit since Babcock pointed to the size of Moore’s rear end as an advantage in protecting pucks.
“My mom and girlfriend got a good kick out of that. I don’t know if there’s anything special about my keister, but it’s nice he thinks I protect the puck well.”
LOOSE LEAFS
If the last two games have had a positive, it’s the Leafs’ young leadership group at least sounding like they’re on top of any malaise. “I think it’s all within the room,” Auston Matthews said. “We need a change and we have to find a way to turn it up a notch” ... Mitch Marner became the first Leaf to reach 60 assists since Doug Gilmour and should be the first Canadian-born Leaf since Gilmour to lead the team in scoring in consecutive years unless something changes down the stretch ... Toronto will wear sweaters honouring the St. Patricks — the franchise’s name in the early 1920s — the next two games. Rielly’s father Andy has the Irish blood in their family and Morgan once did a school project on his heritage. “I believe the name was O’reilly to begin with and when they came over (immigration officials) took out the O and switched the I and E because in the English language, it’s I before E except after C,” Rielly said ... Tavares is now at a career-high 39 goals.