Canucks learned how to shut down Leafs
Stars stymied in same way Leafs stifled top Oilers
Maple Leafs captain John Tavares stressed during the Edmonton series that stunting Connor Mcdavid and Leon Draisaitl meant “not letting them feel the puck.”
The Canucks were taking notes for their turn against Toronto’s big line in winning the two-game set in Vancouver. Expect the Winnipeg Jets to follow that script this week.
While Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews posted their customary 20-plus minutes on ice, there weren’t any of those soul killing long cycles, even when coach Sheldon Keefe flipped Joe Thornton and Zach Hyman on left wing Saturday, save for extended 6-on-5 play at the end.
It’s rare to see two straight nights with both Matthews and Marner blanked. Matthews, despite leading the NHL with 18 goals during a nagging wrist injury, has now gone without a point in five games, a streak not recorded since the winter of 2019.
“We have to keep control of the puck in the o-zone, try to keep it in our hands,” Marner said after Saturday’s 4-2 loss. “Make the right play when it’s there. Maybe we’re forcing it a little too much.
“It’s time to refresh to get talking of trying to find that part of our chemistry (again).”
THE TURNOVER BLUES
Of equal concern heading into a three-game home series versus Winnipeg was how the Leafs let momentum slip away so easily in Saturday’s third period. They had taken pride in locking down these grind games, not having to rely on scoring their way out of trouble in the third. It was just the second time the Leafs had lost in regulation when leading after 40 minutes (8-2-1).
“Turnovers were the reason, obviously starting with myself,” Marner said of coughing up the puck on J.T. Miller’s winner. “We’ve got to clean that part up.”
Morgan Rielly thought he and the whole blue line corps could do better retrieving pucks for breakouts against the Jets, as well as improve special teams. It certainly wasn’t the Leafs’ night when two of their least penalized members, Matthews and William Nylander, were both in the box for Canuck power play goals. The Leafs had killed all four minors in the Oilers’ series, but Keefe was looking in vain for a shot block or two Saturday.
COOLING THE JETS
Keefe knows the Leaf crest represents a target for the opposition, regardless of whether Toronto is a bottom feeder or leading the NHL as the Leafs are today.
The Jets will be the third hyped “fight for first” series against a different second-place challenger in a month. Thus far, the Leafs took two of three from the Canadiens and completely dominated the Oilers, which allowed the hot Jets to set up within seven points of Toronto atop the North.
But Tuesday’s opener, just the second time this year the clubs have met, has lost a bit of lustre with the Leafs dropping two and the Jets embarrassed 7-1 in Montreal on Saturday. Captain Tavares called the western swing a good trip that could have been great.
“We know we have a tough opponent coming in with a back-toback at the end of it,” he added.
The series also will bring the Leafs to the halfway point of their 56-game season.
MINOR ADJUSTMENT
Further to the story of Tavares and NHLER Sam Gagner’s involvement in Toronto Marlboros minor hockey is news both have been appointed to the executive board. That’s different than the earlier notion of the two becoming president and general manager or “buying” the organization, which GTHL bylaws do not permit.
They will not take part in dayto-day management, though the new president is James Naylor, who coached Tavares and Gagner on teams that won seven straight GTHL titles.
The new general manager is David Nicoletti.
Another point of interest about the Marlboros organization, which turns 123 this autumn, it meets once a year with Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, who own the name. An MLSE rep reviews the season with the Marlboros president and permission is extended another season to use the title and logo.
That tradition goes back to Harold Ballard’s pre-leaf days managing the junior and senior Marlboros, and after his death in 1990, was passed to daughter Mary Elizabeth Flynn. Despite the junior Marlboros being a money loser at the Gardens through the 1980s, Ballard refused to move or sell them and his will specified all Marlboro teams got new equipment the year he passed.
In their centennial year, association exec and historian Paul Lewicki travelled to Blenheim, England, to present the Duke of Marlborough with a commemorative sweater.