Sunny start awaits Maple Leafs
Toronto returns from break with Florida games preceding outdoor game
TORONTO — If the Toronto Maple Leafs are any higher in the NHL standings by Sunday, they’ll have taken a most unusual route getting there.
Less than 24 hours after many of them returned to Toronto from a three-day Christmas break — Auston Matthews was in Scottsdale, Ariz., for instance — the team had practised and was back in the air headed to Florida. Following matches against the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday and Thursday respectively, it will be back to Toronto for the Centennial Classic New Year’s Day outdoor game against Detroit at the Ex.
“The weather is definitely going to fluctuate quite a bit,” Matthews said with a laugh as forecasts call for a 30 C swing outdoors between Florida and the open Toronto lakefront between Thursday and Sunday. “It’s exciting for sure to go down there (his first games in the Sunshine State) and the outdoor game is going to be a blast.”
An air of optimism was still evident in the Leafs room after back-to-back wins preceded the holiday. Granted, the Colorado Avalanche and Arizona Coyotes were already behind the Leafs in the NHL standings, but both wins were on the road and came without centre Tyler Bozak or penalty killing specialist Ben Smith.
“You don’t want to leave anything on the table when you are going (on Christmas break),” said defenceman Connor Carrick, who spent his break at home near Chicago. “That’s a lot of time to think about the post you hit or the breakaway you missed. So guys were bearing down.
“It will be quite a treat to get some good weather down south, but right now we’re all licking our chops for the outdoor game. It’s been a personal goal of mine to be here and get motivated for that one.”
The Leafs not only won their pair of Western games, but they had strong special teams and out-scored the opposition 10-1. Five of their last six games have produced at least a point and with the Panthers now neck-and-neck with them in the Atlantic Division, Wednesday’s game could be significant.
“We’ve played well without the puck and Freddy (Andersen) has been pretty good,” coach Mike Babcock said. “It sets us up to have a good road trip.”
But nothing can be taken for granted, thus an energetic workout in the gym preceded Tuesday’s 45-minute practice. Babcock also hinted at a heavy morning skate in Sunrise, Fla., to scrape the last of the rust off. But the coach thought the mental break was needed, even if it disrupts momentum after the last trip.
“As long as the guys had fun and Santa came or whatever you celebrate, that’s a positive,” Babcock said.
Defenceman Morgan Rielly joked that he hardly moved since the team plane landed from Arizona early Dec. 24. “You have a couple of days on the couch, a big Christmas dinner with your family, then you have to come back to the rink and there’s definitely some legs you have to find.
“But we feel good. Our previous trip gives us confidence we can win on the road and win back to back.”
Matthews caught some of the United States’ world junior win over Latvia on TV before leaving Scottsdale and when he got to Toronto met with some pals from that club whom he played with at last year’s event.
He had perhaps the best pre-Christmas trip of any Leaf with the game-winning goal in Denver, an assist in his home state and more confidence playing with Zach Hyman and Connor Brown.
“I don’t think we’re getting (carried away) too much,” Matthews said. “Some of those games earlier in the season and even a few games ago, we kind of let our foot off the gas a bit when we were up. Our focus is to play a complete 60 minutes. We know we have a really talented team with pieces that we still have to put together, but we are definitely a team that’s confident it can win games against no matter who it is.” Bozak hopes to play Wednesday. “It would be nice for us to come out of the break with a lot of confidence. Hopefully we can get on (the Panthers) early and get a couple of goals. But we have a lot of road games in a row (six if you subtract the outdoor game), so we have to keep it rolling, keep getting wins.”