JUST AUSOME
Matthews makes a triumphant return, notching three points in win over Sharks ... Leafs, fans hold their collective breath as Nylander talks inch closer to 11th hour ... Toronto should consider claiming Pickard ... Dermott sad to see good pal Nielson go
Nothing too fancy or cute. On Wednesday morning, that was how Auston
Matthews described how he figured he would play in his first game in more than a month.
Later in the day, Matthews didn’t back up his words.
A 14-game absence didn’t appear to deter the Leafs superstar to any great degree, as he scored two goals and had an assist in the Leafs’ sixth home win in a row, a 5-3 decision against the San Jose Sharks at Scotiabank Arena.
Matthews, who suffered a left shoulder injury in a game against Winnipeg on Oct. 27, fired a shot over the blocker of Sharks goalie Aaron Dell in the first period during a Toronto power play, this after Matthews set up John Tavares for a power-play goal before the game was four minutes old.
As the story has been written for the Leafs for much of the 2018-19 season, the victory was the result of the work of several sources.
The magical Mitch Marner had three assists, tying his career high, and a mark he has reached 10 times.
Tavares scored two goals, giving him 17. Goaltender
Frederik Andersen made 38 saves.
The Leafs, as a whole, improved to 18-8-0. Their 36 points are tied for the most in the National Hockey League with the Buffalo Sabres.
Matthews has 12 goals in 12 games.
Leafs coach Mike Babcock wouldn’t say after the Leafs’ optional morning skate whether he would put Matthews back between old linemates Patrick Marleau and Kasperi Kapanen .Asit turned out, he did not. Matthews centred
Andreas Johnsson and Kapanen, while Marleau skated with Nazem Kadri and Connor Brown.
With Frederik Gauthier a healthy scratch, Par Lindholm was between
Tyler Ennis and Josh Leivo
on the fourth line.
Tavares stayed as the centre with Marner and Zach Hyman.
Of the three Leafs goals in the first period, the third, by Tavares at 19:42, might have been the prettiest.
After breaking his stick in the defensive zone, Marner raced past the bench, grabbed a new one from alert assistant equipment manager Bobby Hastings and with the help of Hyman, set up Tavares for a tap-in. As the Leafs celebrated, Marner pointed back at the bench in appreciation.
Each club scored once in the second period as Toronto took a 4-2 lead into the second intermission.
Toronto’s goal came early, with the second power-play unit reminding the crowd of 19,362 that it can be as capable as the top unit.
Johnsson made a fine play in front of the net, getting the puck to Marleau, who wired a shot past Dell. It was career goal No. 541 for Marleau, and also his first against his
former team. With the goal, Marleau has scored against all 31 NHL clubs.
San Jose answered less than three minutes later when Joe Pavelski finished during a Sharks power play at 4:18.
Tomas Hertl scored the Sharks goal in the first period. Melker Karlsson scored with two minutes remaining.
Each time Matthews has returned from an injury — four times since the start of last season — he has scored at least one goal.
What was Matthews anticipating in drawing on from his experiences last year in similar situations?
“Keeping things simple, not getting too far ahead of myself,” Matthews said. “I have not played in a game in over a month, so you still have to find your game, get your legs back under you, pace of playing, timing, I think that just comes back over time.
“Especially that first period, just try to keep things simple and not be too fancy or cute.”
Good one, Auston. Good one.
ONE DOWN, ONE TO GO
Matthews is back.
Will we be saying the same about William Nylander at some point in the coming days, if not on Saturday?
Matthews is among the Leafs keeping his fingers crossed.
“We hope to get him back, of course,” Matthews said. “He is a big part of this team and the clock is kind of ticking.
“Hopefully that gets resolved because everybody wants him here. Us as players and knowing him, he wants to be here too.”
The Leafs and the restricted free agent are said to be just a few hundred thousand dollars apart (per year) in contract negotiations, as Leafs Nation holds its breath with the deadline to sign Nylander looming at 5 p.m. on Saturday. If there is no deal by then, Nylander can’t play in the NHL this season. And there has been no indication the Leafs would rather trade Nylander than keep him.
Babcock has been beating the Nylander drum for the past week, steadfast in his conviction that the Leafs will have the 22-year-old in uniform soon.
