Around the NHL: Leafs’ lines of communication dodgy at times
One of the reasons why the Maple Leafs take a lot of too-many-men penalties is the way coach Mike Babcock likes to change on the rush. The first forward on is always the next centre, regardless of who the first forward off is. The second forward on is always the far-side winger, regardless of the second forward off. Most teams change position-for-position. It’s easier on a left winger to remember he’s always replacing a left winger than the Leafs’ way. The left winger is the second guy on in the first and third periods at home, and has to pay attention to the order forwards are coming off the ice.
KNIGHTS OUT: It’s almost comical what’s happened to the goalies with the expansion Vegas Golden Knights. They’re down to their fourth- and fifth-stringers with Marc-Andre Fleury, Malcolm Subban and now Oscar Dansk injured. “This doesn’t happen very often when you lose your No. 1 and 2 at the same time, and lose them for a significant period of time,” said GM George McPhee. “You just cross your fingers and hope we can continue to have people who can play well for us.” The Knights had used four goalies and were 8-3-0 heading into Tuesday against the Rangers, when Maxime Lagace made his NHL debut backed up by Kamloops goalie Dylan Ferguson.
CREATIVE OVERTHINKING: The Chicago Blackhawks’ power play is ranked 28th with a 12.7 per cent success rate. The Hawks have been truly dreadful over the past five games, going 1-for-21. Forward Brandon Saad has an unusual take: “Maybe there’s too many creative minds out there. Just try to do too much. It’s in our five-on-five game, too,” Saad told reporters in Chicago. The first power-play unit features Saad, Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Duncan Keith and Nick Schmaltz. JET FUEL: Steve Mason was supposed to be the saviour in net for the Winnipeg Jets, but was winless (03-1) heading into Tuesday night. The Jets are in fine shape, though, because Connor Hellebuyck had yet to lose in regulation — 5-0-1 with a .937 save percentage and 2.02 goalsagainst average. “The first few games, we were giving up way too many good chances — breakaways, two-on-ones and stuff like that — and you can’t ask your goalies to bail you out every time,” forward Bryan Little told the Winnipeg Sun. “We’ve limited those a bit and we’ve tightened up defensively.”
STATS PACK: Tampa goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy has won nine games in a row, a Lightning record. Nikolai Khabibulin won eight from Feb. 23 to March 6, 2004. . . . A team has scored eight goals in a game six times this season, the most in October since 2006. . . . Sharks forward Joe Thornton collected an assist to pass Jari Kurri for sole possession of 20th on the NHL’s list, now with 1,399.