Crosby, Penguins have reason to be hungry against Leafs
Some trivia to start — a Kyle Dubas-managed team has never missed the playoffs.
Yes, Sidney Crosby is Pittsburgh’s lead horse, but what a narrative that its post-season push should come through Toronto on Monday, nearly a year after Dubas was dumped in a power struggle over his new contract, not even a month since it seemed he’d given up on his new team’s season at the trade deadline.
Dubas insisted his deals, namely moving winger Jake Guentzel and not forward Reilly Smith as expected, were proper asset management for the future and didn’t mean a white flag. Though it clearly upset Crosby to lose Guentzel and coach Mike Sullivan had a huge hole to fill on the wing, the Penguins received exleaf Michael Bunting as immediate return from Carolina as well as prospect and draft capital. And they’re very much alive.
Thanks to points in eight straight games (6-0-2, with a current four-game win streak), they’ve come back into a wild-card spot entering Sunday, one of five Eastern Conference teams jockeying within a point.
In defending his March trades, Dubas kept maintaining playoffs were still attainable — he was hired, after all, to stop Pittsburgh’s slide at one year — even as Guentzel gave Carolina its extra gear to earn home ice advantage.
The 36-year-old Crosby, now in contention for the Hart and Masterton trophies, has surely done his part with 16 points in the past eight games. He opened the scoring in Saturday’s 5-4 decision against Tampa Bay with his 40th, while Bunting had the game winner and six points his past three outings. Meanwhile, the Penguins got the needed train wreck ahead of them; particularly slowing Philadelphia, New Jersey, Detroit and Buffalo.
Which brings them to Scotiabank Arena. While Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe is trying to keep his team sharp for its final six games having clinched a spot, this could be a tough match to get up for. The Leafs’ home inconsistency, especially early in the week, continues to vex Keefe. There’ll be an abundance of Crosby and Evgeni Malkin sweaters and Scarborough will be out in force to cheer Bunting. As for Dubas, he’ll likely be somewhere in a private box, having not commented on what actually occurred when talks broke down between himself and Leafs club president Brendan Shanahan last May.
As much as some fans disliked the new-school Dubas for not making grit more dominant in the Leafs’ DNA, he brought Keefe up through the Marlies (a .612 NHL career winning percentage) and sustained the Core Four by signing John Tavares and re-upping the first contracts for Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander. Last year, he traded for Jake Mccabe and Mark Giordano, and brought in current No. 1 Ilya Samsonov, while drafting Matthew Knies, Nick Robertson and Joseph Woll after the first round.
Successor Brad Treliving improved on that by signing Max Domi, Tyler Bertuzzi, Ryan Reaves, Martin Jones and made his own depth deals in March. Not by joint design, the two very different GMS have created a team capable of advancing a few rounds, though the Dubas years really should’ve seen the Leafs in at least one Cup final by now.
Any simmering sentiment across the hall for Dubas, Crosby or Bunting must be shelved for pre- and postgame for the Leafs, who still seek team and personal goals and aren’t likely to rest anyone of note.
“Get through (the final games) with good habits and detail,” Keefe told the media in Montreal after Saturday’s 4-2 win. “And just try to stay healthy. We have a chance now to really narrow our focus, which is to get us ready to go (later in April).”
There’s still a shot at catching the Florida Panthers for home ice advantage (Florida is five points ahead with Toronto holding two games in hand), while they must hold off the Tampa Bay Lightning. Matthews needs six goals in the six remaining games to join the exclusive 70-goal club and Nylander is angling to be the first Leafs winger to 100 points; he’s five shy at present.