Anyone who doubts the potential for the Leafs with both Matthews and Nylander in the lineup hasn’t been paying attention. The Leafs were in fourth overall prior to games on Wednesday. Adding those two to a healthy lineup will spell doom for the opposition on most nights.
“Willie is a good player, he is in good shape, he has great edges and can skate,” Babcock said. “I just believe Willie likes it here. We love him here and he is a big part of it.
“And so we think he will be back. We think he will be up and running in a couple of weeks. We’re going to play him when he gets back.”
Nylander, meanwhile, skated with a junior team in Sweden on Wednesday. He happened to be wearing his Leafs helmet during the workout.
What did Matthews see in another cerebral teammate, Marner, as he watched for the past month?
“Seems like every night he gets you on the edge of your seat, even watching as a player,” Matthews said. “He has been dominant.”
A WAY WITH WORDS
Sharks coach Peter DeBoer knows Leafs centre Nazem Kadri better than just about anyone in the NHL who doesn’t work for the Leafs.
In 2006, when DeBoer was the general manager and coach of the Kitchener Rangers, the Ontario Hockey League club drafted Kadri 18th overall. In 2008, Kadri helped lead the Rangers to an OHL championship title.
To a degree, then, one could argue that DeBoer helped Kadri become the player he is today.
Fast-forward to last January, when Kadri and Joe Thornton fought during a game in Toronto, which featured Kadri pulling out a fistful of Thornton’s beard and tossing it to the ice. The fight, two seconds into the game, came after Kadri and Thornton slashed and whacked at each other prior to the opening draw before both were tossed out of the circle.
When the Leafs and Sharks met earlier in November in San Jose, Kadri clearly had a target on his back. DeBoer was asked whether in Kitchener he had to temper Kadri’s desire to play on the edge. DeBoer lumped Thornton into his answer.
“I love Naz, love how he plays,” DeBoer said on Wednesday morning. “I think with Joe Thornton, all I would say is, I hope when Naz is 38 and playing on reconstructed knees and had the career that Joe has had, that the next generation of players gives Naz the amount of respect that he deserves and has earned. That’s a lesson.”
So was the Kadri/Thornton affair in the past?
“That’s in the rearview mirror, yep,” DeBoer.
Still, it’s a shame these teams don’t meet more than twice a season, eh?
POINT SHOTS
The Philadelphia Flyers placed goaltender Calvin Pickard on waivers on Wednesday. The expectation in this corner (and many others) is that the Leafs, who lost Pickard off waivers on Oct. 2, will consider strongly claiming the 26-year-old. Toronto requires the depth in the organization and neither Jeff Glass nor Eamon McAdam has been leaving American Hockey League opponents in fits of frustration … The Leafs late on Tuesday night traded defenceman Andrew Nielsen to the Calgary Flames for forward Morgan Klimchuk, who has played in one NHL game, that coming last February. Certainly on the surface, the Leafs acquired Klimchuk for depth on the Toronto Marlies roster. Klimchuk was a first-round pick by Calgary in 2013 (28th overall), and every one of the other 29 players selected in the first round have played in more NHL games (as have 63 taken after him). In 204 games in the AHL, the six-foot, 190pound Klimchuk has 100 points … Nielsen, drafted 65th overall by the Leafs in 2015, had a couple of promising years with the Marlies, but played in just eight games this season. Close pal Travis Dermott said it was “upsetting” that Nielsen was traded, yet understood the situation. “A guy I got really close with from Day 1 here,” Dermott said. “The hockey world can be pretty cruel sometimes, but I think he will get some good opportunities there. Personally, selfishly, I am pretty upset about it. We have a lot of good D here. Tough to fit in when you have this many good prospects at a young age where you can be overlooked kind of easily. If he’s not getting his opportunities, there must be some pretty good players ahead of him (with the Marlies). It shows good for us and hopefully it’s good for him.” … DeBoer on Patrick Marleau after the former Shark became just the 11th NHLer to play in 1,600 games: “He’s a linebacker on skates. He is physically so gifted, both with his skating ability and also his body. People don’t realize how big a man he is and how powerful he is. He doesn’t shy away from getting in the corners and doing dirty work too, which makes it all more impressive. I’m a big fan, as is everyone.”