Babcock puts positive spin on latest defeat
Mike Babcock wouldn’t claim a moral victory even if it was his only option. So while the Maple Leafs coach was glad his players clawed back to gain a point against the Florida Panthers on Saturday night, Babcock didn’t concur with the notion that rallying in the third period to force overtime might have been a morale boost for the Leafs. Why? No such boost is necessary, and we would agree. A lack in confidence or morale is not an issue with the 2018-19 Leafs. “I don’t think morale is low,” Babcock said after the 4-3 Toronto loss, the fourth time in five games the Leafs have not won. “I think morale has been great. “We were down and we found a way to battle back, which is a real positive thing. We had to do it twice. What I don’t like is we didn’t play hard enough.”
SPECIAL CONCERNS
When the Leafs allowed two power-play goals on four Florida chances on Saturday night, they fell to 18th overall in penalty killing (78.2 per cent) in the NHL. If the Leafs are serious about making a run in the Stanley Cup playoffs this spring, and they are, there’s going to have to be improvement when a Toronto player is sitting in the box. Below-average penalty killing in the playoffs, never mind average, won’t cut it.
HOW CAN IT IMPROVE?
“(With) 200-foot clears, (winning) faceoffs and just sticking to the scheme,” Babcock said.
“It has not been as good as it was. It was on fire and then it has not been as good. We have to get back at it.
“It goes through ebbs and flows each year, just keep steady on the rudder and keep going and find ways to improve.”
As for the Leafs’ power play, all that skill and talent has not added up to much lately, as Toronto is 1-for-22 with a man advantage in its past six games.
The longer the special teams success, or lack thereof, is a factor in the outcome of games, the bigger the concern will be. “We’re trying to make adjustments, but at the same time we’re not trying to do too much either,” centre John Tavares said of the power play.
CLOSING IN ON ROCKET
With eight goals in 33 games, Leafs’ forward Patrick Marleau is on pace for 20, which would move him into 28th on the NHL career list.
Marleau has 543 goals in 1,608 games and his next one will tie him with Maurice (Rocket) Richard for 30th. Marleau also has an opportunity this season to pass Michel Goulet (29th with 548 goals) and Ron Francis, who had 549 goals and is in 28th. In 27th is Johnny Bucyk, who scored 556 goals.
At age 39, Marleau is a rare NHL breed, though 37-year-old Carolina Hurricanes captain Justin Williams has a solid reason that explains the longevity of himself, Marleau and few others. “We have been able to adapt,” Williams said during the Leafs’ stop in Raleigh last week. “Patty came in a few years before me, and the game has changed a lot, certainly after the first lockout in 2004-05. If you can roll with it and not have the begrudging approach of, “This is the way I used to do it’ and ‘This way is right’ then you can still be impactful. We have been able to do that.”
LOOSE LEAFS
Morgan Rielly’s two assists on Saturday give him 25 for the season, putting him on pace for 62. Reilly’s career high is 46, accomplished last season, and he already has set a career mark with 10 goals. Against the Panthers, Rielly played 27 minutes four seconds, a single-game season-high for the 24-year-old … Generally, Babcock likes the way defenceman Igor Ozhiganov has been adjusting to the grind of the NHL. In his previous six seasons in the KHL, Ozhiganov didn’t play more than 59 games in any of them. “I have not seen (a heavier schedule) being a factor yet,” Babcock said. … Rather than stay an extra day in Florida and then continue on to Newark, N.J., where they will play the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night, the Leafs returned home after the game against the Panthers, had Sunday off and will practise on Monday in Toronto before hitting the road for the last away game before Christmas. The Leafs will then have three home games in four nights, starting against the Panthers on Thursday, before the three-day break.