Every Leaf wears 14 against Canadiens — longtime rivals have had their number
The ugly loss to the New Jersey Devils was barely 10 minutes in the past when the conversation turned to the Maple Leafs’ next game, against the Montreal Canadiens.
It’s not a stretch for players to want to put bad losses behind them by talking about what’s next. But in this case, there was a glint in Morgan Rielly’s eye.
It’s not just the old “Leafs-Habs, Saturday night, Bell Centre, what could be better?” conversation. Now, it’s personal.
The Canadiens have beaten the Maple Leafs straight 14 times. It’s a remarkable streak. Sure, a team might win three or four over two seasons — the Leafs have done that to Montreal. But 14?
“Oh yeah, I recall,” said Rielly, that glint gleaming through.
“Thanks for reminding me,” said James van Riemsdyk, when told of the 14-game skid, which from Toronto’s perspective is 0-9-5 (nine regulation losses, plus five in overtime or a shootout). “Hopefully we can change that.”
The last time the Maple Leafs beat Montreal in the regular season was Jan. 18, 2014. The score was 5-3. Mason Raymond, Phil Kessel and Joffrey Lupul were among the goal scorers. Jonathan Bernier stopped 30 of 33 shots.
The Leafs moved to 25-15-5 and the talk that weekend was about a possible playoff matchup — finally — between Toronto and Montreal. The two haven’t met in the post-season since1979. The Leafs failed to hold up their end of the bargain, again, with a season-ending 2-12-0 collapse.
The turmoil in Toronto — wholesale changes from management and scouts to coaches and players — lasted through the 2015-16 season.
The only players left from that last win over Montreal are Rielly, van Riemsdyk, Tyler Bozak, Nazem Kadri and Jake Gardiner.
In other words, Maple Leafs who do not know what it’s like to beat the Canadiens include: Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, Zach Hyman, Connor Brown and Nikita Zaitsev.
Things in Toronto have changed for the better. There is roster stability. There is hope.
It’s in Montreal where the turmoil exists.
With P.K. Subban now long gone, the target seems to be Alex Galchenyuk, chosen two spots before Rielly in the 2012 draft. Galchenyuk was supposed to be the big, No.1 centre of the future for the Habs. Now he’s a third-line, sometimes fourth-line winger with no points, his confidence apparently shaken, the spotlight weirdly focused on him by his managers and coaches.
The Habs — bereft of centres like the Leafs once were — traded for Jonathan Drouin, an extremely skilled winger, with the hope he’d be their top centre.
A 1-3-0 start is not at all what the Habs had in mind, especially with the game’s best goaltender, Carey Price, in net.
They were division champions cut short in the playoffs, but now they can barely score — five goals in four games while the Leafs have averaged more than five goals a game.
This is not to say Montreal’s mastery will end. There’s a random element to sports outcomes at the best of times. And the Leafs are a young enough team that consistency is doubtfully going to be a hallmark for the season.
The Leafs can ill afford to take any opponent lightly. Against New Jersey, they certainly looked as if they thought they were playing the Devils of a year ago, the team that finished last in the Eastern Conference, not the new and improved version that has now opened the season with three straight wins.
Do that against Montreal and the losing streak could very well hit 15.
“It doesn’t matter what happened before,” Leafs goaltender Frederik Andersen said. “You can’t use the record for anything. It’s a new game. We want to go in there, be prepared and play better. It’s a fun building, a really good crowd.”