Afternoon a delight for Toronto offence
A crowd heavily populated with children seems to cure what ails young Leafs scorers
The 2 p.m. start, the Air Canada Centre filled with kids, and the nifty Toronto Arenas sweaters seemed to be abig hit with the Maple Leafs after an 8-1 win Tuesday over Carolina.
“I loved it. I wish we played more afternoon games,” said Tyler Bozak, who had a goal and three assists. “It’s just nice — you wake up, you eat and you just go to the rink and play. For me, personally, I thought it was awesome.”
Zach Hyman, who had two assists, said the presence of the kids made the day special for him.
“You want to appeal to a new generation,” Hyman said. “We obviously have a great fan base, but you want a timeless fan base. You have fans who are older, who have been through the history of the Leafs, and you want to have fans like the fans today who were experiencing Toronto hockey for the first time.
“A lot were here for the first time, their parents taking them out (of school) ... Sharing this experience with your family is something cool.”
And those blue jerseys with the white piping on the sleeves?
“It’s pretty wicked to wear those jerseys,” said Mitch Marner, who also had a goal and three assists. “It was a cool atmosphere and it was cool to be a part of that game.”
GETTING CLOSE: Auston Matthews will accompany the Maple Leafs to Columbus, but there is no indication the No. 1 centre will play in Wednesday’s game. Matthews skated with Martin Marincin and Josh Leivo prior to Tuesday’s game against the Hurricanes. It was the third day in a row Matthews was on the ice.
“He looks to me like he’s getting ready to go,” Babcock said. “I’ve answered this same question every day here ... When they tell me he’s ready, he’s ready. In the meantime, he looks good and I talked to him, he seems good.
“Obviously, they have a medical plan for him and that’s what we’re following.”
Goalie Curtis McElhinney is expected to start against Columbus.
POLAK PLAYS: With Nikita Zaitsev injured, Leafs defenceman Roman Polak played 21 minutes 21 seconds, his busiest workload of the season and the second-most Tuesday behind Ron Hainsey (21:55).
That included 6:15 while Toronto was short-handed.
“Polak is always good, he’s just a good pro,” Babcock said. He’s just not — how can I say this right? — he’s not fun for some people to watch, but he’s great for the coach to watch.”
CENTRE ICE: William Nylander played centre again, between Patrick Marleau and Zach Hyman, and scored once. It’s far from clear if he’s destined to be a full-time centre but the Leafs don’t mind giving him this chance.
“We think he has the skill to be a centre, to transport the puck, to make plays,” Babcock said. “The part that we haven’t seen is the ability to play without the puck in his own zone ...
“(Young centres) come up and they end up on the wing and it takes a few years to figure out the league and learn how to play hard and how to play without the puck, so you don’t spend the whole time just standing there watching the merry-go-round. That’s part of the process for him.”
STATS PACK: Leo Komarov’s shorthanded goal at 2:52 of the first period was the Leafs’ first short-handed goal in 2017-18 ... Marner established a career high for points in a game, Bozak tied his career best ... The Leafs are 10-1-0 when Patrick Marleau scores. Marleau got his 12th of the year. He and Kasperi Kapanen scored six seconds apart, the fastest consecutive goals scored by the club this season.