Leafs enjoy stretch of home cooking
Play at home, day off, play at home, day off, play at home, day off ...
After a December to remember, playing 10 road games in four different time zones, the Leafs are liking their six- game home stand, every two days at the Air Canada Centre up to Wednesday against Ottawa, then a five- day bye before facing St. Louis to end their Bay St. residency.
“It’s a good feeling, nice to be home, to get in a routine,” said alternate captain Morgan Rielly prior to hosting Columbus. “We love playing here. Hopefully, we can get a couple of more wins before the break.”
The defenceman is not surprised the first three of the stand were so close, 2- 0 against Tampa Bay where the Leafs did everything but break Andrei Vasilevskiy’s shutout and then two shootout wins over San Jose and Vancouver.
“The feeling is that whenever you come back from Christmas break, the games become closer,” Rielly said. “You have to learn how to win these tight games because these points down the stretch are very important. In these past couple we’ve done a good job of playing well defensively. When it gets down to the home stretch and you can get back from down 2- 0 ( as on Saturday’s 3- 2 win against the Canucks) it’s a pretty good feeling.”
Columbus played Sunday, while Ottawa does likewise Tuesday before facing the Leafs.
“It’s not a real disadvantage at this level,” Rielly insisted of catching a team on a back- to- back, citing examples where the Leafs gave a good effort on the second night. “Good teams will find a way to get ready.”
Points squeeze
The Leafs ability to get through one- goal games with points, the reverse of much of this decade, is fueling their pursuit of a second straight playoff berth and possible home- ice advantage. Heading into the Columbus match their record was 13- 2- 2, compared to 14- 8- 15 all last season.
“Starting on time is the No. 1 thing in the NHL, the team that scores first and plays well first has a better chance of winning,” said coach Mike Babcock. “Number two, you have to be heavy, spend time in the offensive zone. You can’t be one and done, in other words, you get the puck on net, you have to find a way to get it back and stay in there. That doesn’t mean you’ll score, it just means momentum and it keeps you out of your own zone.”
Loose Leafs
Earlier this week, with his 102nd point, Auston Matthews passed the only other Leaf who wore his No. 34 and broke a hundred. That’s defenceman Jamie Macoun, who compiled 101 points in 466 games. Sixteen skaters and goalie James Reimer wore 34 prior to Matthews ... Babcock on Matthews getting six goals in the first seven games since his return from concussion symptoms: “The measure ( of some) is whether he scored or not. That’s not the measure for me, it’s does he skate, does he play 200 ( feet), does he dominate the game. Anytime you’ve been out for periods of time as he has, you don’t skate as good as you normally do. That’s probably still in the process. We still have two more games and then we have a week off.” ... Zach Werenski of the Blue Jackets went into Monday needing two goals for 13 and set a Columbus season record for defencemen. He’s one behind teammate Seth Jones, who did it last year, and ex- Leaf Bryan Berard from more than a decade ago ... The addition of call- up Travis Dermott gives the Leafs 10 players on their roster drafted by the team, a far cry from thee bare cupboard years ... Ex- Toronto defenceman Cody Franson was placed on waivers by Chicago Monday, while Frank Corrado cleared waivers in Pittsburgh the day before.