Scoring on St. Louis no easy task
Blues have posted three straight shutouts ahead of facing Leafs
Goalie Frederik Andersen might have the hardest job of any Maple Leaf on Tuesday night when Toronto’s road trip comes to its conclusion in St. Louis.
The Blues are the hottest team in hockey, riding a10-game winning streak and posting three shutouts in a row. So if the Blues goalies aren’t letting anything past them, then Andersen will have to keep pace.
“Those streaks come when you start playing well,” Andersen said before the Leafs left Glendale, Ariz., for the Show Me state. “They’ve got good players, they’re playing really structured and helping each other out.
“When you play great, everything feels good. When you play structured, you don’t give up a lot.”
The Leafs have had nights like that recently, but not during Saturday’s puzzling 2-0 loss to the Coyotes. Leafs centre Auston Matthews said the game offered a lesson they could learn from.
“It’s what we’re going to see from teams here on out, it’s all tightening up,” Matthews said. “Teams are dialing in their system. They’ve got plenty of games to watch tape on. It’s going to be important for us to make adjustments.”
It’s not like the Leafs are struggling. They are 7-2-1 in their last 10 games and are seventh in the overall standings. It’s just that their division is so unforgiving, with Tampa and Boston outpacing them at the moment. The Leafs are 3-2-0 on this road trip.
“We were disappointed with the way we didn’t generate (offence against Arizona),” centre John Tavares said. “We didn’t generate quality opportunities or make it hard on them. You have to be at your best to get the result you want.”
That will likely be necessary in St. Louis, with the Blues having outscored their opponents 4014 over the last 10 games.
“We know the type of team they have, a lot of guys who are proven,” Tavares said. “They didn’t have the start (to the season) like they wanted to, but they have a very deep team, a very veteran team and they’re firing on all cylinders.”
The Leafs, meanwhile, were left scratching their heads in Arizona. “We weren’t good,” said Leafs coach Mike Babcock.
“That’s going to happen sometimes. It’s unfortunate, you never want it to happen, but it’s reality. The big thing is let’s not let it happen again. Let’s get back at it.
“(The Blues) are a good team, and they’re playing heavy. They’re above the puck, and checking hard, and doing things right, and when you do things right you win lots of nights in the NHL. The difference between talent from team to team, even though we all think it’s great, it’s not very much. If you play right, you win.”
The Leafs are likely to have forward Andreas Johnsson back. Little John, as his teammates call him, missed Saturday’s game after taking a hard hit to his thigh Thursday in Las Vegas. Speaking about the hit for the first time, he sounded less than impressed with Brayden McNabb.
“I don’t think it was a clean hit,” Johnsson said. “I felt like he thought was going to miss me and wanted to hit something to stop me.”
Johnsson said it was not his knee, and that he remains day to day. But he worked out in his usual spot with Nazem Kadri and William Nylander, and was back practising on the second power-play unit.
“I’m glad I feel better,” he said. “It hurts. It’s not 100 per cent. But I felt good on the ice.”
If Johnsson goes back in, Tyler Ennis will probably be scratched.
Babcock said he’d think about the lineup change on the flight to St. Louis.
“Little John looked like he had some jump (in practice),” said Babcock.